AIR MINISTRY BULLETIN, 5.1.40. No.l. HOW A .c A.F. FIGHTER STATION IS RUN. (Not to be quoted as an Air Ministry announcement.) Three fighter squadrons are the new tenants of a north country Royal Air Force station, which a minor change in dispositions - common enough in wartime - had left vacant. For the smooth working of the station and the comfort of the personnel a complete new station organisation has been created. Here are the men who have done the job. Wing Commander "A" is the Commanding Officer. He has had nearly 25 years' service in the Royal Air Force and Royal Flying Corps, He won the D.F.C. in the last war, and wears ribbons for service on the North-West Frontier and in Iraq. His was the main responsibility to get the station working with as much speed and as little fuss as possible. He knows his job from A to Z, and spares neither himself nor those under him. Things began to move the moment he arrived. He has two Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve officers as his personal assistants. His Adjutant is Flight Lieutenant "B" , who saw his first war service in the Royal Naval Air Service and wears his pilot’s wings. He has been responsible for organising the guards and the police, for the detailing of officers and men for station duties, and looks after the Commanding Officer's correspondence. Most important of all, he is the link between his Commanding Officer and the officers of the station. Officer "C" is the Adjutant. He used Flying Assistant to be a stockbroker, and, in his earlier days, a rugger player. Now he looks after the headquarters office, the registration of letters and correspondence, the care of secret documents. Incidentally, he runs the men's messing very well. The/ 2 The Administrative Officer - a cross between the quarter- master and the second in command of an army unit - completes the list of the Commanding Officer's staff officers. Under his care come movements, stores, the control of public funds and quarters. As P.S.I. (President of the Service Institutes) he has had to look after all the men’s institutes, the officers’ and sergeants’ messes and the N.A.A.F.I. His business is to relieve the Commanding Officer of as much purely administrative work as possible. At this new station he has been kept more than busy. Flight Lieutenant "D", who carries out these duties, is also a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Officer. He served for two years on the coastal patrols in the last war, and then retired to a sheep farm in the Lowlands of Scotland. Airmen, he says, make a pleasant change from sheep. Besides these are a cipher officer, who is a retired army captain; a station defence officer, who was formerly in the Royal Air Force education service; and three equipment officers, one of whom used to manage a Yorkshire colliery and, as a tenor, is now much in demand at station concerts. The transport officer has a Military Cross to his credit, and - more important for his present job - used to run a garage on the Great West Road. In all, adding the Signals officer, two accountant officers, two medical officers and a dental officer, the Commanding Officer has a staff of 15 to help him on the administrative side of the new station's works. The list of officers doing operational jobs shows what a wide front the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve covers. Their civilian occupations include civil engineer, haulage contractor, wine merchant and carnation farmer. All have previous flying experience; but, like most ground staff officers at a modern Royal Air Force station, they have passed the age for active flying. The aim is to release every possible pilot from administrative for flying duties. AIR MINISTRY, Whitehall, S.W.1 5/1/40 - No. 2 R.A.F. OVER GERMAN SEAPLANE BASES. The Air Ministry announces: - During last night aircraft of the Royal Air Force successfully carried out reconnaissance flights over Forth West Germany and patrols over German seaplane bases in the Heligoland Bight. All our aircraft returned safely. AIR AFFAIRS. 5/1/40 No 3. FRENCH OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE The following official communique was issued this morning from French G.H.Q: Local patrol activity on both sides. MINISTRY OF LABOUR & NATIONAL SERVICE Press Notice 4/5.1.40. PARTIAL RELAXATION OF THE SCHEDULE OF RESERVED OCCUPATIONS FOR VOLUNTEERS FROM SCIENTIFIC OCCUPATIONS. The Ministry of Labour and National Service announces that the operation of the Schedule of Reserved Occupations is being relaxed in order to enable men at or above the age of reservation in scientific occupations to volunteer in approved cases for service in H.M. Forces. Such men have previously been able to join H.M. Forces in their professional capacity and the present relaxation of the Schedule is designed to enable those whose services are not required in a professional capacity in H.M. Forces or as civilians to volunteer for other forms of service. In order to secure that scientific workers shall not be withdrawn from civil work to the detriment of the National interest and that an adequate- reserve of scientific workers is maintained for essential services the Scientific Research Committee of the Central Register Advisory Council have kindly consented to consider applications from volunteers with a view to ensuring that relaxation is granted only in suitable cases. Any reserved scientific worker who wishes to volunteer should make application to the Ministry of Labour and National Service (National Service Department), Montagu House, Whitehall, London, S.W.1. The applicant will then be sent a form on which he will be asked to give inter alia his present occupation and and to state employer what branch of H.M. Forces he hopes, if possible, to join. Applicants will be asked to supply details of their career and experience except those who have already completed cards for the Central Register. Press Office, Ministry of Labour and National Service. Telephone Whitehall 6200. * H.Q.76-520 A.J. (5145—1429) Wt. 38887 —5885 20,000 12/39 T.S. 677 5/1/40 - No 5 PRESS NOTICE The Secretary of the Admiralty announces that the following candidates have been declared successful at the examination for the entry in January 1940 of Naval Cadets, Special Entry (Executive and Engineering), Paymaster Cadets and Probationary Second Lieutenants, Royal Marines. EXECUTIVE Name School. J.O. Coote Felsted School + F.M.M Le Oundle School B.H.G.M. Baynham Wimbledon College P.B.R. Vanneck Stowe School G.W. Rusbridger Malvern College G.W. Davidson Barrow