MANUFACTURE OF MUNITIONS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 11 December 1940, Page 2

MANUFACTURE OF MUNITIONS

THOUSANDS OF WORKERS WANTED TRAINING SCHEME IN 1 : WELLINGTON l [United Press Association] 1 WELLINGTON. This Day. i “This war will be won just as much -in the workshops as on the battlefields,” I 1 said the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, i . after inspecting the work which is being ) done under the auspices of the Welling f ton Emergency Training Committee at the Wellington Technical College yes t terday. 1 Some weeks ago the Government set 1 up the committee to train volunteers for 2 munition-making in as short a time as 2 possible. To-day there are 40 men em- - ployed in the fitting and turning-rooms. ) and 15 men in the welding-room. They - are paid £4 13s 4d a week. Mr Fraser, after a party consisting - of several Cabinet Ministers and rel presentatives of employers and work--7 ers had inspected the work being done, 1 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 1 that the members of the class were " keenly interested in their work, and s that the progress they had made in such a short time was remarkable. 1 The Government had set up the committee. Mr Fraser said, because ’’ munition-making was essential. This J, war was essentially a war of the civil population, who would have to do their part just as much as the soldiers in B the field, the men of the Navy, and the airmen. The Government had arranged a few weeks back with employers and workers that classes should r be held to train volunteers in munition* 1 making. The Wellington classes had been successfully started, and Mr A. W. Nisbet. chairman of the Wellington , Emergency Training Committee, would r i leave that night for Christchurch, to j start a similar training scheme there, e and the scheme would be extended to [ Auckland next week, f Back of the invincible Air Force, said _ the Prime Minister, were the workshops, and New Zealand had to play . its part. The training the New Zeas Hind Air Force received was as good s as was given anywhere in the British 1 Empire, as was proved by the fact that Australia had copied the New Zealand scheme. “We intend to manufacture a good deal of the equipment required by our troops.” Mr Fraser continued. “We need munitions; we need Bren guncarriers, and we had to consider the ; problem of how men could be trained f in the shortest possible time. The 2 Government has decided to give those 1 with an aptitude for mechanics an opt portunity to play their part. We need hundreds and thousands of munition . workers, and we are making a start ) , here to supply them.” Mr Fraser said he was greatly pleased that the experiment had been such a success. The men were putting their hearts and minds into their work, and would encourage others to follow their inspiring example.