See Britain At Work

Northern Advocate, 7 December 1943, Page 4

See Britain At Work

(Special, 2 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. (1. Pilot-Officer H. E. Brumby, ci' Auckland, a member ot the party organised by the Ministry for Information to enableAustralian and New Zealand Air Force men to see Britain at work, said: “The tour was an absolute eye-opener. We saw aircraft l'aetpries. Rolls-Royce engines being turned out, shipyards building submarines and aircraft-carriers, where grease-covered women were expertly doing men’s jobs. Everyone was working flat cut for victory.” Brumby, at one enlightened aircraft instrument factory, noticed a resident doctor, six nurses, a dental clinic and a beauty parlour, where the workers were allowed ten minutes weekly. Brumby’s greatest surprise was the number of blind workers, many of whom were blinded in the blitz. Many workers told Brumby that they hoped after the war to migrate to New Zealand. A highlight of the New Zealanders’ tour was staying overnight at a colliery millionaire’s home. In the early days of the war New Zealand and Australian fliers suffered, weeks and sometimes months, of inaction at British reception depots awaiting postings to operational training centres. That has' all changed now and this important period has become a concentrated programme of acclimatisation to British conditions and teaching them the hundred and one things that will help them when they reach their battle stations, giving them an inside picture of Britain at war. The Ministry for Informative has helped in this formative period by sending weekly batches of fliers through the industrial heart of Britain.