A N.Z. TRIUMPH

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 51, Issue 3105, 13 April 1942, Page 6

A N.Z. TRIUMPH

ARMOURED VEHICLES

“CARRIERS” FOR THE ARMY

IMPRESSIONS OF JOURNALIST [The following article, by B. H. Launder, of the Taranaki “Daily N °-.-s, ’ ’ is the first news to have be?released about New Zealand’s wai'.ime industry of Universal CJarrier-building. The Director of Publicity, Mr J. T. Paul, is of the opinion that it will give the public the confidence that the War Cabinet is using all available resources against possible attack]. What have we done to help ourselves? What are we ; doing to help ourselves? Born perhaps of a sense of frustration, these two questions are foremost among those heard in New Zealand to-day. That the Dominion is not an industrial country is no secret. But within the limits imposed by this circumstance we have accomplished a great deal more than is known to the country as a whole. In fact, some aspects of our

industrial war effort represent a notable achievement.

Take for example that squat little fighting vehicle which, to a great extent, fulfils the function of cavalry in modern war. The caterpillar-track shod Universal Carrier (popularly, but erroneously, known as the Bren gun carrier) is appearing in impressive numbers upon certain roads of New Zealand to-day. The Engineer’s Art When I recently visited the great assembly shop where universal carriers are built I was struck by the complete lack of hustle and bustle the layman would associate with a war factory working at top pressure. Indeed, if one can imagine a, degree of tranquility which could be applied to an engineering shop, here it existed. But when I had passed through the works where piled plates of steel at one end become fighting vehicles taken over by uniformed -soldiers at the other —-and

in no small number at that —it was impressed forcibly on me that here I was seeing the art of the modern engineer exercised to a superlative extent.

As I looked at the. smoothly-flowing progress of the work in the assembly plant I sensed a groat power at work. Pieces were attached, here, there and everywhere along the assembly-line and those pieces were available just when and where they were required. Once it was- thought that the workshops of the Dominion could not build parts in repetitive manner —parts which, moreover, must conform to the uniformity of standard, which means everything to the smooth flow of- an assembly line.

Steel Plates Bullet-Tested Everything has passed from the

realms of the theoretical to those of the purely practical. Keynoting this is the test applied to the cut plates of armoured steel with which the men fighting in the carrier will be protected. This- test is eminently practical — and simple. It consists of firing a bullet at the plate. If the bullet penetrates, the the plate is rejected. If it fails 1 to do so, the, plate- is accepted. And in every piece of armour plate in a New Zealand-made universal carrier will be seen the indentation of the test bullet fired at it. In "jigs ” the armoured body takes shape as highly-skilled welders join first one piece and then the next. Supervisors watch the work at every stage, and the- grim, ultimate purpose of the vehicle is epitomised by - the fact that the eyes of- the army—represented by uniformed officers- —jealously watch to see that no soldier’s life shall eventually be jeopardised by any flaw im material or workmanship. When the- armoured body has taken shape from bits and l pieces, a highpowered engine is installed which, as an additional measure of security, is protected by an extra cover of armour. At a later stage the caterpillar track is fitted. Drivers Are Nonchalant Finally, after some coats' of khaki paint have been applied, the snubnosed carriers leave the assembly-line and are introduced *to their khaki-clad drivers. These nonchalant gentlemen hop aboard and the universal carrier is soon being put through its paces over ground rough and smooth. Later it will be armed with guns-—not one, but several.

At the conclusion of my visit I watched the New Zealand-built armoured vehicles —true products of correct application and utilisation of our resources —return from their tests. As the drivers brought them, one- by one, to a halt, the carriers were, I felt, indeed modern cavalry. And the impression was heightened when, after sharp application of the brakes, the foreparts bucked up and down- —for all the world like horses, restive to be up and doing.