Grammar School for Boys F.E.M. Hardy Marlborough College W.G. Dennison Kirkwall Grammar School + P.A.R. Gould Bradfield College A.J. Davidson Downside School, Near Bath. G.L. Stevens Wolstanton Grammar School G.C. Mitchell Marlborough College H.R. Clutterbuck Bradfield College J.S. Le Blanc Smith Radley College G.St. G.E. Grogan Eton College A.E.P. Deane Haileybury College + K.O.L. Burridge Blundells School C.H.S. Wilson Wellington College W.A. Mackenzie Eton College C.B.Mills Ardmore College Belfast I.J. Davis Glen Arum, Horsham G.T. Turner Berkhamsted J.A.Attwcod Sherborne A.E.H. Sladen King's School, Bruton C.R.L. Thonger Charterhouse N.G. Tyler Berkhamsted J.M. Hawkins Stonyhurst College + E.J.Bathe Newton College, Newton Abbot + 2 N.E.F. Dalrymple-Hamilton Eton College C.R.C. Morison Fettes College D.C.R. Walters Imperial Service College R. Durnford St. Albans M.G. Clark King Edward VII Sch., Johannesburg + denotes that candidate has studied with a tutor since leaving School. ENGINEERING 22. Name. School. R.M. Inches Melville College, Edinburgh R.E. Hartley Charterhouse R.L. Hewitt Marlborough College W.G. Mc. C.Burn Glasgow Academy S.C. Haynes Westcliff High School for Boys J.C.M. Howell St. Edward’s School, Oxford. P.R. Marrack Plymouth College D.L.J. Corner Hampton Grammar School A .F. Japp Campbell College, Belfast V.M. Lake Trinity College Glenalmond J.S. Machonochie St. Edmund’s School, Canterbury J.H.L. Spill King’s School, Bruton. J.H. Allen Crypt Grammar School, Gloucester. E.T.D. Hairs Trent College J.A.G. Mares King Edward VI Sch., Southampton + C.H. Humby Caterham School. + A.J. Crawford Fettes College, Edinburgh H. Gardner Weymouth College H.R.C. Young Westcliff High School M.F. Blackford Tonbridge School R.A. Paterson Tonbridge School + Denotes that candidate has studied with a tutor since leaving School. 3 PAYMASTER CADETS. Name School J.L.Le Mesurier Sutton Valence School R.K. Allan Wellington College P.A. Espeset Haileybury College W.A. Walters Hele’s School, Exeter. C.A.W. Weston Merchant Taylor’s School O.E.J. Wade Dulwich College + H.K. Dean Christ’s Hospital. Horsham A.L. Browning Wellington College M.A.R. Lidgey St. Edmund’s School, Canterbury C.P. Giles Giles Clifton College, Bristol + A.B. Holmes Haileybury College A.R. Cole William Hulme's Grammar School R.W. Harris Plymouth College J.S.T. Reilly Marlborough College A.R. Tammadge Dulwich College D. Joinson Christ’s College, Brecon T.H. Bradbury Christ’s Hospital D.A.A. Willis King’s School, Rochester G.A. Stoke Westcliff High School + Denotes that candidate has studied with a tutor since leaving school. + 4 ROYAL MARINES Name School P.J.F. Whiteley Bembridge School. D.H.Y. Dawson St. Edward’s School, Oxford. G.A.M. Ritson Uppingham School. C.J. Verdon Price’s School, Fareham. P.R. Kay Eastbourne College. J.E. Day Exeter School. J.J. Day Wellington. + B.H. Simpson Rugby School. B.I.S. Gourlay Eastbourne College. T.M.P. Stevens Portsmouth Grammar School. + I. P. Wray Highgate Schools B.W. Pierce Dover College. K.E. Light Monkton Combe Senior School. B.T.G. Shuldham St. Benet’s School, Ealing. B.E. Darby Charterhouse. T.P. Furlonge Dauntseys School, West Lavington. D. Deuchar Repton School. P.G.K. Tredray Portsmouth Grammar School. P.M. Dunkerley Bloxhall School. T.B.W. Jeans Sherborne School. + + Denotes that candidate has studied with a tutor since leaving School. ADMIRALTY, S.W.1. 5.1.40 - No.6. TIN HATS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, recently gained several recruits for the Memorable Order of Tin Hats in Southern Africa, This M.O.T.H. movement, as it is called, was instituted at Durban in 1927, its purpose being "to perpetuate the spirit of wartime comrade ship among ex-Service- men and to encourage mutual help among its members and to ensure a sound memory among ex-Servicemen and the public generally of the sacrifices made by men of all lands who fell on the field of battle in the service of their homeland." Each consituent body of this movement is termed a "Shell Hole," that at Bulawayo, just inaugurated, being the "Gulati Shell Hole." The name Gulati was selected because of its association with Rhodes and his meeting with the Matabele. "Gulati" is a combination of Bushman and Matabele words, and means "my cave". The movement co-operates with all kindred societies; such as Toc H. EMPIRE AFFAIRS. No.7. 5th JANUARY, 1940. M.A.F.129. JOINT ÀNNOUNCEMENT BY THE MINISTRY OF FOOD AND THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENTS SEED POTATO PRICE CONTROL Under the SEED POTATO PRICE CONTROL PLAN, it is intended that:- 1. The existing control of seed potato sales shall be extended in order to ensure reasonable prices to growers and planters of seed, to prescribe distributive margins and to safeguard supplies. The maximum prices now in force will be replaced by a system of prescribed growers’ prices, and maximum distributors' margins for resale. Larger margins will be allowed for the sale of mixed wagons and small quantities. 2. Sales by growers will be restricted to licensed first buyers. A special list of seed buyers consisting of wholesale seed merchants large retailers and semi-wholesalers has been prepared. Qualification for inclusion in this list is based mainly upon previous trading in seed potatoes with producers. It should be noted that the possession of a licence to purchase ware potatoes from producers does not qualify a buyer to purchase seed potatoes. 3. All licensed first buyers will be required to pay the prescribed prices to producers, to keep records of their transactions, and to pay a small levy to the potato insurance fund. The levy will be on a tonnage basis, and first buyers will be required to make returns upon which the levy will be assessed. 4. Producers will also be required to maintain a record of sales to facilitate the checking of transactions by the officers of the Ministry. Under this simple form of control growers, distributors and planters will be enabled substantially to maintain their usual trade connections. It is intended to introduce the scheme at the same time as the Ware Potato Price Control Plan. No.8. 5th January, 1940 M.A.F. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE ANNOUNCEMENT Postponement of Calling-up of Farm Workers Farmers who wish to take advantage of the arrangements recently announced for postponing the calling-up for military service of "key" farm workers are reminded that applications for men already registered but not called up must be made to their County War Agricultural Executive Committee on form N.S. 100A not later than Monday, 15th January, 194O. Applications received after that date cannot be considered. Copies of the form can be obtained from the Committees. 