MEN AND MUNITIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24104, 24 October 1941, Page 8

MEN AND MUNITIONS

AUSTRALIA'S ACHIEVEMENTS GREAT WORKSHOP OF EMPIRE "Australia's war effort already has been quite a remarkable one," said Sir Keith .Murdoch, managing director of tin 1 Melbourne Herald, yesterday. Sir Keith is in Auckland on his way to 'Britain. Over 170,000 men were abroad or undergoing final training for the A.1.F., he said. Four divisions were overseas, with many reinforcements, and an armoured division, destined for overseas, was being trained in Australia. The Commonwealth had also contributed something like 20,000 aircrew members, who were either serving already or under training, and over 100,000 men had enlisted for ground work with the Air Force. "Australia is already supplying munitions to the Middle East," Sir Keith continued. "There is a very wide range of works, nearly all based on the great steel-producing works at Newcastle. the biggest in the Empire. Some factories are just coming into bearing now, and we are making and importing machine tools for still more factories.'' Great quantities of boots and textiles were being supplied to India, where Australia was largely filling the part of the British manufacturers as far as this type of equipment was concerned. Australia was producing, among other weapons, a small howitzer, a field-gun, mobile and fixed anti-aircraft guns, rifles and small-arms ammunition. One plant being built near Adelaide represented an expenditure of £6,000.000 and covered 300 acres. A British mission that recently visited Australia in connection with the development of the munitions industry was astonished at the production prospects, he added. It reported that it considered too long hours were being worked in some cases. The one criterion, of course, was the amount of production, but there bad probably been instances of over-work.