Evening star., 1943-03-24
Nazi WarpIane Output
Reduced 0ne-Third,
Engineer Declares
Stockholm Source Says
Production Is Only
1000 Per Month
4y the Associated Press.

ZsVVV ISV JlOUlU
1y the Associated Press.
STOCKHOLM, March 24.-War-
plane production in Germany
and enslaved countries has
dropped from a peak Of 5000 a
month to approximately 1000 a
month in the last year, an in
dustrial engineer thoroughly ia
miliar with Nazi war economy
declared today.
The figures, which show the In
creasing difficulties Germany is fac
ing in an effort to keep abreast of
the Allies in air power, do not in
clude training planes, this source
said.
Among the causes Of the decline,
he listed inferior labor, due to re-
placement of skilled men with mex
perienced women and Indifferent
foreign hands; bottlenecks In trans
portation Of coal and iron: UNDER
nourishment of workers, which after
three years Is beginning to result in
a marked loss of efficiency, and final
ly the dislocation Of war economy
caused by paralyzing RAJ raids.
Contrasting the Stockholm re-
port was the statement Monday
by authoritative British circles In
London that despite the batter
ings Of the past four months the
German war machine shows no
sign of critical weaknesses. With
respect to the German industrial
position, the British experts said
there, were indications the output
in some branches of manufacture
ing may be actually increasing
notably the production of air.
craft)
Steel Production Declines.
The industrial expert said he
thought Air Minister Sir Archibald
Sinclair's recent statement in the
British House of Commons gave q
good picture Of the real effects pro-
duced by RAJ bombings Of German
industry. Mr.. Sinclair estimated the
decline Of daily coal production in
the Ruhr, Saar and Aachen districts
at 10000 tons, the drop in steel out
put of the Dusseldorf Duisburg
plants at q million and a quarter
tons.
A recent decree forbidding use of
iron and steel in long list of prod
ucts ranging from liquid containers
to CONFERENCE.-The indicates how
severely this drop In production is
being felt In Germany.
The NaM press, too. has been
lauding technical advances which
have enabled the saving of Steel.
Newspapers said the amount Of steel
used In 15-centimeter shells had
been reduced from 143 to 125 pounds
and in 550-pounds bombs to 395
pounds.
Meanwhile, the transportation
problem was reported 50 snarled
that Germany and Italy have been
forced to limit exchange goods un-
der their barter treaty to the abso-
lutte essentials. The first priority
was given to coal. the Swedish press
said.
Adolf Hitler's total mobilization
program, authoritative sources de-
clared, had not been successfully
mastering the manpower question
because he has been forcing war in
dustries to replace experienced with
inexperienced hands to comply with
the army's need for recruits. These,
In turn, are Of an inferior military
quality.
Reports here have said Hitler has
directed the mastering of q reserve
army of 100000 men, who will re-
ceive six weeks training. In addi-
tion, these reports said Foreign Min
lister Joachim Won Ribbentrop In q
recent conference with Premier
Mussolini, had demanded more than
100000 workers or soldiers from
Italy. Observers said Italy could
easily raise that many because she
Is far from being totally mobilized.
On the other hand. military OBJ
servers doubt that the Axis are in a
position to equip soldiers outside
their own army.
Dissatisfaction among the Ger
mans with the total mobilization
DEGREES. especially the orders closing
thousands of stores and artisans
shops, has been reflected recently in
the German press, which has gone
to great pains to explain the need
for the measures.
Reports from Germany also indi-
cate that authorities are expert
encing more trouble with saboteurs.
German newspapers have warned