The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE TIMES" GISBORNE, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 1945. REVERSE LEND-LEASE OPERATIONS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21802, 27 August 1945, Page 2

The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE TIMES" GISBORNE, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 1945. REVERSE LEND-LEASE OPERATIONS

TSRITAIX’S apprehension concerning the. sudden cessation of American ]end-1 case may l.ie allayed to a certain extent by a substitute policy. The proposal made by the American foreign Economic Administrator, Air. Leo Crowley, that Britain should borrow' money in order to pay for goods supplied by America is naturally meeting with little favour, but high hopes will be placed on the efforts which Lord Halifax and the British economist, Lord Keynes, arc to make in "Washington to persuade the United States to view the position from the angle of world trade and prosperity. In the meantime the lobbyist of the Press Association has tried to reassure Britons that the stoppage of lend-lcase and consequently of reverse lend-lcase will mean -that certain stocks of meat in Australia and New Zealand, which the Americans would have received, will now he available for the British people. Actually the reverse lend-lcase trade has assumed such high proportions that there does indeed seem good reason to believe that what Britain may lose in some respects will be partially made up in others.

The mutual aid from the British Commonwealth in the war against Japan,is a story the lustre of which should not be dimmed by the brilliance of more spectacular achievements in the field of action. It can be briefly recorded here that on January 28, 1943, the first convoy to go over the Ledo Road passed the Burma-China frontier. This re-establishment of the land connection with China was a triumph of Allied co-operation in which the. availability, under mutual aid, of the rich resources of the British Commonwealth in the Far East theatre saved the Allies .millions of tons of shipping space and an incalculable amount of time.

Help for American Forces

When the American troops were massed in Australia and New Zealand in readiness for the Pacific offensive, our Dominions virtually fed them from their own produce, a policy which was continued in large degree throughout the struggle. American and British ships were left free to carry arms, munitions and fuel. A statement recently made public gave the information that the United States forces in India up to June _ 30, 19-14. had been provided with goods and services worth over £58,000,000 —all paid for by the United Kingdom and India Governments. Under reverse lend-lcase (lie Government of India built the airfields from which the American supply planes flew to China. As well as. big constructional works covering all types of military installations, India gave large-scale reverse lend-lcase aid to the United States in clothing, transport and shipping services, despite the fact that she was suffering a shortage for meeting the needs of her own people. . 1 The greater part of the aviation petrol and other oil products used by the Allied forces in this theatre came from the large British refinery at Abadan on the Persian Gulf. Only some special petroleum products which could not he produced outside America were brought to India. The reverse lend-lcase total ot £SB 000.000 did not include raw materials and foodstuffs shipped to America itself. Among these materials wore such commodities as jute and mica. Co-Operation in Pacific.

As in the case of Burma, the war in the Pacific was fought as a combined operation. A large proportion of the men and weapons engaged were American, but it is well enough known that Australian, New Zealand, British and Dutch airmen also played a gallant part and that the Allied naval forces were strengthened by the British Pacific and East Indies‘Fleets. Australian troops used British, Australian and American weapons m . their epic campaigns in the islands of the South Pacific. American soldiers wearing Australian-made uniforms and hoots landed in the.l hilippines from Australian and New Zealand barges, 9500 of which had been supplied by the end of June, 1944, They advanced against the Japanese on Australian-made tyres and ate rations supplied bv Australia and New Zealand. Botli Australia and New Zealand spent 18 per.cent of then wartime Budgets on reverse 1 end-lease. These supplies by jnoc in o' almost entirely the food requirements of the United states forces in the South-west Pacific, saved a great volume of shipping space. The beef supplied to the Americans by the two Dominions was two-thirds as much as the United States exported herselt under 1 end-lease. Australia and New Zealand also provided clothing, medical supplies, hospitals,, transport and other services under the reverse system, while in New Zoa and shipbuilding virtually non-existent before the war. reached the rank- ot a substantial industry in carrying out the construction of light cult for the Americans. , . „ It should be fully realised, therefore, that, as m war in the Far East and the Pacific has been waged by tbo Allies as a co-operative effort in which the part played by the bntish Commonwealth has been outstanding.