 The new mosquito bomber, twin-engined, long-range, and made-of-wood. Officials of the de Havilland plant in Ottawa display the revolutionary construction and material of the new plane. The fuselage is made of two skins of plywood with an insulation of softer wood between. Answering the controversy of wood versus aluminum, in some cases the mosquito has proved less vulnerable to gunfire than metal machines. The wings are formed of large sheets of supple wood, light, strong, and easily molded. The result is a high-speed reconnaissance bomber. Pictured for the first time, the mosquito is wheeled from the hangar for a trial run. This new weapon is being built for the de Havilland Company as a result of a bottleneck in light metal material. Its engines are being made in American factories from English design. Unique in construction as well as material, the mosquito is assembled in two pieces. The halves are then joined to make the body complete. This plane requires half the man hours needed for a similar plane of metal. It mounts four cannon and four machine guns. Test product de Havilland sets his controls ready for the take-off. The mosquito taxis down the field, takes up speed, and lifts from the ground like a chip in the wind. Viewed from the nose of the plane, the airport beneath is a fast, disappearing street. Its speed and climbing power are military secrets, but has been known to out-distance the fork-wolf 190, indicating a maximum speed of 430 miles per hour. Slicing vapor trails with its wooden wing tip, the bomber does a slow loop. To a look off a rear gunner, its striking power is more like a timber-wolf than a mosquito. One motor cut is constant like a fighter, maintaining perfect balance and efficiency of speed. Actual combat and attack, the mosquito has upheld the excellence of its trial run. A bomber made of wood has proved its metal. Milne Bay, on the tip of New Guinea Island, is an important harbor for the United Nations. If it had fallen into Japanese hands, our position at Fort Morrisby would have been endangered. And the whole campaign to drive across New Guinea and capture Guna and Guna would have collapsed. The Japanese attempt to land the force at Milne Bay met with a decisive defeat. With the hull of the tip of New Guinea in the Lide hands, it is possible for the cargo ships to dock in Milne Bay. From there, they discharged their valuable supplies which have then shipped up-country to the Allied forces. However, it is necessary to send scouting parties up along the coast to seek out and bop up any isolated nests of japs that might be holding out in the jungle. Japs landing barges were left on the beach, put out of action by the parrots of the Kitty Hawk fighter planes. These steel barges carried 60 men and some mechanized equipment. Flowing through the daily rainstorm, soldiers are wary and alert. Always conscious that japs snipers may be hidden in the underbrush or in the trees. But all the evidence they find points to a hasty and complete retreat. Abandoned tanks riddled by anti-tank fires. These important links in the supply chain, tanker trucks, are shot up and useless. Thirty-seven millimeter field guns were discarded by the japs in their flight. They will now be turned against them. Particles have been used extensively by the japs in all their campaigns from Malaya to New Guinea. One of the most interesting items found among the abandoned equipment is this garment, a bulletproof vest. The steel lining can deflect shrapnel but is vulnerable to a direct hit. Their gas masks are cheaply constructed of flimsy material. Here is one of their typically broad short bayonets. This soldier has put on one of the very practical two-toed rubber-soled shoes that japs snipers use for tree climbing. According to the men who fought at Milne Bay, no praise is too high for the magnificent work of the Royal Australian Air Force Kitty Hawk fighter squadron. The pilots swept Japanese opposition from the sky, strafing landing barges, even coming low to pick off snipers from free tops. Deep in the jungle, our engineers have packed out landing fields, but the rains keep the ground soggy and unusable. These steel masks were brought in to provide a firm strip for take-off. From these small portable landing fields, our pilots take their planes into the daily offensive that is being waged to drive the japs off the islands of New Guinea. Many household appliances can no longer be purchased. Stores that once had well-stocked shells are now empty and some are forced to close. Kitchen utensils are now going into war production. Those that the housewife now had will have to last until the war is won. Some new parts easy to install are still available for home repair. And stockings too can now be mended at home with a simple device and a little patience. Cotton and wool also are vital war products. Instead of throwing these trousers away, expert workers take threads from the hammer seams and re-weave the torn parts. Small fixer