5 .1 .40 - No.9. RHODESIAN WAR FUND. Southern Rhodesia is taking a very comprehensive view of its duties in the war. Speaking recently on the Southern Rhodesian Central War Fund, the Governor, Sir Herbert Stanley, suggested that contributions should be made monthly, and as a supplement to existing contributions to charities. The fund, he said, was intended to provide comforts, entertainments and relief in connection with the war, primarily hut not exclusively for Southern Rhodesia's men. But one half of the money collected would be put aside for post-war requirements - a very real need, as past experience indicated. The first of the six committees managing and operating this fund has been set up at Bulawayo. EMPIRE AFFAIRS. MINISTRY OP PENSIONS ANNOUNCEMENT, 5/1/40 No.10. WAR SERVICE GRANTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE. In order to help him to administer the additional allowances in cases of hardship to officers and men of the fighting forces, the administration of which has been transferred from the Service Departments to the Ministry of Pensions, Sir Walter Womersley has now reconstituted the Advisory Committee. This Committee, which will in future tender him advice on the claims made, has been enlarged to a membership of eighteen. Mr. Charles Doughty, K.C., will continue to act as Chairman. The Vice-Chairman will be Sir George Mitcheson, M.P., and there will be five other Members of Parliament drawn from each of the three political parties in the House of Commons, namely, Captain W.F.Strickland,M.P., Miss Irene Ward, C.B.E., M.P., Major G. Owen, D.S.0., M.P,, Mr. W. Dobbie, M.P., and Mrs. J.L. Adamson, M.P. Other members will be Admiral Cresswell Eyres, D.S.O., O.B.E., Mr.F. Gould, and Captain Frank Nicholl, who were members of the earlier Advisory Committee: Mr. M.A. Reynard, J.P., who has intimate knowledge of Scottish conditions and is a member of the Unemployment Assistance Board; and Mr. A.G. Webb, representing the British Legion. There will also be one representative of each of the three Service Departments, and three of the senior officers of the Ministries of Pensions and of Labour, Claims for additional allowances have greatly increased in number and, with the fresh classes of men who, under the recent Proclamation, will be called up at intervals during the year, the volume is expected to be much heavier. Expeditious handling of the claims is essential, and in order to deal rapidly with the increased work, the Advisory Committee will, it is expected, have to sit in panels on three or four days a week as well as in full session when necessary. Already some 18,000 cases have been dealt with and every effort is being made to prevent any lag in the settlement of claims. 2 Arrangements have also been made to secure complete liaison between the Scottish Departments in Edinburgh and the Committee, in order that the Minister may have the fullest advice on local conditions in Scotland. THE WAR OFFICE, LONDON, S.W.1. 5th January, 1939. The War Office announces that the Reverend J. Lynn, C.B.E., B.A., D.D., Honorary Chaplain to the King, Deputy Chaplain-General to the Forces, retired on 1st January, 1940 and was succeeded by the Reverend P. Middleton Brumwell, M.C., Chaplain to the Forces, 1st Class, formerly Assistant Chaplain- Genera1, Western Command. The War Office, London, S.W.1. 5th January, 1940 The War Office that His The announces Majesty King has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Medal of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire to the undermentioned: - For Meritorious Service No. M.T. 507836 Lance-Naik Mathura Lal Sah No.2 Motor Ambulance Unit Royal Indian Army Service Corps. On the 31st May, Lance-Naik Mathura Lai Sah was off duty and walking along the road by the side of the lake at Naini Tal when his attention was attracted by a crowd of people at the edge of the lake who were shouting. He saw three men (afterwards ascertained to be Police Recruits) in the water, about 15 yards from the bank. One man managed to gain the steps leading down to the lake, but the other two were obviously in difficulties and unable to reach the shore. Without hesitation Lance-Naik Mathura Lal Sah thereupon plunged, fully clothed, into the lake and succeeded in bringing one man to land. He then dived in again and brought the second man in, the latter was exhausted and Lance-Naik Mathura Lal Sah had to revive him with artificial respiration. An enquiry was subsequently held by P.J. Moore, Esq., Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Naini Tal, from the findings of which, it is apparent that Lance-Naik Mathura Lai Sah acted with great gallantry and without regard for his personal safety. The Naini Tal lake is not only deep but is notorious for a thick growth of weeds near the banks which impede a swimmer. These facts render the gallantry of Lance-Naik Mathura Lal Sah all the more conspicuous and worthy of recognition. There is no doubt that one or both men would have been drowned, not being swimmers, had he not effected their rescue so promptly. 5/1/40. - No. 14. NEW ZEALAND'S PURCHASES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. New Zealand Government purchases in Great Britain during December were worth £86,000. The material bought chiefly comprised various electrical machinery and supplies obtained in Yorkshire and Lancashire. But the principal single item on the list, amounting to £32,400, was for textile machinery procured in Belfast. EMPIRE AFFAIRS 5/1/40. No. 15. In an interview this morning, further details came to light of the gallant hardihood and good seamanship of Malcolm Morrison, an eighteen-year-old seaman of the "Arlington Court" which was torpedoed by a submarine some 320 miles out in the Atlantic on November 16th. Morrison, whose home is near Stornoway, in the Hebrides, has only just been able to travel to London after the severe frostbites incurred during a seven-day voyage in an open boat when he was undoubtedly responsible for saying the lives of his six companions. Morrison’s father, an ex-fisherman, is a weaver of 62. He has two sons in the Royal Naval Reserve - one minesweeping and another in a patrol vessel; another in the army; and a fourth who is engaged in the whale fishery in the Antarctic from South Georgia and has not been home for many years. Morrison’s simple, unassuming story is one of the epics of the