NEW ZEALAND-MADE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 137, 12 June 1942, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND-MADE

MECHANISED UNITS

In most of the large cities tomorrow the public would see a demonstration of military strength which would undoubtedly be a welcome surprise to them, said the Minister of Supply and Munitions (Mr. Sullivan) today.

"What I would.ask them to appreciate," he said, "is the New Zealand munitions production which will be included in the various processions. In our own workshops many of the vehicles have been constructed by the efforts of New Zealand workmen and the ingenuity and organising ability of manufacturers, production engineers, and Government officers in the munitions branch of my Ministry. "Over 12 months ago we produced a jfleet of Bren gun carriers to the riveted design, still in mass production overseas. Then we adopted the Australian welded type of universal carrier, which is bigger, heavier, more i powerful, and faster than the Bren gun carrier. Over forty engineering shops from Auckland to Invercargill have been organised to sustain the production assembly line and to build !up the reserves of spare parts required to maintain the. carriers in the field. At the present time, our organisation is all set to deliver; hundreds' of these universal carriers a.-month. -_■■-■"-' "Another interesting vehicle in the j procession' will be the 'Beaverette,' which, I understand, was, named after Lord Beaverbrook, who organised its production in England after the loss of Dunkirk. It is a fast scouting car ! and can carry four or five men with I one or two light machine-guns. . ! | OBSERVATION CABS. "Spectators may also see the armoured observation cars, pilot models |of which -have already been made in New Zealand, with the bonnet and radiator at the back. It steers from the front and drives on all four wheels. ! '"Practically every motor transport vehicle in the procession will have been assembled in New Zealand factories and have a body specially designed for its purpose and built by New Zealand craftsmen. "The public should keep in mind ; also, the less spectacular items of military equipment, and remember that •men and women in New Zealand are working long hours and shifts to keep up high quality and high speed production of mortars, bombs, automatic ' rifles,, sub-machine-guns,. shell fuses, grenades, etc.," added the Minister. "And remember the workers in the woollen mills, the clothing factories, the tanneries, and the boot factories, when you are looking at our welldressed soldiers."