U.S. PLANES FOR BRITAIN

Southland Times, Issue 24229, 12 September 1940, Page 7

U.S. PLANES FOR BRITAIN

PORTION OF LOSSES REPLACED PEAK PRODUCTION IN 1942 (United Press Assn. —Telegraph Copyright) (Received September 11, 7.40 p.m.) WASHINGTON, September 10. Mr Purvis, of the British Purchasing Commission, conferred with the Secretary of War, Mr H. L. Stimson. 'Mr Purvis said that the visit did not involve an appeal for planes. British sources say that American aircraft factories are turning out planes for Britain at a rate sufficient to replace one-quarter of the Royal Air

Force losses an& British production is more than making up the remainder of the losses.

Mr W. P. Knudsen, the Defence Coordinator, announced that the defence schedule, including planes for Britain, called for a peak production of 3000 planes monthly by July 1942 and by April 1942 it is expected that a total of 33,000 planes will be completed, of which 14,000 will go to Britain and the remainder into American service.

PEOPLE OF HEBRIDES GIVE FIGHTER

(British Official Wireless) RUGBY, September 9. The spirit of the British people and their determination to rid Europe of the curse of Nazi oppression is illustrated by the action of the population of the Islands of Lewis and Harris. Mostly fishermen and crofters, they have sent more than £6OOO to the Prime Minister, Mr Winston Churchill, to be devoted to the purchase of an aeroplane. In a telegram to Mr Churchill, which he gratefully acknowledged, the Islands’ Spitfire Committee said: “On the anniversary of the declaration of war the people of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides are proud to convey to you their unswerving loyalty and devotion to the national cause. Since September these islands have claimed the high honour of having more men proportionately in the fighting services than any other part of the Empire. Many villages have had close on 20 per cent, of their total population on service since the outbreak of war. Casualties have been three times higher than for the country as a whole. The people still at home, wishing that the record of those on active service should be maintained, have today forwarded the sum of more than £6400 to the Ministry of Aircraft Production for the purchase of a fighter plane to be called ‘The Lewis and Harris Fighter.’ ” This sum was collected in a single week with the enthusiastic support of the Islands’ crofting and fishing communities. Typical of the spirit which accomplished this result is the comment of a crofter who contributed £l. He declared that he had not £1 to give but he would sell his calf to get it.