HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1942-03-05, Page 7.• ,41.04r. 4-1 • •%k.14.‘1...iv
CANADIANS never shall wear the shackles
of slavery. This is the stern determination
of every man and woman in the Dominion.
But Freedo.m nuistbe fought for-Land paid for.
Today, more weapons, more equipment are
a. dire necessity. Victory Bonds will help
supply them.
All those serving at the battlefronts are
relying on our support. Back them up with
Victory Bonds.
Remember, every Victory Bond you buy is
a sound interest-bearing investment, secured
by the nation's entire resources.
A-44 ,r
National Woe Snake Committee, Ottawa, Cahatio
WING AM, ADVANCE-TIMES Mars(lay, March .5* 1942,
SUBSCRIBE To
CANADA'S SECOND
VICTORY
LOAN dropp
5.1
FARMERS ADVISED
TO BUY THEIR
CHEMICALS EARLY
Farmers who use chemicals and
chemical products to control insects,
diseases, or parasites affecting their
live stock, field crops, orchards or
their seeds are advised by the Agri-
. „....
and equipment neatly piled up where
soldiers had slept.
There were other things I saw that
day. The Canadians have been build-
ing roads to eliminate hazards and
obstacles that might slow up an arzuy
speeding towards the coast. We drove
along the wide Ridge Road with broad
valley and chalk hills on either side,
There was no speed limit. Then we
came to art ancient town with narrow,'
winding streets, The effects could be
imagined.
To ejiminate the worst of these,
two sweeping by-pass roads have been
built around English towns, They lack
the picturesqueness of the old roads
but they do speed up the through
traffic.
Finally, Colonel Mann gave us a
demonstration of the efficiency and
speed of the Reconnaissance Battal-
ion, He stepped over to one of the
wireless units and said a few words,
Inside of three minutes, a stream of
universal carriers and armored cars
was tearing down the road past the
spot where we stood, slowing down
for a corner and turning out of sight.
I don't, know how far away it was
when that wireless call went out,•but
that battalion must be trained to
standards that would do credit to a
city fire brigade.
Conference with Gen. McNaughton
.It was in the late afternoon that our
cars filed up a. driveway bordered with
hedges clipped in fancy shapes and
stopped in front .of another large man-
sion, this time the headquarters of
General MoNaughton—Lieut.-General
A. G. L. IvIeNau.ghton, to be more pre-
cise, The ensuing two hours were a-
mong our most interesting in. England-,
While we ate tea and sandwiches,
standing arqund .3 table in a room
whose windows looked out on what
must have been wonderful gardens in
peacetime, General McNaughton mov-
ed front one to another, He was part
icularly interested in ,elatives and
friends in Ottawa, for he had been
head of the National Research Coun-
cil there. As a noted scientist, as well
as a soldier,°I believe the the General
has a right to place almost the whole
alphabet after his name to indicate de-
grees and decorations. He did not look
well at that thne, and since then has
been forced to take a month off to
rest and recuperate, I have never met
anyone who knew him, who did not
characterize him. as "a fine fellow."
After that day, I could understand.
Having fed us the customary Eng-
lish afternoon tea, General McNaugh-
ton took' us upstairs to his own office.
It was large and airy, Maps hung on
all the walls: A dozen editors and a
few staff officers sat down at tables,
with the General in the centre of the
horseshoe, and he gave a short ad-
dress and then answered every -ques-
tion, There was no hesitation and no
evasion. iOceationally, having -told us
sornethin:&, he would say that that was
not for publication, but that was the
only restriction, He kept no secrets
from his visitors.
Of all the editors present, I seemed
to be the only one taking notes that,
afternoon; They were fairly complete,
Looking 'over them now, some months
later, I find that they are still timely
and val4ble, At that time, Moscow
and Petri:mgrad• were both threatened
by the ehemy. Since then, that situ-
ation imas;, changed, but without alter-
ing what .General McNaughton said of
the Russians and of the war in gener-
al. It was in this talk he coined the
famous phrase about the Canadian
Corps being "a dagger pointed at the
heart of perlin," More valuable, per-
haps, were his remarks on equipment,
training and reinforcements.
