AXIS PROBLEM

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 8, 10 January 1941, Page 7

AXIS PROBLEM

EXPLOSIVE SUPPLIES

EVIDENCE OF SHORTAGE

EFFECT OF R.A.F. RAIDS

(British Official Wireless.)

RUGBY, January 8. There is some evidence that, the British blockade is creating a problem relative to the supplies of explosives in the enemy countries. In the months immediately preceding Italy's entry into the war she imported all the toluol she could "get. These imports, have not proved sufficient for Italy's need, and she has been using some high-explosive, made from home-produced materials; lioaveveiy it appears that this has not proved satisfactory. It is knoAvn that Italy's, need of T.N.T. is extremely urgent, and it has been reported that workmen have been thrown out of employment in Italy because of a shortage of the necessary component raw materials. After only five months of not very active warfare and before Italy's attack on Greece or the large-scale operations in the Western Desert she made urgent appeals to Germany for T.N.T. Germany has supplied considerable quantities of high-explosives to Italy, but she is finding the demands of her Axis partner distinctly embarrassing, for she herself is feeling some shortage of high-explosive. COAL DIFFICULTIES. Information reaching the Ministry of Economic Warfare reveals that there has been a tremendous fall in coal production in the Ruhr. One estimate puts the reduction as high as 40 per cent. On the whole, however, the production of coal in Germany seems to have been maintained and must be considered adequate, even taking into account the position of the Ruhr. Such coal shortage in Germany as there is evidence of is the result of failures in the distribution of supplies. The British bombers have contributed to these by disturbing night shunting operations and interfering with railway traffic. The reduction of working hours due to blackout conditions has also increased the track disorganisation. There is now in Germany a grave shortage of railway trucks and wagons. The Nazis undertook to supply Italy with 1,000,000 tons of coal a month, and up to last September the commitment appears to have been surprisingly well fulfilled. Since theh, however, th 3 Ministry of Economic Warfare has had evidence to show a considerable falling-off in the German supplies to Italy. The German exports of coal to other countries have decreased by 10 or 15 per cent. In Germany, too, the coke problem seems to be acute. There has been a shortage of coke since 1938, and since then there has been a reduction of something like 20 per cent, in the available supplies. The German authorities recently found it necessary to appeal to houseAvives to mix coal and coke in the proportion of one part to five.