CLOTHING ARMIES

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 12825, 21 August 1939, Page 2

CLOTHING ARMIES

A SHIRT IN SIXTY SECONDS

July 1, the date when the first of Britain’s 200,000 militiamen were called up for Army service, marked a milestone in British industrial expansion as well as in military history.

Within the next twelve months the factories of Great Britain will be called on to clothe not only the 200.000 militiamen, but also, about 200.000 extra territorials, at a cost of more than £ 4,000,000.

Preparations have been made to deal with this influx of new business without interfering with normal clothing needs for the three fighting services, and without slowing down the production of cloth for export or for Britain’s 47,000,000 civilians of ail ages and both sexes.

The vast woollen mills of Yorkshire, the world-famous cotton mills of Lancashire, the mass-output clothing manufacturers all over the Kingdom, and the great boot-mak-ing firms have already mobilised their resources to meet the Army’s demands.

About 3000 miles of khaki, enough to span the Atlantic Ocean, is being made for the new classes of fighting men, and British boot manufacturers are now at work on 1,000,000 pairs of boots to meet the needs of these forces.

The 'service dress” of each soldier will cost about £lO and consist of one cap, two khaki suits; three pairs of woollen socks; two shirts; set of woollen underclothes; one pair of boots; anti-gas equipment.

Priority is being given to the production of this uniform. ‘‘Battle dress” and ‘‘walking-out dress” will be made while the new armies are undergoing their training.

Huge machines fitted with “guillotine” knives can cut out the soldiers’ suits to the required shapes and sizes in a continuous operation, and so mechanised has become the manufacture of military shirts that a long strip of cloth goes in at one end of a machine and conies out as a complete shirt at the other. The whole process takes only 60 seconds, after which the shirt requires only a little hand trimming' before it is ready for the soldier to wear.

At every factory. Government inspectors, representing the War Office, are liable to arrive day or night without notice and examine any articles to make sure they are being made to the exact specifications of quality, size, and workmanship which the State demands for her soldier sons.