WAR NEEDS WOOD!

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 273, 18 November 1941, Page 5

WAR NEEDS WOOD!

THE TIMBER UNITS

SAWDUST FUSILIERS

The value of the New Zealand forestry units in Great Britain may be gathered from an article by Quentin Reynolds in Collier's Weekly, which, though it deals with the Canadian Forestry Corps, gives a practical insight into the work of those men of the Empire armed forces irrespective of their country.

You can't win a war without 1 wood," writes Reynolds, "and England needed a shipload a day from Canada. The hazards of the North Atlantic called for a simple solution; here's the answer." The answer which the article gives tells New Zealanders, too, why their forestry soldiers are at Home, instead; iof in the Middle East, and what an important part they are playing in ithe war effort. Reynolds dubs the (Canadian Forestry Corps the Sawdust Fusiliers. The article states: "To conduct a war you need tin, jsteel, aluminium and concrete. But jnone of these would suffice if you ihad no wood. Munitions factories. ■ barracks, bridges, aeroplane parts, jare made of wood. Wood is used Ito shore up the vital mine pits of Wales, and wood can enaow a hastily-constructed trench with some degree of permanency. The shipi yards of England are constantly iscreaming for wood. Nothing in wartime is more vital than wood. The [need was realised early, newspapers were cut down to four pa~es to save the precious wood from gomg into newsprint.

230,000 Feet Needed Dally I "Canada, however, is the greatest lumber country in the world. Canada would supply the Mother Country wood. How much did she 1 nc »v?" least a shipload a day, the authorities said grimly. That would be about 230,000 ft of lumber to be I transported across the precarious jvrastes o f the North iday. Convoys do not leave each day I Convoys are slow. Someone con'ceived the idea of shipping lumber-

men to England instead of lumber.; Scotland was virtually virgin-limber country. Let those Canadian woodpeckers work on that precious store-, house, and the sawdust would fly. The idea caught on, and the result was the Canadian Forestry Corps. "Only experienced woodmen were accepted. Every part of Canada gave its quota of husky men who handled an axe as another handled a penciL They were going to Scotland to lumber, but they were going to fight, too, if need be. And so they have to go through the prescribed military training. This was a bore because woodsmen don't care much about discipline or regimentation. But they found that their officers were understanding. The training wasn't too arduous. They didn't have to learn to shoot. Most of them had spent many winters living by their guns. And one bright day they said good-bye to Canada and packed up their axes, their saws, their mills, their caterpillars—all the impedi-; menta of their trade—and headed for Scotland. "Now after several months of lumbering their hearts are definitely in the Highlands. For nine hours a; day the sharp bark of the axe, the whine of the saw, the ancient cry of "timbaah" and then the roar and crash as another tree falls is echoed •n the hills of Scotland. Now and then they look hopefully toward the sky, hoping against hope to see the billowing whiteness of a German parachute. Their guns are alwavs within arm's reach. ~." Sc 9 tland „ never saw lumberine i >e^'n w ' l h, they cut the trees close, and when the operant *?.- <?? ne tbe stump is only ?Hi« r' g w" T^ eir speed is incredEach mill produces an average of 17,000 ft of lumber a day and ahoift nmr/ the "V . which means good shipload of day. This one group of «S °i,Kc Umber Mds "» , ."Th e y" ve a colourful, hard-working me » m^ ers ° f Sawdust romilfi, f that invasion they'll drop their axes and S^?'.i nd ™ nlh dark gleams in t y they II Pick up rifles and I tell you they'll pick off the shrouds ®? *Parachute at 500 ft. And if all] fails, thev'll drop their rifles and! J zUP their axes and show the! ernes how Canadian canj