ON THE UP-GRADE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 October 1942, Page 3

ON THE UP-GRADE

STRENGTH OF UNITED NATIONS PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT BROADCASTS. WHOLE AMERICAN NATION A FIGHTING FORCE. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) WASHINGTON, October 12. “The American people are united as never before in their determination to do a job and do it well —the whole nation is becoming one great fighting force,” President Roosevelt declared in a worldwide broadcast. “Some,” he continued, “are soldiers, some are sailors, and some are civilians; some are fighting five miles up in aeroplanes, and some are fighting in mines deep down in the earth. Few of us are decorated for heroic achievement, but all can have the deep, permanent inner satisfaction that comes from doing the best we know how, each playing an honourable part in the great struggle to save democratic civilisation. Whatever our circumstances and opportunities, we are all in it. “Our spirit is good, and we Americans and our allies are going to win. Don’t let anyone tell you anything different.” These, said the President, were the main things,he observed on his recent tour of inspection. With every passing week the war had increased its scope and intensity, he went on to observe. The strength of the United Nations was on the upgrade, and the Axis leaders, on the contrary, knew they had already reached their full strength. Their steadily mounting losses in men and, material could not be fully replaced. Germany and Japan were already realising what the inevitable result would be when the total strength of the United Nations hit them at additional places. “The war of nerves is now becoming a boomerang,” he continued. “The Axis leaders have begun to apologise to their own people for the repulse of their vast forces at Stalingrad, and their enormous casualties. They are compelled to beg their overworked people to rally their weakened production. AXIS HASTE & FURY. “They are proclaiming that a second front is impossible, and at the same time are desperately rushing troops in all directions and stringing barbed wire all the way from the coast of Finland to the islands of the eastern Mediterranean.

“Meanwhile, they are driven to increase the fury of their atrocities. We have ' made it clear that the United Nations do not seek reprisals against the populations of Germany, Italy and Japan, but the ringleaders and their brutal henchmen must be named, apprehended, and tried in accordance with the judicial processes of criminal law.”

Mr Roosevelt said he expected to make other trips similar to his recent one, and for similar purposes. “Till I made my recent tour I had not thoroughly visualised the American war effort,” he said. “It was deeply impressive.” “The United States has been at war for only 10 months, and has engaged in the enormous task of multiplying the armed forces many times. We are by no means at full production level yet, but I could not help asking myself on my trip where we would be today if we had not begun to build many factories for this huge increase more than two years ago, more than a year before war was forced upon us at Pearl Harbour.

“We have also had to face the problem of shipping. Ships in every part of the world continue to be sunk by enemy action, but the total tonnage of shipping coming from the American, Canadian and British shipyards, has daily increased so fast that we are getting ahead of our enemies in the bitter battle of transportation. “We have had to enlist many thousands of men for the mercantile marine, and they arc serving magnificently, risking their lives every hour so that guns, tanks, planes, ammunition .and food may be carried to the heroic defenders of Stalingrad and all the United Nations’ other forces throughout the world.”

WOMEN IN PRODUCTION BATTLE. The President said he was impressed on his tour by the number of women employed in skilled manual work. Within a year there would probably be as many women as men working in the war production plants. “Having seen the quality of the work and the workers on the production lines, and coupling these observations with the reports of the performance of our weapons on the fighting fronts, I can say that we are getting ahead of our enemies in the battle of production,” he said. “In order to keep stepping up our production we have added millions of workers to the nation’s total labour force, and additional millions must be found as the new factories come into operation. We must learn to ration manpower and must use older men and more women, and even grown boys and girls, to replace men of military age and fitness. We must cease the wastage of labour in all non-essential activities.”

Discussing the training of the fighting forces, Mr Roosevelt said, “a division with an average age of 23 or .24 is a better fighting unit than one with an average age of 33 or 34. The more of such troops we have in the field the sooner the war will be won and the smaller will be the casualties. Therefore I believe it will be necessary to lower the present minimum age for service from 20 to 18.

“Men in the army, navy, and marines are receiving the best possible training, equipment, and medical care. Good training will save many lives in battle, and the effectiveness of our combat units will depend on the quality of their leadership and the wisdom of the strategic plans.” MAJOR ALLIED DECISIONS. The President added that the plans would not be decided by those who expounded their views in the Press. They would be left to the military leaders of the United Nations, who were in substantial agreement on the plans. Many major decisions on strategy had been made. One, on which all were agreed, related to the necessity of diverting enemy forces from Russia and China to other theatres of war by new offences against Germany and Japan. “We are mindful of the countless millions of people whose future liberty, whose very lives depend upon a permanent victory for the United Nations. The objective today is clear and realistic. It is to destroy completely the military power of Germany, Italy and Japan to such good purpose that their threat against us and all the other United Nations cannot be revived a generation hence. We are united in seeking the kind of victory that will guarantee that our grandchildren can grow up and under God, live their lives free from constant threat of invasion, destruction, slavery and violent death.”