war. The "Arlington Court" was torpedoed in fierce weather with a West-south-westerly gale. Captain Charles Hurst, the master of the ship, estimated the force of the wind as eight, and the waves about thirty feet high. When the ship was torpedoed, just before 2 p.m. Morrison was asleep in pyjamas in his bunk, having , been keeping watch. He heard and felt the thud of the torpedo exploding by Number two hold, and ran on deck after snatching his lifebelt and whipping on a pair of dungaree trousers and some seaboots. Already the ship was heeling over and sinking. The crew were ordered to take to the boats, the captain and 22 men lowering and getting away in the starboard lifeboat. To cut short a long, adventurous story, the captain’s boat was rescued by a Dutch Steamer after a voyage of 170 miles in just under four days* The weather was still tempestous with a heavy sea. The Chief Engineer died from the third day, and was buried at sea. Three exposure on others nearly suffered the same fate. 2 Morrison and six others lowered a boat from the weather side of the steamer, and managed to get into her down the life lines. The moment she touched the water she was crashed into the ship’s side and filled. The crew had to bale for their lives as they drifted slowly to leeward. With Morrison in the boat were a fireman, a deck of sixteen, the ship’s trimmer, an able seaman, a boy cook and the galley boy, hardly one of whom was able to pull an oar or knew how to manage a boat. Morrison, who was trained for the Merchant Navy at the Sea School at Gravesend, went to sea with his father in a sailing fishing boat before he was fourteen. His experience was to stand him in good stead. As his boat drifted away from the sinking ship he saw the periscope of the submarine, which soon afterwards fired a second torpedo and sent the “Arlington Court” to the bottom. He and his companions had sight of the other lifeboat until dark, but there was so sign of it next morning. Early that day - Friday - they sighted a ship, obviously a neutral since she was illuminated. They tried to attract her attention with flares, but without success. Daylight came to find them alone in a waste of heaving, breaking water drenched and through, and - scantily clothed, through constantly having to bale to keep the boat afloat. Under Morrison's directions they stepped their mast and set the sailing off before blew from single lugsail, the wind which the west-south-west with gale force. Morrison alone knew how to steer. When his fingers were numb round the tiller and he was shivering with cold, he lashed it and took a spell at an oar to bring the warmth back to his froze n body. Sometimes he dozed while steering. sailed sighting the Saturday They on, a convoy on hut failing to attract attention. On the Sunday they sighted another vessel/ 3 vessel, but were not seen. It was still stormy, with fierce squalls and heavy showers. The men had no oilskins and were beginning to give up all hope. Water was very short, for one of the casks was found to be impregnated with salt, and the other was only half full. Apart from this they had only a few tins of condensed milk, and some corned beef and biscuits. The water had to be strictly rationed, Morrison ensuring this by keeping possession of the dipper. The men could not eat the salt beef: their throats were too parched and swollen. Came Monday, with little or no water left, but a slight improvement in the weather. Still they sailed on, with the wind gradually drawing round to the southward. They saw no ships; while the Tuesday was another blank day* Even baling out the boat had become an effort. Morrison, who had been steering practically all the time, could hardly straighten his fingers. The cold was terrible. At 5 a.m. on the Wednesday they sighted a tanker which at first altered course away from them. Finally they succeeded in attracting her attention and managed to run alongside, the boat’s crew practically helpless. The tanker lowered a pilot ladder. The men half scrambled, were half pulled, up it, only to reel helplessly when they reached the deck. Their feet, wet through during the whole of the seven-day voyage, had swollen to a prodigious size and had no feeling in them. Rescued, they were well cared for, finally to be landed at a South coast port where they were taken to hosnital. Morrison, however, refused to be treated as an invalid, and went straight back to Stornoway, where he has been recovering from his experience until leaving for London five days ago. His tale was told with extreme modesty and a simplicity that \ was convincing. It did no seem to occur to him that he had done anything at all outstanding. Yet that open boat voyage in which an eighteen-year-old Hebridean seaman saved the lives of his boat’s by his hardihood, and excellent seamanship, will crew endurance, assuredly pass down to of the epic tales of the posterity.as one Merchant Navy. NWAL AFFAIRS. 5/1/40 - No.16. NATIONAL YOUTH COMMITTEE. The recent suggestion by Lord Derby for the employment of youths between school and military age has raised several points which have already been dis- cussed by the National Youth Committee and it is expected that the whole matter will again be considered by them at their next meeting. The Committee were to have met on 17th January but to the indisposition of the owing Chairman, Mr. Kenneth Lindsay, M.P., this meeting has been post- poned until February. BOARD OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCEMENT. The Secretary to the Ministry of Transport makes the following announcement:- In September last the Minister of Transport announced that insurers had agreed for three months to continue and to extend, without any general increase in rates, existing policies for ”grouped” motor goods vehicles, although the Emergency Powers (Road Vehicles and Drivers) Order, 1939, removed certain restrictions on A, B and C licences under the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933. The Minister is to that the insurers glad announce have agreed to extend the arrangement until February 29th, 1940. Ministry of Transport, Metropole Buildings, Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C.2. 5th January, 1940. (440). 