"HARDEST FIGHTING WE HAVE EVER SEEN"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 164, 14 July 1941, Page 7

"HARDEST FIGHTING WE HAVE EVER SEEN"

STRUGGLE AHEAD

Mr. Churchill Says More

Coal Is Vital

British Official Wireless. Rec. noon. RUGBY, July 13. The Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, has sent a special message to the coal miners through Admiral Sir Edward Evans, who addressed the miners at Coalville, Leicestershire, to-day.

"An immediate increase in coal production," said Mr. Churchill, "is of vital importance to the armed forces and to the industries supplying them with weapons."

Admiral Evans said: "We are in for harder fighting than we have ever seen in this war. It means sacrifice all round. Victory will very nearly depend on the coal output in the next four months."

Portsmouth, which collected over £1,000,000 during its War Weapons Week in October, has now collected £462,981 during a "Do Your Bit" Week in connection with the National Savings Committee's great summer drive—the first big town to have such a week. As the drive develops more war weapons weeks are being held. Opening Southampton's week—objective £750,000, the price of two destroyers—Lord Mottistone said: "Opportunity is not merely knocking, it is hammering at our door—the most wonderful opportunity we have yet had or ever will have to hit back, to strengthen our financial front, to organise for victory. It is battering on our door as surely as our airmen are pounding enemy dgfence communications, docks, factories in Germany and elsewhere, as surely as our sailors are punishing the U-boats, as surely as our soldiers—and the Russians—are delivering smashing blows at the enemy land forces." Plymouth's Unbroken Spirit Speaking at Plymouth, the Canadian High Commissioner, Mr. Vincent Massey, referred to the destruction in air raids and said he had seen for himself evidence of the ordeal the citizens had been through.

Many of your houses and public buildings have been laid low," he said, "but the spirit of Plymouth is unbroken and will remain so to the very end."

Speaking of Canada's contribution to the common cause, Mr. Massey said Canada had become a formidable arsenal. She had now the largest factory in the world producing machine guns and had made over 100,000 motor vehicles for the army. Whereas a year ago Canadian armament orders totalled under 60,000 000 dollars, to-day they were nearly three times that figure.