interesting find at the library
 

hi all

today i left the boonies of new brunswick and headed for civilization, the city of saint john. while there i decided to check out the main branch of the library. i was surprised to find both volumes of the vanderveen books, but a third book on the shelf made the visit the best one of the day. this elusive book is titled " the industrial front", and was written in 1944, by the HON. C.D. Howe, minister of munitions and supply. it is a 400 page book that tells the story of canada's industrial war effort up to the end of 1943. i have not heard of this book before, but it should prove to be a very educational read. i can forsee the possibility of several scans in the near future.

cheers!!!
mike

GO MIKE!
 

Sounds like an interesting find - looking forward to seeing some scans. :salute:

hello keith

i have only had time to briefly read a few sections of this book, and imho, it is truly something else!! Howe goes into great detail about problems during development, and quotes facts and figures which i have not seen before. there is one interesting chapter on the problem of obtaining rubber for tires, and the combinations tested when developing synthetic tires. this book also get into obtaining raw materials like nickle, iron, aluminum, wood, copper, ect, discusses aircraft production/maintenance, and the same goes for naval craft. so far a great trip back in time!!

mike

You can download a copy of the complete booklet from the Canadian War Museum's collection of wartime newspapers.

Go to http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/newspapers/intro_e.html

In the 'Search for' box, enter The Industrial Front, select 'All of the words' in the 'Find' box and select 'In the headline' in the 'Appearing' box. Click search and 2 items will appear, click on the first title and you will get a pdf of the complete 80 page booklet.

This archive is a fantastic resource of 144,000 Canadian newspaper articles about WWII

hi john
thank you for the link...very interesting!! the best i can figure from the version online, they must have updated the book each year. the one i have here is from 1943, and covers the same topics, but in much greater detail, over a span of 400 pages, versus the 80 page version online. i'll have to see if i can find a 1945 edition which would cover the entire war. some great reading in these books.

cheers!!
mike

Ford's 500,000th
 

This was an interesting article which would have accompanied that publicity series of pictures of the CMP painted with the number 500,000th.

Re: Ford's 500,000th
 

"Vroom, vroom" - Minister Howe must have enjoyed himself at that occasion!

"Canadian federal Munitions Minister, C.D. Howe, at the wheel celebrating one-half million military vehicles on June 19, 1943." Credit: National Archives of Canada / C-68669 (ID #20956)