FOOD CONVOYS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5001, 16 July 1926, Page 3

FOOD CONVOYS.

UNIQUE SIGHT IN LONDON.

SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS I . Armoured cars were' used as escort for convoys of heavily-laden motor vehicles from the docks to Hyde Park. The convoys have mostly been bringing up supplies of flour and sugar for distribution among bakers and reta.ilers. The first convoy caused immense interest on its passage, through the great thoroughfares from East to West. It consisted of 150 piotor vehicles, laden with flour to replenish the bread supply of London, writes the London correspondent of the Christchurch Press-

Armoured cars provided an escort at. the head of the column, at the rear, and on either flank; two or three men of the Welsh Guards, steel-hel-meted and wearing their active service, uniforms and equipment, perched high on the bags in each lorry. The escort made ah imposing force', but the authorities, reluctant as they Were to use the services, of the troops, had no alternative if London was to get the flour it needed. From the first day of the strike the strikers concentrated their efforts upon preventing access to the docks. Officials and volunteer workers were intimidated by a formidable array of pickets, the police themselves suffered many fierce attacks. 'a,nd lorries had be;en stopped by obstinate crowds that stood across the roadway and made progress impossible. The result was, that, although there was ah ample supply of flour lying at the docks, and any number of volunteers ready to move, it, to all intents it was locked up so far as London was concerned. The Government found the key in the firm and yet judicious empldyment of trbtaii. PICKETS OUTNUMbEP.HU. From Hyde Park, the. startingpoint, to the dock gates, the initial journey at dawn was without incident. On its arrival at the dock gates the somnolent pickets were manifestly surprised, but thej’ did nothing, being faced with a force too formidable to be challenged. The. lorries were drawn up in parallel line?- along' the river front, sections of three at a time drew in to the chutes at the mills,, where an almost feverishly energetic crowd of volunteer workers saw that not a moment was wasted in loading. As a result the convoy got promptly off and was back at Hyde Park soon after midday. The second convoy was even more smartly dealt with, for the volunteei workers had profited by the preliminary ■ experience. In the immediate neighbourhood of the docks detachments of troops, drawn from the Coldstream Guards and the Wpls.h Guards, and a large force df mounted and foot police, kept all the- 'approaches clear. The winding roadw'ay narrows as the gates are neared, and it took all the skill of the drivers to avoid congestion on the one hand and gaps between the sections on the other. THE VOLUNTEERS. Volunteer workers at the docks included University men,, medical students, clerks, and costermongers, and there was a considerable sprinkling of strikers who had found their way back to work almost at the beginning of the strike. An onlooker says that a medical student in “plus fours” and a Rugby football jersey cttuld be seep giving a hand to a 'fellow-labourer in drab blue overalls. It was a great achievement on the part of all concerned, and no one was. more appreciative of the military escort than the , men themselves. Soldiers and volunteer workers fraternised in a tin hut, where coffee; and sandwiches were served out by the Port of London Authority. The feeding of the workers was itself a large task, as more than 500 elf them had been brought down the river in lighters to cope with, the work of loading. With promptitude the convoy, two miles in length, set out for Hyde Park, and it was. greeted with much enthusiasm by people who watched its progress.

The arrangements for the' two convoys were made by the Central Food Committee of the Board of Trade, working in co-bperatibii with the War Office and the Ministry of Transport. It was stated officially that the successful result of the scheme had definitely relieved a situation which, had it continued much longer might have proved distinctly embarrassing. Not only were bakers’ stocks, in the metropolitan are.a replenished, but it was proved that the', convoy system could successfully again be employed at any time. x