STAGGERING TASK

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25210, 24 May 1945, Page 3

STAGGERING TASK

WAR-TORN EUROPE RENEWING COMMUNICATIONS ROAD, RAIL AND WATER A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT LONDON, May '2'2 How quickly the various channels of communication can bo restored to a semblance of efficiency very largely depends on the speed with which immediate relief and eventual rehabilitation can bo brought to war-devastated Europe. Transport is the key to the situation: Transport of any kind and all kinds —though linrni officials say the most urgent need is for motor vehicles.

Tito destruction of bridges, locomotives and rolling-stock and the removal of lorries and draught animals by the enemy have almost completely shattered the internal transport systems in several countries. Lorries must be provided to move not only imported relief supplies, but also locally-produced food and other goods. Second only to the need for motortrucks is the need for restoring port and canal facilities. Telephone and telegraph systems must also be repaired to facilitate distribution and administration. Spirit of Liberated Peoples To co-ordinate the efforts of the various Governments, representatives of Britain, America, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Holland and Norway last week signed an agreement establishing a provisional organisation for European inland transport. !t. will advise and guide the Government authorities concerned on co-ordinal ing the international movement <>| traffic and restoring Europe's transport services by road, rail and water. The task is a staggering one, hut Unrra emphasises a bright side to tho picture. It is the spirit of the liberated peoples.

"No one can fail to admire and respect the initiative and determination of these liberated peoples to work hard and long to restore their countries," says an Unrra statement. A surprising amount of restoration and repair work has already been accomplished, mostly by the freed people themselves, often working under great difficulties. In some places they are helped by men in uniform-—engineers, craftsmen and construction experts with the Allied armies. Canadian Army engineers, for instance, effected vital lock repairs which made possible the reopening of the watercourse linking Antwerp with the Rhine. Holland's Telephone System Canadian soldiers also were able to restore partially Holland's modern telephone system, one of the finest in the world before the Germans dynamited most of its exchanges. Thanks to the efforts of Dutch workers, the network of Holland's inland shipping, obstructed in several hundred places, has been partly repaired, and by early April traffic had been resumed to a considerable extent.

Repair work on damaged railway lines and equipment was well under way several months ago in Belgium and France. Working in the open during the winter, and often on the job 12 hours a day, Belgian workers succeeded in repairing the 358 rail bridges destroyed by the Germans during their retreat. Engines and carriages damaged in Allied bombings are being repaired in Malines workshops. Workshops sabotaged by the enemy are also being put in order rapidly. It will ho a long time before the Belgian railway system can be fully restored to pre-war efficiency. Belgium once had ."5500 locomotives. At the time of liberation only 1000 remained, and most of these needed repairs. Today 1500 are available for use. A pre-war stock of 100,000 carriages has' been almost halved. French Railways Even more serious was the loss suffered by the French railways. No fewer than 115 main stations and 24 large marshalling yards were damaged, as well as 71 engine depots, 19 main repair shops, 1000 viaducts, 27 . tunnels, and thousands of miles of track. The railway repair programme after liberation has sought first to re-start traffic, and then repair the damaged equipment. Lack of materials and labour has hampered repairs, but most of the French railway system is now open to traffic. While a steady improvement is being made in the efficiency of passenger traffic, lack of coal and military needs will impose a heavy strain on France's rail- i wavs for manv months.

Striking evidence of the European workers' eagerness to repair their own war damage is contained in a recent report from Yugoslavia. There a group of skilled workers, more or less on their own initiative, repaired 49 locomotives, 52 trucks, one hospital train of 32 carriages. one disinfectant train, 32 passenger carriages. 136 lorries, and a rail bridge. In addition, the same workmen constructed a number of threshing and sowing machines for farms in tho district. The Greeks have also been extremely active in restoring internal communications. By tin l end of .March telegraphic and telephonic communications had been restored in the more important areas. Large allocations have been made for Ihe construction of roads throughout Greece.