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Page Four - The Commando - January 1944 VICTORY IS OUR BUSINESS! THE COMMANDO Published monthly for and about those employed at the Pickering Works of Defence Industries Limited, Ajax, Ontario W. C. NEWLAND Editor MILDRED F. HEYWOOD Assistant Editor Photographs by W. C. Newland GATEHOUSE BUILDING - TELEPHONE 384 VOLUME 2 - JANUARY, 1944 - NUMBER 6 1944 (columns 1 & 2) A new year is upon us and it is significant in that this is the year that some of the so-called experts tell us Hitler and his armies will be crushed into defeat. Some of our leaders have told us that victory over Germany is possible this year. Well, from the results being achieved by the Russian Army, the Allied Air Forces and the Americans in the South Pacific, we can very complacently think that victory will be sure in 1944. The possibilities for the year are certainly very bright, but Hitler is not finished yet. He has shown he will never sue for peace and we can be sure that as he slowly slinks back into his "fortress of Europe" he will order his armies to fight to the death so as to prolong the war in the hope that the Allied nations will accept a negotiated peace. Reports from Italy prove this. There, the German Army is fighting the fight of which it is capable. Then, too, they are making the Russians pay a terrible price for every mile they are forced back. No, Germany is not finished yet. Let's not forget that. According to reports emanating from The Office of Economic Warfare in Washington, Germany's war industries are still producing enough materials of war to successfully fight a defensive war for several years. That office also reports that Japan, too, is a long way from defeat, for within the central zone of the Japanese Empire, which includes the Island of Japan, Korea and North China, there are enough war factories to produce all the weapons they need to fight a long, defensive war. Also, it is reported the Japs have a reserve of four million men, untouched, because up to now they have not been needed. Yes, the year 1944 can mean a lot to the Allied peoples, for it will see Germany licked, or it will see the enemy successfully carry on the defensive fight they have now started and make the war last indefinitely. It is up to us on the home front. We've got to give our Armies, Navies and Air Forces all they need to continue and increase the tremendous job they are now doing on all battlefronts. Let's look to the future. Let's resolve to help make peace come sooner, by working every shift we can in 1944 to make more and better shells. Let's resolve, too, to buy more War Savings Certificates and Victory Bonds. We'll be helping Canada that way and helping ourselves by building an after-the-war bank account. That bank account of Bonds and Certificates will enable us to pass the readjustment period which will follow the peace. THE COMMANDO SPEAKS Lately the daily papers have been running news items on the shortage of paper in this country. The shortage is acute enough to warrant the government taking many means to stop unnecessary waste of paper, promoting waste paper drives and cutting supplies to all but essential war industries. The paper shortage has been caused by the fact that there is insufficient labor in the forests to cut the trees and in the pulp mills to make the paper. With the consequent reduction in production, paper had to be rationed. War industries naturally were given preference over all other industry. This, however, does not mean that we are allowed to use as much paper as we want, but only as much as we actually need. While the government has not approached us as yet, there is a possibility they may do so, and in the interests of paper conservation and to assist the war effort, we of THE COMMANDO are trying to save on the amount of fine paper used in the printing of this publication. It has been brought to our attention almost every issue that there are many employees taking extra copies of THE COMMANDO, we presume, to send home or to friends. This has meant that some of the other employees are not getting a copy at all on the day of publication, and means that we have to order many more copies than we have actual employees, to cover up for the extras taken by some. In other words, we are using more paper than we actually need. We are seeking the cooperation of all employees in asking that in future everyone take only one copy each issue. If extra copies are desired, a limited quantity will be available at THE COMMANDO office in the Gatehouse Building. THE INQUIRING PHOTOGRAPHER (column 3) Question: Do You Like Working Here? "I most certainly do," said Isobel Oliver (picture)when asked the question of the month. Isobel, who attended Western University, London, is working at her first job as a Laboratory Assistant in the Government Lab. here. Isobel's home is in Galt, but at present she says she enjoys living in Residence 721. Edward "Ted" Johnson's (picture) reply to the question was a very emphatic "yes." Ted likes people and since March 12, 1941, when he began working here he has had to deal with hundreds of people and their problems. Now a supervisor and stores inspector with the Quality Control Department, Ted helped start the Cap and Det. Line and the Pellet Line. He is remember-ed, too, for his fine work as supervisor of Line No. 2's C shift. He has great plans for the future of his son, Michael Edward, and after the war he has visions of owning a Helicopter. Familiar figure about Ajax is James "Scotty" Finlayson (picture) who works in Building 2057. Scotty, who says he enjoys his work here, left Leith, Scotland, some thirty years ago and is a butcher by trade. Possessor of a fine baritone voice, he is often sought after to entertain at local affairs. Scotty has a niece and a nephew in the R.A.F. Ajax Bingo and euchre players know Scotty from his running of these recreations at the Carter-Halls Building on alternate