LEASE-LEND IN REVERSE

Kaikoura Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 56, 20 July 1944, Page 4

LEASE-LEND IN REVERSE

FLOWS BACK TO AMERICA. War supplies are reaching the United States Forces on fronts all over the world. Thousands of various types of services, supplies, and equipment are being furnished by Allied Nations. (By Roscoe Drummond, in the Christian Science Monitor). WASHINGTON, May 27. The variety and magnitude of recip rocal Lend-Lease, by which the United Nations are providing American forces with vital war supplies, are illustrated in full detail in the 15th quarterly report on Lend-Lease operations, which was submitted to Congress this week. From facts unfolded in this report, Lend-Lease emerges as a co-operative policy of the highest realism*—not an American gift to other countries to help them fight someone else’s war. Lend-Lease is thus pictured as a means of ending the war as speedily and as effectively as possible, thereby saving American lives by helping other nations fight the common war with better tools. 4 4 Millions of Germans and Japanese will never fight against Americans because they have been killed or captured by our Allies with the help of Lend-Lease supplies,” the Government statement to Congress declares. WORKING ON ALL FRONTS. “Lend-Lease is working for America on the Russian front, in Africa, and in Italy, in the skies over Germany, in

Burma, 'China, and New Guinea, just as surely as it is working for the other United Nations.”

But to-day war supplies are beginning to flow in reverse in constantly larger streams. As a part of the 2,000,000,000 dollars’ worth of reciprocal Lend-Lease which is coming from the British Commonwealth yearly, onethird of all the supplies and equipment currently required by America’s great forces in the United Kingdom is being provided by the United Kingdom without payment by the United States. The cost of this aid to the United Kingdom, including shipping, averaged about 90,000,000 dollars a month in the last three months of 1943.

The United States Eighth and Nintn Air Forces have received reverse Le.ilLease aid particularly vital to the success of their operations. Following is a list of the many thousands of different types of reverse Lend-Lease supplies, equipment and services, as renoried by our Air Forces, as re the end of 1943. which gives some indication of the extent and variety of this aid:—

Bomber and fighter airfields and air bases, advanced airports, combat crew replacement centres, barracks, repair depots, warehouses, and storage facilities, etc., which cost the British 355,000,000 dollars through the end of 1943 to build and equip for us. Ten thousand civilian employees, with an annual pay roll of 12,000,000 dollars, have been employed on the construction programme for United States forces, principally on airfields and air bases. Four hundred and fifty-two thousand tons of equipment and supplies have been furnished.

SOME ITEMS OF AID. Some of the items of aid:— 1100 Spitfires and other planes. .1,357,000 square feet of steel and light alloy sheets for repair and adaptation needs in our plane depots. 235,000 synthetic rubber shock absorbers. 32,000 bombs of various sizes. 7000 sets of armour plate for heavy bobbers.

5000 collapsible rubber dinghies with devices for the release of parachutes at the time of hitting the water. 10,600 aircraft tires. 35,000 belly tanks for lighter drcraft. 9600 pieces of protective body ar-

mour. 9300 bullet-proof glas* Panels I*r

ar craft. 43,C0-/ easily jettisoned light weight gas tanks for long-range fighLws. It is pl.u ned tc produce these nt the rate of 22,000 a month with 1000 persons emp.Gyed on this task. 43,000 electrically hated muffs for gunners. 2000 parachutes. 1,750,000 pairs of socks. 1,500,000 pairs of knitted woollen gloves, and substantial quantities of other types of clothing. 44,500,000 yards of Soinmerfield track. 60,000 aircraft, warship, and armed recognition devices. All requirements for aircraft engine spark plugs. 12 factories working solely on production of transformers for United States Air Forces. 50 mobile repair shops for the repair of American bombers forced to make crash landings in the United Kingdom. 625 British type fighter gun sights. Special photographic equipment, for one out of each three aircraft in bomber squadrons, to take pictures of the target during the run. Large quantities of specially heated winter flying clothing. Various types of specialised radio equipment. The volume of reverse Lend-Lease aid provided to United States forces in India has gone up by leaps and bounds. In January and February of this year alone American troops received over 35,000,000 dollars worth of supplies. This was as much in two months as was received in the entire year of 1942, and half us much as was received in the entire year of 1943.

INDIA INCREASES AW. Reverse Lend-Lease aid furnished to the United States in India up to March 1, 1944, totalled almost 150,000,000 dollars. This came without payment and saved many thousand tons of shipping space. Petroleum products, including aviation gasoline from the British refinery at Abadan for the United States Air Forces in India, make up a part of the total.

Other supplies received in the two months of January and February, 1944, alone, included: 6,800,000 pounds of vegetables, 170,000 pairs of socks. 300,000 yards of cloth, 175,00 pairs of trousers. 700,000 gallons of diesel oil. 200,000 sets of underwear. 4,000,000 pounds of meat and fish. 2,000,000 pounds of fruit. 1,000,000 pounds of beverages. 500,000 pounds of bread.

700,000 dozens of eggs. Australia and New Zealand are providing at the rate of 1,000,000,000 pounds a year to United States Forces. In the South-west Pacific almost all the food for American troops is provided as reverse Lend-Lease. United States forces in the South Pacific receive large quantities as well. The 1941 reverse Lend-. Lease programme in Australia and New Zealand calls for between 200,000,000 dollars and 250,000,000 dollars worth of food alone, including several hundred million pounds of meat. Reverse Lend-Lease from Australia and New Zealand is by no means limited to food, however. By January 1, 1944, the supplies, facilities, and services American forces had received as Lend-Lease had cost these countries over 450,000,000 dollars, and the rate of reverse Lend-Lease aid was rising. Besides the bases, barracks, airfields, hospitals, and other facilities for our forces, the spare parts and repair services that have been furnished, Aus tralia and New Zealand factories are producing many hundreds of thousands of uniforms and the United States is to receive a million pairs of Army boots alone in 1944. Substantial amounts of foodstuffs, especially cereals and fresh vegetables, have been furnished by the French to American armed forces in the jMediter ranean area under reverse Lead-Lea’*', in addition to other supplies and - • vices. This aid to the United States ready tctalled 30.000,000 dollars by i first of this year. <