TRANSPORT REFIT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 39, 11 January 1944, Page 3

TRANSPORT REFIT

BY N.Z.A.S.C WORKSHOPS (Official War Correspondent) By Air Mail - CAIRO, November 24. When the. 2nd N.Z. Division takes the field again, many of its trucks and staff cars will be the regromca veterans of previous campaigns. This will be no reflection on their efficiency? to do the job, however. Thanks to an extensive programme, every vehicle will have had a thorough overhaul and refit. Men of the A.S.C. workshops sections are working magnificently on a task which lias meant the virtual reconstruction of. many vehicles.

On the return of the Division from Tunisia early in June, the IA.S.C. trucks had been'ln the held since September, 1911, without a complete relit. At .that time, icpl a cements were, not easy to get, but it was obvious that a big job had to be done. Accordingly a .start was made on June 9„ with the formation of a group workshops from elements of the company workshop sections. Soon vehicles -were pouring through the group area as through the assembly lines of a factory, and the area was the scene of tremendous activity as trucks of the R.M.1.•, supply, ammunition and petrol companies, staff ears and, trucks of Div. H.Q-k ambulances, and other vehicles of the. casualty clearing stations and attached units, flowed in with the dust of Tunisia ami Libya still on them..

Each new arrival has first to tindergo an inspection by an expert, after which work continues on overJaaul, the repair of. the canopy, painting and retyring. When the trucks 3ia,s passed its final inspection there may be little left of the original c vehicle except the cab., tray and ( wheels. "* ' As a matter of course, each vehicle is re.tyred; and has its springs dealt with. New springs are fitted where necessary, and old one*# are carefully reset and rebuilt. All engines have to be completely overhauled at the workshops, which has 1 meant a great deal of extra woik and not a little, improvisation. Some, of the achievements, parti- 1 cularly in the supply of urgently- ! needed parts, have, been quite re- : inarkable, and -cert ain o-ll ice rs have acquired reputations akin to that of a magician. To complete the programme an average of 26i) men lias been employed in the .heat of an Egyptian summer, when work in the afternoon has been virtually impossible. This lias meant a dawn start, and a continuation in the late afternoon and evening. Early in the programme a large number of men.experienced in working under Middle East conditions were returned to New Zealand on furlough. Their places were taken l)y reinforcements, whose work" under conditions completely new to tliein. has been up to the exacting standard required. Seventy went straight to Middle East base workshops, where they are' acquitting themselves well.' The paint shop pl-ay.s an important, part in the scheme, and has; alreadv dealt with some 1200 a ehicles at the rate of. 30' per day. it handles. in addition to the. trucks being refitted, a considerable oveiilow from ordinance Avorkshops, and in l>etween times is available for spec-! lal tasks such as the painting ol •the front of the new "El Djeni" theatre. Within their powers, Middle Hast and base units, have given every assistance. Among some of the equipment willingly lent have been engine reconditioning gear, sewing machines for repairing canopies, and air compressors for the paint

shop. A problem of the first magnitude was created from the first day. When the. trucks arrived and their drivers marched out on leave, it was found that they had given full rein to the ■"jacking up" proclivities of the Kiwi.' All manner of gear, aecunmUated in the course of two years in j the desert, had to be unloaded. No 4doiibt the drivers had a use for everything, but after a minor lire liad occurred in the pile it was thought wise to turn the lot over to the salvage people. Added to the usual necessary litter attendant on the repair of vehicles, there are usually over -iOO three-ton loads of spare parts. Technicians from a famous American motor company who- visited flic workshops were amazed sjt the condition of the vehicles alter such 3ong service under the most arduous conditions. Since the lust refit the trucks of one company have covered an average of 38,000 miles, ■while the Ii.M.T. truck had done 34,000, mostly in the desert.

• fnspcction shows Hint I lie grea annjority of these vehicles have ;

long life yet. in every case, wear has been evenly distributed, no one part having been allowed to bear the brunt of heavy going. The visiting technicians commented that this fact was as much a tribute tc the. drivers themselves, as to the veh'.cles. they maintained.