Thursday evenings. Transportation Control Supervisor is Walter Shannon (picture) who found his way to Ajax after working in Oshawa, Regina and Winnipeg. Walter's hometown is Picton, Ontario, and his one main hobby, besides duck hunting, is hard-ball. Back in 1926 Walter pitched on an Ontario Championship team which represented Oshawa. One of his teammates, Jack Ogden went on to fame in the U. S. in pro ball. Shannonville, Ontario, was named in honor of Walter's family who first settled there from Ireland. Walter likes his work here which has to do with such things as demurrage, the cost of which he has substantially reduced since taking over. Two boys and two girls are Walter's pride and joy. LOAN SUBSCRIPTIONS FROM AJAX TOP ALL OTHER D.I.L. PLANTS (top of columns 4 & 5) Out of a total of 27,878 employees, 93 per cent joined to "Speed the Victory." Payroll deduction plan was chosen by 22,419 employees to subscribe $2,147,400 while $599,650 was subscribed by 3,527 employees under the bank instalment plan or in the form of cash sales. ......................................................................NUMBER OF...............AMOUNT LOCATION..................................................SUBSCRIBERS..........SUBSCRIBED Head office ....................................................599............................$ 63,600 Beloeil .............................................................37.....................................2,600 Bouchard ....................................................2909.................................314,450 Brownsburg ...................................................795 ..................................96,000 Montreal Works ............................................4354.................................407,900 Nobel ..........................................................2023................................197,450 Pickering ........................................................4232................................454,000 de Salaberry .................................................2172...............................271,300 Shawinigan Falls ..............................................90...................................8,250 Verdun .........................................................4029................................453,600 Villeray ........................................................1236.................................84,100 Westmount Tool ..........................................1327...............................199,900 Windsor ............................................................93.................................. 7,950 Winnipeg .....................................................2050...............................185,950 ..........................................................................25946..........................$2,747,050 6-Pounders In The Battle of Egypt (middle of columns 4 & 5) It happened during the battle of Egypt, near a place called El Weshka, on the 26th-27th October, 1942, when a unit was ordered to attack and to hold a saucer depression named Snipe. Twenty-seven 6-pounder anti-tank guns were available for the operation. The story of the action that followed may be described in six phases. Phase One The attack opened at 11 p.m.; the success signal was given at 12.15 a.m., but, owing to shell-fire and the soft going, only 19 of the 6-pounders arrived at the position, which was then consolidated for all-round defence. Before first light, two enemy groups of vehicles 1,000 yards away were broken up by machine gun-fire. The tanks were disturbed; one Pz Mk IV and one self-propelled gun passing the front were destroyed and 70 Germans were taken prisoner. Phase Two First light was at 6 a.m. and the enemy vehicles from both groups, moving slowly westwards, presented excellent targets. Eight tanks and one self-propelled gun were destroyed to the north of the position, and eight tanks to the south. Phase Three At 7.30 a.m. 25 to 30 enemy tanks and some self-propelled guns formed up 1,000 yards away in hull-down positions. These were engaged, and some were set on fire; but a British armored brigade, which had come up, had to withdraw. One of the German tanks was hit and towed out by the enemy. Phase Four At 9 a.m. after the withdrawal of our armor, the enemy counter-attacked. One of the enemy tanks was destroyed, and three others set on fire. Simultaneously, 25 to 30 German tanks moved against our armor, which was now passing our southern flank. At least eight enemy tanks were set on fire as a result of the combined action of the 6-pounders and the armored brigade. At the end of this phase only 13 of the 19 6-pounders were still in action. Phase Five Between 1 and 2 p.m., eight tanks and some self-propelled guns attacked one of our sectors where the ammunition happened to be shortest; and only one gun was able to engage the enemy. It was manned by the C/O and the sergeant troop commander, who held their fire until 600 yards. Five tanks and one self-propelled gun were set on fire. The gun was now down to its last four rounds. Fire was held until 200 yards; whereupon the sergeant hit and set on fire the last three tanks with three rounds. Phase Six At 5 p.m. 30 German tanks advanced along the north of the position which had not been engaged since early morning. The 6-pounders set nine of the tanks on fire at 500 yards, and the attack was repelled by 5.25 p.m. Five minutes later another group of fifteen Pk Mk III tanks resumed the attack. Only three 6-pounders, with an average of ten rounds per gun, were now available to engage these slowly advancing tanks; but six of them were stopped or set on fire and the remainder withdrew. At the end of the action the guns in this sector had only three rounds per gun left. The total number of tanks and self-propelled guns destroyed or disabled during the action was reported to have been 58 an average of three per 6-pounder. (Picture) Canadian Army Photo