Feeling, that the important message
-which he, asked us to give Canadians'
Should not be condensed, I will devote
a separate article to the things which
General /4cNaughton said that day,
will be the next in the series,.
On other days, during my visit in
Britain, I met members of the Head-
quarters staff in London. One evening,
I had dinner with Major Charles
Stacey, whose task is to write the of-
ficial .history of the part which the
cause they are useful in war induSteles,
or because the factories in which they
were made have been converted to war
uses. Some products which are plenti-
ful may be in greater demand ,than,
usual because they can replace those
which have become scarce. Another .
reason for the shortage of supplieg
may be a scarcity of shipping space,
-both by water 4mmd by rail as the heavy
traffic of munitions of war interferes
with time normal movement .of civilian
supplies.
Manufacturars and suppliers of pest,
icicles used by farmers .have tried.to.
anticipate the season's ,requiretnent'S,
and the Agricultural Supplies Board
believes that reasonable stocks of such
chemicals are on hand. If farmers will
lay in ahead of time supplies of sprays
and dusts for all purposes, and dis-
infectants, they will help merchants to
avoid last-minute shortages. -
The advantage of early purchase is
that it enables local merchants to send -
to their dealers or jobbers fresh orders
so that their shelves may be restocked.
Jobbers and dealers can pass orders on..
t o the manufacturer and give him a
'chance to ask, where necessary, for
priorities to manufacture products for
agricultural purposes. -
think how
cultural Su li B d b t pp es oar tobuy M a
they need early this year, °
Many of these products are getting If you haven't much,
scarce because they come from over- little you have to get to improve your
seas, Other materials are scarce be- I situation.
Canadian Corps takes in time war,
nephew of Mrs. Perry, formerly
editor of the Elora E,:zpress. flefore
he took over this present work, he 'was
a professor of history. He will du- a
good job. Photographically, the story
of the corps is also being well looked
after, but there seem to be no Cana-
dian painters on the job, That is a
lack that should be remedied. I believe
trio young painters are with a unit in
Canada, but apparently there are none.
in England or Scotland.
Captains Gillis Purcell, our guide
that day, is back in Canada, He met,
with an' unfortunate accident a few ,
weeks after our visit, losing a leg,
when a canister, -being dropped. from
a plane, broke away from its para-
chute and struck him below the knee.
Conditions In Great Britain
and Other Countries
As seen and written by ,
Hugh Templin, Editor of the Fergus News-Record.
NW,
.117.0.11.11.11.01104111•101.1111.4111100.1111111.0.61•10
aminstabu.anwoua..3.1.2.1...a.u4ssualwomzboomwisesinoeloppeumueimamo.ams.o0.1.0.mao.o.mma.o.a...eamo....011.
Canadian Corps Head-
quarters Entertained
Visiting Editors
This is the tenth in the series of
articles written exclusively for the
'weekly newspapers of Canada by
Hugh Templin of the Fergus News-
Record. Mr. Templin flew to Great
Britain as a guest of 'the British
Council and was given an opportun-
ity to see what is being done in
Britain in Wartime. •
The South of England is full of
'Canadian soldiers. One is as apt to
see .a Canadian military uniform in
any part of the countryside south of
London as 'in Trafalgar Square itself
—and Trafalgar Square is the meeting
,place, for all Canadians on leave.
I was up early on the morning of
Friday, September 26th. Breakfast in
-the,Savoy consisted of tomato juice,
excellent rolls, 'tea, butter and mar-
malade. Breakfast was always a dif-
ficult meal. There were no eggs. The
coffee didn't taste like coffee and prob-
ably wasn't. :Ile butter was cut in
pieces the diameter of a shilling but
about half as thick, The waiter said
'the supply of marmalade was just a-
-bout done, Next month, there wouldn't
be any.
The )ituriber car was waiting at the
-door, with a Canadian flag over the
radiator. The driver crossed West-
minster bridge, skirted a noted cricket
ground and drove through a part of
London where there was about one
'building destroyed in every black. The
great Croydon aerodrome showed less
damage than might have been expect-
ed, for it was one of the first targets
in London to be bombed.
