SUEZ CANAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 April 1939, Page 4

SUEZ CANAL

POSSIBILITY OF CLOSING DURING W/aR. POSITION IN AUSTRALIA. One of the reasons for the proposal to manufacture British military an craft in Australia on a large scale is that, in a war, the Suez Canal would almost certainly be closed, it _is learned, states the “Sydney Morning Herald.” . Under .such conditions, Great Britain would find it impracticable, if not impossible, to send supplies, of aircraft to Australia, or to any British possession in the Near East or the Pacific. The Prime Minister, Mr Lyons, disclosed that the proposal came in the first instance from the High Commissioner in London, Mr Bruce. Mr Lyons emphasised that the Commonwealth was most anxious to assist in the development of the new industry. It was .stated in Sydney that Mr Bruce first became interested in the possibility of accelerating aircraft production in Australia, after a similar air mission had visited Canada last year. The Canadian project, since adopted, provides for the mass production of military aeroplanes in Canada for delivery to the Royal Air Force in Great Britain. Mr Bruce thereupon suggested to officials in the British War Office that, if the existing Australian aircraft industry could be expanded three useful purposes might be served. A great stimulus would be given to a wide range of manufacturing industries in the Commonwealth; the strength of the Royal Australian Air Force would oe vastly increased; and the surplus output of military ’planes could be supplied to the Royal Air Force in Great Britain in time of war. Mr Bruce was told that the international situation, and the new alignment of the Powers, showed plainly that Britain would be unable to take delivery of Australian-made ’planes, because the Mediterranean route would be unsafe, and the Suez Canal would probably be closed. Mr Bruce then made urgent representations to the Federal Cabinet. He pointed out that, if the Suez Canal was closed, Australia would be unable to rely on overseas supplies of aircraft in wartime. As the result of those representations, the Commonwealth issued its invitation to the British Air Mission.

The closing of the Suez Canal in wartime' is also the reason why the British Government wishes Australia to produce sufficient ’planes to supply rot only her own needs, but those of all British possessions east of Suez, including Aden, India, Ceylon, Burma, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Fiji, and possibly New Zealand and South Africa, if such production is possible. The proposal would entail a peacetime output of from 300 to 400 ’planes a year, and from 1000 to 1200 in the event of war.