JOINT PRODUCTION PLAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 134, 9 June 1942, Page 5

JOINT PRODUCTION PLAN

U.S.A. AND BRITAIN

NEW YORK, June 7

The Washington correspondent of the "New York Times" says that the United States and Britain have drafted a joint victory production programme under which the United States will concentrate on the production of longrange bombers and merchant ships, and Britain will concentrate on the production of fighter aircraft, while both countries will expedite identical tanks and other standardised common types of munitions.

This programme, which has been drafted in order to conserve shipping space, as well as to concentrate the production of certain weapons as requested by the combined British and American chiefs of staff committee, will be directed by a combined production planning committee headed by Mr. Donald Nelson (United States production "dictator"), representatives of Britain, and also Canadian representatives.

The joint victory programme, the correspondent says, has developed from the series of conferences between President Roosevelt, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Harry Hopkins, and Mr. Oliver Lyttelton, the British Minister in charge of war production. Mr. Lyttelton returned to Washington today from Detroit, where he inspected the new Ford bomber factory at Willow Run, the Chrysler tank arsenal, and the war plants of the General Motors Corporation. He declared himself greatly impressed, and said: "I cannot help feeling that if Goering or Hitler made a trip through these plants they would either throw in their hands or cut their throats — preferably the latter." BRITAIN NEAR PRODUCTION PEAK. Mr. Lyttelton stated that Britishwar production was within sight of its peak, but that there was no peak for the United States. Though he admitted that the shipping situation was no better, he predicted that it would soon improve. Commenting on the Battle of Midway Island, he said it would undoubtedly improve the chances of delivering the tools which were necessary for increasing production in Australia and India. Colonel John Jouett, president of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce, declared that the American aircraft manufacturing industry has increased the production of military planes by nearly 85 per cent, in the six months since the attack on Pearl Harbour. He predicted that the American production will soon exceed the combined production of Germany, Japan, and Italy, as well as the production of the enemy-occupied countries.