NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

Franklin Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 19, 19 February 1940, Page 8 (Supplement)

NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

WOMEN IN WARTIME AID TO PRODUCTION WHAT BRITAIN IS DOING New Zealand’s decision to create a national register to help the proper prosecution of the v/;:r inevitably raises the question cf women in wartime, end how much aid they will be c*ble to give the national effort for victory. In England, Mr Winston Churchill has issued a call for 1,000,000 women to work in war industries, and quite a controversy has developed. Of those who applaud Mr Churchill some say that he did not go far enougli and that 3,000,000 women will be needed to make war production possible at the peak anticipated hv the Government. Opponents, from the trade union ranks, say that there is no justification for bringing young and inexperienced girls into the factories at low wages while there are still 1,000,000 workers unemployed. Men Without Work.

The general secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering Union, the mostimportant union in the arms industry, has pointed out that thousands of men engineers are still unemployed, and asked for information about the sites of the concerns in which Mr Churchill proposes to place 1.0nn.000 women. ‘I would remind Mr Churchill that we have 3000 skilled engineers who have been called into the services to peel potatoes and fill sandbags,” he said. “If there is a shortage of labour, why keep calling up engineers?” Some quarters estimate that at least 500.000 women will he taken into factories making aeroplanes and ammunition. That figure is double the total employed at these tasks in JOTS. A widespread appeal to women is expected soon. ‘Can Rely on Women.” An official of the Women's Engineering Society said: “There are over 100.000 skilled women operatives in engineering shops and many more being trained. Thousands must now be trained as supervisors and forewomen. The Government can rely on women.” Mr Churchill's supporters point to the thoroughness with which the Nazis are organising female labour. Almost at the moment that Mr Churchill was making his speech the Germans were issuing notices calling up men and women in Berlin who are regarded as non-essential workers. It is estimated that this affects about 50,000 women —dressmakers’ assistants, other garment makers, domestics and shop girls—who were told to report within two days under penalty of arrest for sabotage. They are to be sent to munition plants and other wartime establishments. The Men Stand Firm.

This war may have done tilings to women’s styles in Britain, but up to now the average man not in uniform has refused firmly to allow it to affect his dress. Women may put military badges on their hats, borrow epaulettes and patriotic emblems, dress in Air Force blue and Army khaki. But their men folk will have nothing to do with it.

Mr .1. W. Hail, chairman of the Association of British Clothing Besigners. summed up the situation recently when he said that "the least suspicion of anything to do with wai in a man's suit is enough to keep it on the shelves forever.”

There might be slight, indications of militarv influence in certain types ol suits, said Mr Hall. but. there was none of this in the better-class trade. One thing certain was that men wanted to keep their civilian clothing removed from military effects. Cosigners feel that anything like khaki will be taboo.

Women’s styles came under military inlluen • s as early as last August, and today in London may be seen dashing scarlet cloth. Cossack hats, braid, 1 ragged trimmings, and jackets with pockets like an officer's. The Wap on tikis. We have by now grown used to the reference to "Finnish ski troops," but it appears that they do not give a correct picture of the army which has rouled the Russians so often. There are no special ski units in (lie Finnish Army, such as the French Alpins, the Canadian ski battalions, or the simi'ar lYirniations in the German and tiaii.wi Armies, used mostly for scouting, liaison work, and medical duty. The Finns do better than that. L : / Finnish soldier receives ski training as part of his ordinary military course.

This instruction begins witli tlie usual skiing course. Naturally this does not last long, as practically every Finn can ski and is keen on doing so. There follows a period of distance racing and cross-country marching in which different kinds of terrain have to be crossed in full army kit. The last stage consists of tactical exercises, instruction in the proper use of country, camouflage, reconnaissance and ambush work. Strenuous Work

Carrying full army kit and necessary provisions on long expeditions is strenuous-work, and for this reason the Finns use various types of sledges for transport. A pulka is a one-man sled pulled along by the. skier by means of a flexible rod harness attached to It is waist.

The so-called “ski-sledge" is a somewhat heavier type and is pulled by a team of several men on skis. It is made of four skis fastened together by a super-structure. There are also various ways of constructing sleighs from skis in an emergency, such as the need to transport wounded or to take up ammunition.

Dogs and reindeer are sometimes used to puli lighter sledges. Heavier sleds are pulled by horses of the small Finnish type, which have’specially devised snowshoes to keep them from sinking. Even heavy guns are transported on skis fixed under their wheels.

It seems to he because of their superior methods of transport and consequent great mobility that the Finns have repeatedly defeated the poorly-prepared Russians.

Scapa Protected. While the world was reading about the Admiral Graf Spee fight the British Navy, it seems, was sinking ships of its own. These sinkings, however, were for a different purpose. They were blocksbips designed to complete the overhauled defences at Scapa Flow, penetrated early in the war by a U-boat which sank the battleship Royal Oak.

The story was told by two Australian engineers, Frank Davies and John Newton, who aided in the work. They were members of the crew of a 10,000-ton vessel which was one of twenty scuttled in the channel at Scapa Flow to prevent any further raids from being carried out.

The two engineers refused to divulge the name of their ship, and explained that it was placed in position by a skeleton crew and then dynamited.