MUNITIONS AND SUPPLIES

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 December 1940, Page 12

MUNITIONS AND SUPPLIES

MANUFACTURE IN N.Z.

[PER press association.] WELLINGTON, December 10. “This war will be won just as much in the workshops as on . the battlefields,” said the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser),- after inspecting the work which is being done under the auspices of the Wellington Emergency Training Committee at the Wellington Technical College to-day. Some six weeks ago, the Government set up a committee to train volunteers for munition making in as short time as possible. To-day there- are 40 men employed in the fitting and turning rooms, and 15 men in the welding room. They are paid £4 13/4 a week. Mr. Fraser, after a party consisting of several Cabinet Ministers and representatives of employers and workers had inspected the work being done, congratulated all who had been associated, with the class. They had, he said, come to see for themselves how things were going. They had found that members of the class were keeenly interested in the work, and the progress they had made in such a short time was remarkable. The Government had set up the committee because munition making was essential. This was essentially a war of the civil population, who would have to do their part just as much as the soldiers in the field, the men of the navy, and the airmen. The Government had arranged a few weeks ago with employers and workers that classes should be held to train volunteers in munition making The Wellington classes had been successfully started, and Mr. A. W. Nisbet, chairman of the Wellington Emergency Training Committee, would leave that night for Chustchurch to start a similar training scheme there, and the scheme would be extended to Auckland next week. “We intend to manufacture a good deal of the equipment required by our troops,” Mr. Fraser continued. “We need munitions. We need Bren gun carriers, and we had to considei the problem of how men could be trained in the shortest possible time. The Government has decided to give those with an aptitude for mechanics an opportunity to play their part. We need hundreds and thousands ot munition workers. We are making a start here to supply them.”