MUNITIONS FOR RUSSIA

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 89, 11 October 1941, Page 9

MUNITIONS FOR RUSSIA

MISSIONS RETURN

UNRELAXING SOVIET , DEFENCE

LONDON, October 10.

Britain is supplying Russia with munitions on lease and lend terms, and there is no money limit to the amount of munitions to be supplied. Announcing this, li°.rd Beaverbrook, leader of the British mission to Moscow, who has now returned to London, said that Britain wanted to give the supplies to Russia and was very glad indeed to do so. Britain, he said, would not ask for the supplies to be put on the basis of payment. That principle was laid down by Mr. Churchill before the British mission left for Moscow. Lord Beaverbrook also revealed that British and . United States supplies were on the way before the conference, and he said that British tanks sent to Russia would be suitable for use in the winter. "We want to treat Russia in the same way as we are being treated," he said. He said he thought that the Russians were very pleased with the goods that were arriving. American supplies in the end would be slightly larger than the supplies from Britain. Britain was sending Russia raw materials also, and that was a very heavy burden on her production. She had sent some American supplies which had been intended for Britain herself, and America had not asked her to release any more than she had already done." , Lord Beaverbrook said he was convinced that even if Moscow fell, the Russians would stand up. Mr. Averell Harriman, leader of the United States mission, said: "We are not giving lip-service for an ideal. We Americans are giving practical service to Russia." American aid, he said, was being given to strengthen the railway from the Persian Gulf to take help to Russia from the United States and Britain. Russian factories were well equipped with the latest American machinery, and the effective use of that machinery was the secret of the Russian resistance. He said that Russian anti-aircraft defences were well planned, and he spoke highly of the morale of the Russians. "The Soviet leaders will lead their people to fight through to the last," Mr. Harriman said. He also reported on the facility with which Soviet, pilots and technicians overcame the difficulties of strange aircraft. Admiral Stanley, of the American mission, said: "The Russians are not down-hearted, and say that even if the Germans succeed in taking Mos-1 cow they are prepared to move . the j line back and continue the struggle. "I am certain that they will fight to the finish," he said.