Troops on the Move
It was not long till we were in the
.area where Canadian troops were on
the move. That was the time when
most of the Army in Britain was en-
gaged in manoeuvres, trying out the
plan to repel invasion. In theory, the
Germans had landed in the Southeast
but had been repelled. Then it was
supposed tiat another landing had
been accomplished south of Hull and
-the defenders were moving up to the
East CoaSt,
In order to leave the life of the met-
,. Topolis undisturbed, the Canadian
Corps was working its way around
'behind London, crossing the Thames
between London and Reading and
'then heading northeast.
The day before, we had patted the
artillery and the tanks, hour after
hour, on the broad roads north of
London. On this fine morining, we
saw 'infantry on the move, truck after
Ituck.
The fine ear in which I was riding
.developed ignition trouble in a little
English village, A Chevrolet station
Wagon picked me up. The driver was
a chap Irani Hamilton, Laurie Aud-
fain, official photographer, sat in the
'back teat,, with his cameras and his
light meters draped around his neck.
He hoped to conic back to Canada
after the war and edit a weekly tlewa-
Men of 30, 40, 50
PM 111111, VIGO11, Siabnorrnall
'truant_ baring _pop, vIni, vitality1
"JAI Ostrest Tonle Tablets, Contains stimttlantto oyster bletnents--,
Ws to tbrmal. pen after $10, 40 or GO. Get a soonial introductory size for only
Wry. tins 'aid, to normal pets and *Int
oda* or sale at all goad drug kteremo,-
paPer. I answered all his question's as
well as I could.
Captain Purcell waved to us
and we stopped at a little park. The
other Canadian editors were there al-
ready. -
Down the narrow street, a steady'
stream of Canadian-built motor, trucks
passed towards the west. A soldier
in uniform directed traffic, keeping it
moving, and motorcyclists buzzed up
and down the lines, watching that
everything was in order. Evidently the
Canadian Army had done this kind of
thing before, for there was never a
hitch.
On the corner stood a...little bake
shop, but there wasn't a sign of any-
thing to eat in the windows or on the
counters. Two girls stood inside the
door and an occasional soldier, riding
with his legs over the back of an
army truck,- saw them and waved.
Lunch With Major General Odium
At noon, I was one of the six edi-
tors who. climbed out of cars in front
of the fine old house which was then
the headquarters of the 2nd Canadian
Division. I heard later that it was at.
one time a summer home of Queen
Victoria. There I met Major General
V. W. Odium, who has since gone to
Australia as • Canada's commissioner
to that country. Many of his staff
officers were with him, in spite of
the fact that they were more than busy
with the maneouvres. No doubt they
liked to talk to a group just over from
Canada.
The meal tasted good, After the ex-
otic cooking at the big hotels, this
was like Canada again. There was
soup, followed by steak (the only beef-
steak I saw in England), mashed po-
tatoes, carrots, jam, cheese, crackers,
rolls and apples. More marvellous,
there was a half-pound of butter in
each of the dishes. The officer beside
me told me it was margarine but I
wouldn't have known the difference.
Later, there was a discussion about
paint. Somebody said the English
paint didn't last any more: the oils
were all being used for, making marg-
arine. Another remarked: "Oh well,
you can't eat your paint and have it
too."
To complete the homelike atmos-
phere, there was a white table cloth
and a great bowl Of lovely English
roses, picked from the garden beside
the house,
Second Division Demonstrates
(That afternoon, I saw a demonstra-
tion of the work of the Canadian
Corps in the Aldershot area, There
was a formal inspection of, the Royal
Canadian Regiment, drawn up with its
motorized equipment in the back,
ground, In nearby fields; I saw the
soldiers using trench,mortars, a wide
variety of weapon's including totmny
gUnS, once the favorite weapons of
American gangsters, now useful fii
close-range fighting, There were port.
able wireless units, some small en-
ough to be carried on a man's back,
others mounted in trucks. The regi-
mot had plenty of Brett guns and
larger armti4ank weapons, Even the
rifles, with their shorter bayonets,
have several uses now.
About one quarter of the Canadian
troops were living in houses at that
time. Some of these were nearby.
They seemed to be quite new, and
were certainly modern. They were 1.18.
cd for sleeping only and every room,
except the bathrooms, bad blankets