ON THE CLYDE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 3, 4 January 1941, Page 6

ON THE CLYDE.

BOMBING RAIDS RARE.

CEASELESS SHIPBUILDING.

My tour of Britain's industrial areas ends here in Glasgow with the discovery that significant damage done by Nazi bombs on Scottish soil so far is practically nil (wrote R. Maillard Steud to the "Christian Science Monitor' , on November 23). This seems rather remarkable when you consider the great and increasing amount of significant war work being done on this side of the border—notably on the Clyde, where the shipyards are the scene of ceaseless activity.

The war has brought prosperity to the Clyde bank again after many lean years, and on both aide's of the long avenue of slipways scores of new vessels of all types are at various stages of production.

Through the courtesy of the Chief Constable of Glasgow I wae taken on a police patrol launch down the closelyguarded river, in and out of crowded docks.

I saw for myself not only the shape of ships to come but tho shape of ships that keep on coming—bringing essential imports to Britain under the convoy of hard-fighting escorts that fly the White Ensign. , Xazi bombere, submarines and minelayer planes are constantly on the job trying to preveijt these vessels reaching port, and the Allied and neutral shipping losses—announced by the Admiralty as 2.771,333 tons for the first year of war—show the severity of the attack. ' . Great' Cavalcade of Ships. But fbe great and unending cavalcade of ships goes ony-big ships, little ships, British ships, French ships. Dutch, Belgian, Scandinavian, Polish and other ships, comprising the greatest mercantile navy ever assembled at the call of one sea Power. In this conneation it in significant to recall that in the four years of the World War Britain "lost roughly 8,500,000 tons, and in the same period made or acquired just about the same amount, of which one-fourth was built for naval purposes. According to an announcement by Mr. Ronald Cross. Minister of Shipping, before the subina'rinc menace reached its present intensity, some 8 per cent of Britain's pre-war mercantile marine had already been lost, but he said this had been more than made good by the accession of ships from other countries and vessels captured. Heavy Losses Anticipated. Britain's available merchant tonnage is now estimated to exceed 2.3.000,000. Two main factors have to I>p taken into aceoimt in assessing the prospects of supplies continuing to flow into Britain at the present satisfactory rate. One factor is. of course, the menace of Xazi U-boat and air attacks on shipping, which is unpredictable. The Briti;-h Government, however, believe that this campaign will bo conquered

in the long rim", though ilierc is no conceal in;: their anxiety that British los.-cs may for ;i time l>e extremely heavy. The second factor is the proof >liip replacement through Britain's imincii>c building programme. The (ierinan ciiiintcr to tlie latter is tlie air raiding of shipyards. Up to the present on Britain shipyards the result i» much as indicated in my opening paragraph. Few Casualties. So far as Scotland is concerned, the position is eloquently indicated by the fact that in the lirot 12 months of the wah Scotland's total fatalities in personnel from bombing did not reach three liirurcs, the roll of seriously injured was about the same, and the tally of those hurt slightly was below 300 Thus the 'great and important industries of shipbuilding, heavy engineering, nml iron and stool production have been allowed to go on uninterrupted.

Why this should be so i< considered rather puzzling by people on the spot, the explanations generally ventured being that Herman fighter escorts convoying bombers cannot make the distance, that the Nazi* must conserve petrol if this is going- to be a long- war after all, that flying over Scotland and Northern Knglnnd U a tricky business anyway, and that there is'alwava a peculiar haze.

A lieutenant of the Glasgow police who has flown over the city a good deal says that sometime* even oil what scorns to be , quite a g<x>d day Jit the ground level you cannot *oo objectives at all from tho air. I would nnt imply that sirens never wail in Scotland. They do. But never yet have they meant a formidable attack in a military souse. Kit her it is a tip and run raid on a roast town «>r the matter of a plane or two at a great height.

The further you come north away from the Midlands the more the British scone become* one of unimpeded activity, exropt in the coal pits where the minors hn\<» been haul hit—not by bombs, but by the loss of foreign markets. Attempts are being made to solve the problems this raises by a redistribution of minors or absorption into other realms of activity.

Kxcept for firmn concerned with the drive to increaso Britain's export trado the vttft majority of factoric* normally engaged in civilian enterprises of «'ll kinds iire working -all out"' on Covornment contracts—the niotal trades on armament* and fijilit in ir vehicles, for example, the textile plant* on orders for uniforms, motor builders on aircraft engines, and m> on. Transcending all other reflections after my tour of bombed Britain, aro thoughts of admiration for the way the pef>ple as a whole of both sexes and nil ages have stood up to what has been in places, a furious attempt to break their morale. I talked with a groat many person* just aftov they had lost their homo*, their business premises, or both, and never hoard one suggest a cessation of tho \\«r on term* other than the decisive defeat of the N'azie.