5/1/40 - No.18. ’S NORTHERN IRELAND WAR EFFORT. Fighting Services and the Home Front. In the early months of 1940 Northern Ireland’s war time activities will be conducted with increasing energy and momentum. Already Ulster has made a substantial contribution to the man-power of all branches of the fighting services. Officers and men who joined the Forces between the autumn crisis of 1938 and the critical days of last summer are now on active service abroad, and the flow of volunteer recruits to the Navy, Army and Air Force continues. As the age groups are called for training in Great new up Britain there will be a corresponding influx of young Ulster- men into the Defence Services. In the Auxiliary Services, Ulster women have come forward in large numbers and Commanding Officers have paid high tribute to their energy and ardour. Northern Ireland’s peace time industries have been successfully adapted to war time production for the requirements of all the services. The value of this phase of Ulster’s war effort is increased by the fact that in Belfast and throughout the Province there is a valuable reservoir of skilled labour of which effective use is being made. At the same time the linen industry, which ranks next to agriculture as the largest in Northern Ireland, is seizing every opportunity of expanding its output for the export market, particularly the United States. The problem of maintaining a true balance between production for the fighting services and expansion of exports is being closely watched in order that Ulster’s resources may be used to the maximum advantage in the national interest. Linked with the activities of the linen industry is the effort being made to now increase the acreage of the flax crop. The Ministry of Agriculture as part of its policy for bringing an additional 250,000 into cultivation is aiming at increasing the flax acreage to 50,000 acres. It is hoped that the Ministry of Supply will be able to fix a price for this year’s crop at a figure which will encourage farmers to grow substantially more flax. The dual aim is to make Northern Ireland much less independent on imported food stuffs for human consumption and for farm stock, and at the same time to provide much more raw material for the linen industry at a time when flax supplies from the Baltic countries have been interrupted by war conditions. The Minister of Agriculture in a personal message to the agricultural community has assured them of an adequate supply of seed to meet their needs when the tillage area is extended. The Ministry has given the farmers a strong lead on the use of tractors and other mechanical appliances, and a demonstration of tractors at Stormont next week will enable farmers to see the possibilities of all available makes, and to choose the tractors which best meet their individual requirements. The exceptional importance of the occasion will be marked by the presence of the Prime Minister (Lord Craigavon) and the Minister of Agriculture (Sir Basil Brooke). EMPIRE AFFAIRS. EMPIRE AFFAIRS. 5/1/40. No. 19. DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA’S RESOURCES. INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. The Union Government is doing its utmost to ensure that South African industry and commerce should suffer the least possible dislocation from the effects of war, and various measures have been and are being taken with that end in view. The National Supplies Control Board has been conducting extensive investigations into the essential requirements of the country’s trade and industry* It has also been engaged in drawing up a list of commodities and materials which are essential and to which priority should be given in imports from overseas* made the National Control reveal Enquiries by Supplies Board the desirability of a comprehensive survey of the Union’s industrial and agricultural requirements* This survey would be of great assistance to the Government in carrying out its policy of assisting trade and industry. It will be of still greater assistance to the Government in indicating precisely where opportunities exist for the expansion cf local industry and commerce* The concentration of overseas countries upon essential war activities has made it necessary for South Africa to depend more upon its own resources than upon commodities and materials that have been imported* These circumstances create opportunities for the development of South African resources under favourable conditions, and the Government is determined to give every encouragement possible to the establishment of enterprises aimed at developing the Union's own resources. For these reasons the Government have decided to appoint a Commission to carry out a survey of the Union’s industrial and agricultural requirements. The Commission will make a compre- hensive investigation into the Union’s industrial position* It will ascertain the country’s industrial and agricultural requirements and having determined investigate to these, will what extent the needs industry and agriculture can be met of from the Union’s own resources. Where those resources have not yet been exploited and developed,the Commission will examine what steps may be necessary to make those resources available for use by South African industry and agriculture* Similarly the Commission will be asked to suggest ways and means of increasing the output of those resources which have already been partly exploited# Generally the Commission will endeavour to indicate along what lines there is scope for the expansion of the Union's pro- ductive capacity in order to meet the essential needs of agri- culture and of the manufacturing and mining industries* It is obvious that such an investigation can result in the establishment of a very far reaching plan for the development of South Africa as a great industrial, mining and agricultural country. Many South Africans with expert knowledge have drawn attention to the huge natural resources largely unexploited, of which South Africa can boast* Sources of great natural wealth have remained untapped largely because the Union is a young country with a comparatively small population* It/ 2 It has always been the Prime Minister’s belief that, given opportunity and encouragement, South Africa will become a great and prosperous industrial country, with agriculture and mining progressing simultaneously along parallel lines. General Smuts’ vision is shared by all members of the Union Government. It may well be that the present situation has given South Africa the opportunity under favourable conditions to embark upon a rapid and extensive development and to use its own resources. For these reasons the greatest importance is attached to the investigations of the Commission, It is obvious, however, that for the development of the Union’s resources certain materials that cannot be produced locally under existing conditions will be required. The Commission will also deal with this aspect of the question. The Commission will be composed of six South Africans who in their respective spheres are recognised authorities. The chairman is to be C. Boyd Varty, managing director of Stewarts and Lloyds, South Africa Limited, Other members are: Hans Pirow, former Government Mining Engineer and now manager of the Central Mining and Investment Corporation, Professor H.D. Leppan, a member of the National Marketing Council, Dr. S.H. Haughton, Director of the Union Geological Survey, Dr. H.J. Vaneck, Consulting Chemical Engineer to the Anglo-Transvaal Consolidated Investment Company, and Dr. F.J. de Villiers, Industrial Adviser to the Union Department of Commerce and Industries. For Press and Broadcast. 