ARMS OUTPUT

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 77, 28 September 1942, Page 3

ARMS OUTPUT

DOMINION'S EFFORT

MINISTER GIVES .-■■,..■ DETAILS .-.'.;. .. ■; An impressive picture of some phases of New Zealand's war effort was drawn by the Minister of Supply (Mr. Sullivan) when speaking at the launching of the minesweeper Awatere on Saturday. Speaking of munitions, he said that' •the effort there was something of which they could be proud. "Our record to date is a real indication of the determination of our people to give our heroic soldiers the weapons'to do the job," he said. "Our biggest .war effort, as far as numbers are concerned is naturally in small arms ammunition, of which we are now producing nearly five times,as much as in the early months of the war. Several million rounds a month are now being produced. In hand grenades we are producing 40,000 to 50,000 a week. We have recently organised the production of automatic tommy guns at the rate of hundreds a week. Two-inch arid three-inch mortars are being turned out in large quantities for ourselyes and for overseas. The two-inch and three-inch bombs to feed these ;weapons are also- being- made here in huge quantities. ' ' •'We have built hundreds of Bren gun carriers, and the local Army having been fully equipped with.these vehicles we are now, working on an overseas order for seyeral thousand, and will soon be turning them out at the rate of well over 100 a month. Over 40 engineering shops throughout the Dominion are engaged on this one item-alone,- and over 100 contractors and 1400 men are employed on these direct munition items of our war programme. ■■.-'.. . "A huge factory will soon come into production and start turning out shell fuses at the, rate of over. 1,000,000 a year. Our total annual production of fuses for shells and bombs will soon total astounding figures in millions a year. .■ • '.'r ■ . '■ "All this is new work, never done before An New Zealand, with the exception of .303 sporting rifle ammunition. Our engineers and factory managers have proved their ability, not only to do difficult, intricate precision work from.blue prints, but to improvise, adopt, and in some cases improve on overseas methods.

SOLDIERS' EQUIPMENT.

'•I need say little about our splendid industrial effort in the field of clothing, boots, and equipment. We all know how well our soldiers are clothed and shod. Unfortunately, with the terrific increase in local defence personnel after Japan entered the war, there has been some easily understandable delay in providing our local forces and Home Guard with the' full scale of equipment we want them to have. I am satisfied, however, that the strenuous effort of our woollen mills, clothin? factories, tanneries, boot factories, and all others concerned will soon overtake the huge orders with which they were confronted." Mr. Sullivan added that up to date New Zealand had made nearly 1,000,000 uniform suits, about 2,000,000 pairs of socks, over 1,000,000 pairs of Army boots and shoes, and nearly 500,000 blankets.