A STUPENDOUS TASK

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 60, Issue 4234, 22 January 1940, Page 8

A STUPENDOUS TASK

WAR TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT A cable message stated that ten thousand goods waggons, and 240 locomotives, together costing £8,000,1)00 are being built in Britain for use pn the section of the French railways operated by the British Army. This illustrates the tremendous task in connection with the transport services of an army in the field. There are also other problems of equal importance, such as feeding, clothing, housing, medical services and sanitation, each being a, stupendous task in itself. These jobs the being handled by experts, hence everything appears to be working smoothly. Britain is to send more than 32 divisions to France, with details this would mean about 750,000 men, all of iwhom must be fed each day. During the last war the British forces in France required between 70,000 and 30,000 tons of food, and 20,000 tons of commodities, which amounts entered French ports weekly. Bases and alternative bases have been Constructed, ■' and are being continually developed. These are not at ports but in other areas. Vast railworks have been carried out to facilitate the handling of supplies at bases, reserve bases and 'depots. Roads have been constructed in all directions to facilitate distribution. The field .depots ape capable of maintaining a seven days’ reserve of supplies, and all have been carefully selected iso that no vulnerable bottle neck is

in the vicinity. All depots are equipped with, special labour-saving devices. Field bakers are capable of turning out 100 tons of bread a day. The ordnance stores are called upon to maintain 150,000 different articles, from mobile guns to split pins. The petrol supply alone is enormous, a corps of two divisions requiring 70,000 gallons a day, while each division needs 470 vehicles for transporting supplies. But petrol supplies, like ammunition, are dependent on the amounts used. A two-division corps would need 600 tons of ammunition daily, if it were fighting all the time. Petrol and ammunition railheads are kept separate from other supplies. A campaign has been started against waste. Everything reparable is repaired, and! what is irreparable is collected and used for other purposes. Even the fats in waste food are turned into glycerine which may reappear at the Front as cordite. In this war aeroplanes Bre expected to play a prominent part, and machines, pilots, observers and gunners must be trained and kept fit for service. There are thousands of machines now available from the United States, and the development of the industry in Canada will enormously increase the strength available to deal with the intensive aerial war which the Germans are once again threatening against Britain. It is claimed that Britain alone is turning out more machines than Germany. The Allies are handling their stupendous task methodically and when war begins in earnest in the spring, the Allies will be ready with men and munitions to deal with the Germans.

AN EARLY RISER. “I reckon,” said the farmer, "that I get up earlier than anybody else in the neighbourhood. I am always up before 3 o’clock in the morning.” The second farmer said he was always up before then and had part of the chores done. The first farmer thought he was fibbing and decided to find out. A few mornings later he got up at 2 o’clock and went to his neighbour’s house. He rapped on the back door, and the woman of the house opened it. “Where is your husband?” asked the farmer, expecting to find his neighbour in bed. “He was around here early in the morning,” answered his wife, “but I don’t/know where he is now."

PIE v. SPINACH. Young Donald had told hisCavourite uncle that his mother was very funny about some things. When the uncle asked why he thought so, Donald said: “Well, when we have mince pie for dinner, she asks me whether I will have some, but when we have spinach, she just gives it to me.”