5/1/40 - NO.20. Mr. Mabane, M.P. and the Civil Defence Training Scheme. Officers designated as Regional Training Officers from each of the twelve Civil Defence Regions have been undergoing a course of instruction in London this week so that they may undertake new duties in connection with the Training Scheme. It will be followed by courses of instruction for officers from Scheme- making local authorities. Mr. W. Mabane, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Home Security, addressed the members of this week's course today (Friday). He said that the training of the full-time A.R.P. personnel had proceeded continuously from the very first day of the war. Much of the work in time of air-raids required a high degree of skill and all the services had to be operated as a co-ordinated whole both in the area of the local authority to which they belonged and possibly over a much wider area. That demanded efficient staff work, not merely in the control centres of the local authorities, but in the Regional Headquarters and in the Ministry of Home Security as well. “The scheme we are now launching", said Mr, Mabane, “is intended to be developed simultaneously from the top and from the bottom, to be concerned with the difficult operational staff problems, and, no less, with the training of the units, so that they will be thoroughly capable of carrying out the orders given to them". The staff problems, Mr. Mabane continued, could be tackled by the development of a high degree of willing co-operation between Departments, Regional Officers, and Local Authorities. A Co-ordinating Committee had been set up in the Ministry, on which all concerned in actual operations at Headquarters were represented to plan continuously large-scale tactical exercises which would enable them to know where operational weaknesses exist and to find the remedies. Equal attention was to be given to individual and unit training. Training could not be considered complete unless there was reasonable assurance that in time of raids the various services would operate in the manner assumed for “paper battles". It was hoped, therefore, that the authorities would arrange for the organisation of the training which, under co-ordination by the controller, would be carried out by the heads of each of the services, working closely with the Regional Training Officer. Mr. Mabane believed that the keenness and morale of the men and women who were on duty for long hours each day would be kept high if their hours of duty, in present conditions, were filled with a carefully planned routine of training and recreation. It was not only necessary to train individuals and units. Units must be exercised in combination, as was already being done. Much would be gained from regularising this form of training and pooling the experience gained. MINISTRY OF HOME SECURITY. 5/1/40 - No.21. PRESS NOTICE Director of Stores - Appointment. The appointment of Mr. E.S. Wood, Deputy Director of Stores, as Director of Stores in succession to Mr. W.J. Gick, C.B., C.B.E., has been deferred. Admiralty, S.W. 5/1/40 ...... No. 22. PRESS NOTICE Leave for men living in the Western Islands. With reference to A.F.O. 3582/39, Their Lordships have decided that, in view of the time required to travel to and from the Western Islands and the difficulty incidental to train and steamer connections, Commanding Officers may at their discretion accord special treatment to men concerned, opertional requirements permitting. ADMIRALTY. WHITEHALL. S.W. 5.1.40 - No.23. PRESS NOTICE. Living Entertainment at Royal Naval and Royal Marine Shore Establishments in the United Kingdom. The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, through the assistance of the Theatrical and Musical Profession, are able to secure the services of professional artists to provide entertainment varying from small concert parties to full variety shows, and the following gives information as to how far the Navy may benefit by this arrangement. The provisional price for admission will he approximately: - Officers ... 1/- and 6d. Ratings ... 6d. and 3d. per head, according to the part of the ’House’ occupied. Friends and relatives of personnel may he admitted at the discretion of the local Commanding Officer, who should grant or withhold permission according to the special circumstances obtaining, including that of security. The responsibility of the N.A.A.F.I. will be the provision of the artists on the spot, printing and issue of the tickets, together with the collection of the money, which will he done by N.A.A.F.I. employees. All arrangements for the hall must he made by the establishment concerned. It will be clear that the N.A.A.F.I. must have an indication of the probable receipts from admission before they can say whether an entertainment, on a given scale, can be provided, and it will be necessary to provide them with details of the nature of the hall and its capacity when requesting arrangements for entertainment. If an Establishment desires this form of entertainment, application, giving longas notice as possible, should be made direct to the following: - The Director of Entertainments, (Navy) Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, W.C.2. Telephone No. Temple Bar: 7456. ADMIRALTY, S.W. 5/1/40. - No. 24. PRESS NOTICE Naval War Pensions Regulations - Removal of Limitation on the number of Children’s Additions to Disablement Pensions. In the Naval War Pensions Regulations issued by the Ministry of Pensions (A.F.O.3565/39) a limit was placed on the number of children in respect of whom disablement pensioners may receive additional allowances. This limitation has now been removed and allowances will be paid in respect of all eligible children. The rate of allowance for each additional child now included