42-FOLD INCREASE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 16, 20 January 1944, Page 4

42-FOLD INCREASE

CANADIAN NAVAL FORCES

Rec. 12.30 p.m. RUGBY, Jan. 19. The strength of the Canadian Navy man-power has now approached that of the British Navy in peacetime, wihch means a 42-fold increase since the war began. This remarkable fact was revealed by the First Lord of the Admiralty in the statement in the House of Commons on the Canadian part in the campaign against the Üboats. The Royal Canadian Navy, he said, now provides over two-fifths of the ocean-going escorts in the north Atlantic, and of the combined R.A.F. and Canadian operations against U-boats in the north Atlantic about one-fourth are undertaken by the Royal Canadian Air Force. In addition, many Canadians are serving in the Royal Navy and the R.A.F. The remarkable expansion of the Canadian forces engaged in the Battle of the Atlantic and the skilful deployment and gallant handling in appalling weather, added Mr. Alexander, have been prime factors enabling the United Nations to get the measure of the U-boats. By agreement between the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Canadian authorities, Canada and the United Kingdom are now mainly responsible for the control and protection of trade convoys between the British Isles and north-west Atlantic ports.—B.O.W.