PRODUCTION FOR VICTORY

Southland Times, Issue 24765, 9 June 1942, Page 5

PRODUCTION FOR VICTORY

UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN (Rec. 9 p.m.) NEW YORK, June 7. The Washington correspondent of The New York Times says that the United States and Britain have drafted a joint victory production programme under which the United States will concentrate on the production of longrange bombers and merchant ships and Britain will concentrate on the production of fighter aircraft. Both countries will expedite the production of identical tanks and other standardized common types of munitions. This programme, which was drafted in order to conserve shipping space as well as to concentrate the production of certain weapons, was requested by the combined British and American Chiefs of Staff. It will, be directed by a combined production planning committee, headed by Mr Donald Nelson, American War Production Chief. Representatives of Britain and Canadian representatives will serve on the committee. The joint victory programme developed from a series of conferences between Mr Roosevelt, Mr Nelson, Mr Harry Hopkins and Mr Oliver Lyttelton, British Minister of War Production. Mr Lyttelton returned from Detroit where he inspected the new Ford Willow Run bomber factory, the Chrysler tank arsenal and General Motors war plants. He declared himself greatly impressed. “I cannot help feeling that if Goering and Hitler made a trip through those plants they would either throw in their hands or cut their throats—preferably the latter,” he said. Mr Lyttelton stated that British war production was within sight of its peak, but there was no peak for the United States. Although he admitted that the shipping situation was no better, Mr Lyttelton predicted it would soon improve.

Colonel John Jouett, president of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce declared that the American aircraft manufacturing industry had increased military plane production by nearly 85 per cent, in six months since the attack on Pearl Harbour. He predicted that American production would soon exceed the combined production of Germany, Japan and Italy, as well as the production of enemy occupied countries.