will be that provided for the last child shewn as eligible in Clauses 14, 26 and 33, and in Tables 3 and 4 of the First Schedule, of the Regulations promulgated in A.F.O. 3565/39. ADMIRALTY, WHITEHALL. S.W. Press Notice P.N. 193. MINISTRY OF FOOD Great Westminster House, Horseferry Road, London, S.W.1. WHOLESALE MEAT DISTRIBUTION UNDER THE MEAT AND LIVESTOCK CONTROL SCHEME When full control of meat and livestock is introduced on January 15th, wholesale meat distribution will be operated through eight Wholesale Meat Supply Associations, acting as agents of the Ministry of Food for this purpose. These Associations will comprise all the meat wholesalers in the country. After midnight on January 15th, individual meat wholesalers will cease for the present to trade on their own account. Any meat wholesaler who has not already joined the Association in the area in which he conducts his business should apply to the Secretary for membership without delay. The names and addresses of the Secretaries of the eight Associations and the counties covered by them follow below. In any case of doubt, application should be made to the Wholesale Meat Trade Supervisor, Ministry of Food, Great Westminster House, Horseferry Road, S.W.1. 1. North Eastern Area: The Counties of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Secretary: Stanley Scotter, F.S.A.A., North Eastern Area Wholesale Meat Supply Association, Belmont, Wood Lane, Leeds 6. (Tele. No. Leeds 54171/3) 2. North Western Area: The Counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, Cheshire, part ofDerby, Flint, Denbigh, Anglesey, Caernarvon, Merioneth and Montgomery. Secretary: E. Shay/, F.C.A., North Western Area Wholesale Meat Supply Assn., 14, Lancaster Road. Birkdale, Southport, Lancs. (Tele. No. Birkdale 67077) 3. Midland Area: The Counties of Stafford, Hereford, Worcester, Shropshire, Warwick, part of Derby, Nottingham, Lincoln, Leicester, Northampton, Rutland, part of Huntingdon and part of the Isle of Ely. Secretary: W. Stanley Lane, F.C.A., Midland Area Wholesale Meat Supply Association, 3, Sherlock Street. Birmingham, 5. (Tele. No. Midland 2967-9) 4. South Eastern Area: The Counties of Essex, Hertford, Surrey, Kent, (excluding London) Sussex, Hampshire, part of Dorset, Berkshire, Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford, part of Huntingdon, Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk, and part of the Isle of Ely. Secretary: A.P.I. Sargent, South Eastern Area Wholesale Meat Supply Assn., Dralda. House, Crendon Street, High Wycombe, Bucks. (Tele. No. High Wycombe 1900-1909) 1. 5. London: Approximately the Metropolitan Police Area. Secretary: S.E. Ostler, A.C.C.S., London Area Wholesale Meat Supply Association, Maxwelton, Hale Lane, Mill Hill, London, N.W.7. (Tele. No. Mill Hill 3620-9) 6. South Western Area: The Counties of Cornwall, part of Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucester, Monmouth, Brecknock, Radnor, Glamorgan, Carmarthen, Cardigan and Pembroke. Secretary: R, Burford, South Western Area Wholesale Meat Supply Association, Ministry of Food, Bute Street, Cardiff. (Tele, No. Cardiff 8034-8036). 7 South of Scotland Area: The Counties of Midlothian, East Lothian, West Lothian, Berwick, Roxburgh, Peebles, Selkirk, Dumfries, Renfrew, Lanark, Argyll, Bute, Ayr, Clackmannan, Dumbarton, Stirling, Kirkcudbright and Wigtown. Secretary: J.W, Boyd. South of Scotland Area Wholesale Meat Supply Association, Market Hotel, Graham Square, Glasgow, E.l. (Tele, No. Bridgeton 4351) 8. North of Scotland Area: The Counties of Angus, Perth, Fife, Kinross, Aberdeen, Banff, Kincardine, Moray, Orkney, Zetland, Nairn, Ross and Cromarty, Inverness, Sutherland and Caithness. Secretary: A.B. Bowman, North of Scotland Area Wholesale Meat Supply Association, 20, Reform Street, Dundee. (Tele, No. Dundee 2004) Transition to Full Control All private slaughtering will cease from midnight on Sunday, January 14th. The Ministry will purchase from wholesalers all meat and livestock in their hands at midnight on Monday, January 15th. This will give wholesalers the opportunity of selling to retailers on January 15th the bulk of the meat from slaughterings at the weekend. This meat will be purchased at prices to be announced. In the event of any wholesaler being dissatisfied with the price offered, he will have a right of appeal in the first place to the Area Meat and Livestock Officer and then if necessary to the Ministry. Appeals must be accompanied by all relevant particulars such as sale notes. Livestock will be purchased as follows:- (l) when it is in a selected slaughterhouse, by the Slaughterhouse Manager. In this case the price paid will be on the ascertained overall dead-weight basis. (2) when it is elsewhere, through the ordinary collecting centre procedure. 5th January, 1940. 2. 5/1/40 - No. 26. Ministry of Food Announcement. HOME-MADE MARMALADE. The Minister of Food has decided to make a special issue of sugar for domestic marmalade making. A maximum allowance will be made of 3 lbs. of sugar for each registered consumer, where evidence is produced to the Local Food Office of the purchase of 1 lb. of marmalade oranges for each 3 lbs. of sugar allocated. This Notice supersedes an earlier statement on the subject. MINISTRY OF FOOD 3.1.40 - No. 27. ANNOUNCEMENT. RATIONING - CHILDREN HOME FROM SCHOOL. Some parents who have children home from boarding school are apparently in doubt as to what they should do with the children’s ration books when rationing begins. The children should be registered with local retailers in the same way as their parents. When the children return to school, they should take their ration books with them and hand them over to the matron or other person in charge of the catering. The fact that the children are registered in a different area from that in which the school is situated does not matter. The War Office, London, S.W.1. 5th January, 1940. REPRESENTATIVE COLONELS COMMANDANT FOR 1940. The War Office announces that the following appointments have been approved for the year 1940:- Major-General G.M. Lindsay, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., reti red pay Reser v e of Offic er s, , Colonel Commandant , Royal Tank Regiment. Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Karslake, K.C.B., K.C.S.I., C.M.G., D.S.O., retired pay, Reserve of Officers, Colonel Commandant, Royal Artillery. Major-General S.H. Sheppard, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., retired pay, Colonel Commandant, Royal Engineers. Colonel (temporary Brigadier) R.H. Willan, D.S.0., M.C., retired pay, Reserve of Officers, Colonel Commandant, Royal Corps of Signals. Major-General W.K. Tarver, C.B., C.M.G., retired pay, Reserve of Officers, Colonel Commandant, Royal Army Service Corps. Lieutenant-General Sir Harold B. Fawcus, K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., D.C.L., M. retired pay, Reserve of Officers, B., Colonel Commandant, Royal Army Medical Corps. Major-General C. D .R. Watts, C.B., C.M.G., retired pay, Colonel Commandant, Royal Army Ordnance Corps. 5/1/40. No. 29, PRESS NOTICE. Not to be sent out of this country before 10 p.m. to-night, 5th January. For morning papers only. Not to be published on the Club Tapes or by broadcast or in any other way before the morning of Saturday, 6th January, 1940* The Rt. Hon. Leslie Hore-Belisha, M,P. , Secretary of State for War, and the Rt. Hon. Lord Macmillan, G.C.V.O., Minister of Information, having tendered their resignations, His Majesty has been graciously pleased to accept them. The King has been pleased to approve the following appointments Secretary of State for War .. The Rt. Hon. Oliver Frederick George Stanley, M.P. President of the Board of Trade. Sir Andrew Rae Duncan, G. B.E. Minister of Information Sir John Charles Walsham Reith, G. C. V. O., G. B. E. 10. Downing Street, Whitehall, S.W.l. COPY. WAR OFFICE, Whitehall, S.W.l, January 5th, 1940. My dear Prime Minister, I wish I had felt able to accept the important office which you have been good enough to offer me in your reconstruct- ed Government, but for the reasons I gave to you verbally this morning, I regretfully cannot see my way to do so. I shall, however, naturally, give all the support in my power to the firmest conduct of the war until it is brought to a successful issue. I am glad to think that there is no difference of policy between us. On the personal side, I recall the kindness you have shown to me in our relationship during the many years we have been together. In particularly at the War Office, I my work, have relied on your understanding co-operation in the inspiring task of reorganizing and preparing the Army for war. Yours very sincerely, (Signed) LESLIE HORE-BELISHA. COPY. 10, Downing Street, Whitehall, S.W.l. 5th January, 1940. My dear Leslie, It was with very great regret that I received your decision not to accept the office which I offered you in the course of the reconstruction of the Government which I have in hand. At the same time I fully understand and respect the reasons you gave me. I should like now to pay my sincere tribute to your work at the War Office and to the important reforms you have carried out. It is a great satisfaction to me that there is not now and never has been any difference between us on policy and in particular on the necessity for prosecuting the war with the utmost determination to a successful issue. I should like also to thank you for the loyal support you have always given me and for those pleasant personal relations which have characterised our association over so many years. Yours ever, (Signed) NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN. The Rt. Hon. Leslie Hore-Belisha, M.P. COPY, MINISTRY OF INFORMATION, Senate House, Street, W.C. 1 5th January, 1940. My dear Prime Minister, You have been good enough to tell me that impending changes which you have in view as well as the embarrassment which has been caused by the fact that I have not a seat in the House of Commons render it expedient that I should place my appointment at your disposal. I should not for a moment stand in the way of any step which would promote the efficiency of the Ministry and I readily leave myself in your hands. I confess that it is with some regret that I relinquish the task which you did me the honour to entrust to me at the out- break of the War for I have found it most interesting and latterly full of the promise of increasing usefulness, but I shall always recall with pleasure my brief experience of office under you. Yours sincerely, (Sgd.) MACMILLAN. The Right Hon. Neville Chamberlain, M.P., Prime Minister COPY 10, Downing Street, Whitehall, 5th January, 1940. My dear Macmillan, Thank you for your letter of the 5th January in which you express your willingness to put your office at my disposal with a view to facilitating other rearrangements in the Government and removing the embarrassment which has been experienced owing to the fact that you have not yourself been able to speak for your office in the House of Commons * Let me say at once how deeply I appreciate the public spirit which has prompted, your letter and which indeed, you showed so conspicuously when I first asked you to undertake a new and extremely difficult task. I am grateful to you also for the efforts you have made to improve organisation and effectiveness of the Ministry. the You have, I believe, gone far to remove the defects which were perhaps inevitable in setting up a new and complicated machine in the shortest possible time. I hope that upon the foundations you have laid it will now be possible to build up the Ministry until it fulfils all that is required of it. I am, however, bound to recognise the of its in the House of Commons and importance representation it it turns out, that the rask which remains wll may well be, as in the hands of Minister who his own case prove easier a can put to the House. I have accordingly decided, though with great regret, that the right course for me is to submit your resignation to His Majesty. Yours sincerely, (Sgd, NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN« The Rt. Hon. The Lord Macmillan, G.C.V.O. 5/1/40. - No. 30. MRS ANTHONY EDEN VISIT TO OVERSEAS TROOPS HOSTEL This afternoon Mrs Anthony Eden, wife of the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, visited the King George and Queen Elizabeth hostel for Oversea Troops from the Dominions, India and the Colonies. The Hostel was instituted by the Joint Empire Societies’ War Hospitality Committee under the chairmanship of Lord Milne and is now run by the Victoria League. Mrs Eden, who was accompanied by Rear- Admiral Bromley, the Ceremonial and Reception Secretary of the Dominions and Colonial Office, found an opportunity of talking with several of the voluntary workers, some of whom were ladies who came over from the Dominions, and signed the visitor’s book on leaving. EMPIRE AFFAIRS 5/1/40. - No. 31. FRENCH OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE (Evening) The following communique was issued this evening from the French G.H.Q.: - Nothing of importance to report .