chops are opening in many communities. Here anything from a radio to a baby's rattle is accepted for repair. This vacuum cleaner will soon be overhauled and back in service again. Fashionable department stores also are opening save-it service divisions. This electrical plant used to manufacture new goods. Unable to get many materials, it now turns to the repair of household equipment. Older experience workers mend all makes and all kinds of home appliances. Many schools have swung to teaching children household repairs in manual cleaning glasses. Students bring their own appliances from home. A vacuum cleaner that doesn't work. A toaster that blows fuel. But under competent guidance, these children are helping the war effort by learning to repair the household time save. And in other schools, mothers and fathers are going back to the classroom once more. Learning from competent teachers how to patch and mend. This teacher is explaining how to mend a screen with a simple patch purchased at any drug store. Some people create a dangerous condition in their homes when they put a penny behind a blown out fuse. This fuse now, instead of being the weakest point in the circuit, is the strongest point. This is a disastrous trick that ruins home wiring and often causes destruction by fire. Today's slogan is, fix it. Here is a record of the first American attack ever made on Italian soil in the long history of war. The date, December 4, 1942. The target, Naples. The crew of the Daisy Mae goes aboard, fully prepared with maps, weather reports and knowledge of dangerous parts to be encountered. More than a score of United States liberators warm up for the take-off from a field somewhere in North Africa. The course of the squadron is almost due north, over barren stretches of desert, then on out, over the calm blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The mission has great importance in the strategy of European warfare. Italy's heavy industries, feeling the force of RAF bombing to the north, have been moved to Naples for safety. The huge four-motored bombers spread across the sky over the Mediterranean. Several of the planes are veterans of other successful raids. For every enemy plane destroyed, a star is stenciled on the fuselage of the bomb. A ship is painted on for every enemy boat sunk. As dust comes, the squadron approaches them. Pilots climb up to high altitude, beyond the reach of anti-aircraft guns. Gunners are on the alert at all times. From the tremendous height, the bombing is accurate and intensive. Oil refineries are smashed, sending up clouds of black and grey smoke. 100,000 pounds of explosives were dropped, thinking one cruiser badly crippling one warship and another cruiser. The waterfront, harbor railway installation and munitions dumps were left shrouded in smoke and flame. The raid on Naples, from which all American bombers returned, was brief, violent and effective. This is Arthur Hawking, plot number 2062. An American, a machinist for many years. Several months ago, a telegraph boy came to Arthur Hawking's door. And Arthur Hawking learned that his son was dead. Killed in action. In the next few weeks, Arthur Hawking was puzzled. Many things look very different to him now. He thought about his son and the sons of his friends. He felt he had something to say to his friends. And so, he wrote a letter. A few weeks ago, my only son was killed in the war. Most of you know this, but you can't possibly know how hard his mother and I feel. That is, none of you except Walt Gardner, who just lost his boy too. Since hard is death, I've been doing a lot of thinking. What I'm trying to figure out is why so many of us are taking things for granted and not doing all we can to help win the war. Maybe it's because we keep hearing and talking about the war lasting for years. That sort of thinking might keep anyone from hurrying. It could be that this long full stuff was why we lost almost half a million minutes of production time last month through absences and tardiness. Anyway, I'm fed up with all this talk about a five or ten year war. There's no sense to it. We can win this war quick. We've got to. If we don't, your boys will be killed like mine was. So put those five and ten year thoughts out of your head. Finish our refrigeration machines for the synthetic rubber program this month. Not next. Keep our portable cold storage lines going 24 hours a day, not 16 or 20. Sure, this means sacrifices. It's no fun to work the night shifts. It's not easy to put 10% of your pay in the war box. None of us go for gas and food rationing. These are nothing compared to losing someone you love. I know. Please, please don't wait for the casualty list to come rolling in. Throw yourselves into high now. Get going as though both the Hun and the Jab had to be licked in 1943. I suggest a new slogan. Here it is. Let's get it over quick. I hope you won't think I'm preaching. I'm not. I'm praying. Yours truly. Arthur Hawking. Crop number 2062.