Essential Assistance Provided from Overseas to the UK in her times of need

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Little h
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Essential Assistance Provided from Overseas to the UK in her times of need

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Newfoundlander Overseas Forestry Unit (NOFU)

Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit (NOFU) recruited skilled lumberjacks to come to Scotland to cut down trees for the war effort. Over 3,500 hundred men volunteered.
Newfoundlander.jpg


Clement Atlee, Winston Churchill's Deputy Prime Minister, visiting a Newfoundland Foresters Camp in 1940. © Donated by the Ballater Historical Forestry Project; best effort has been made to contact the copyright holders.

The island of Newfoundland is located off the east coast of Canada. In 1949 it became part of Canada, but at the start of World War 2 it was a separate country.

Unlike the Canadian Forestry Corps (CFC), which was sent to Britain at the same time, the NOFU was not a military unit. The men were hired on six month long contracts and were paid the same amount as they were paid at home; two dollars per day or twelve dollars a week.

Although not in the military, many of the men who volunteered to come over wanted to join the fighting. The work they were doing, however, was as essential to the success of the war as the fighting itself.

"They are needed here (Britain) on work of national importance, and cannot be replaced. Moreover, it is not easy to train a man, however strong and fit he may be, to become a good lumberjack," Mr Edgar Baird, NOFU Manager, Illustrated London News (1941).

Many of the men joined the Home Guard, while working at the camps and served locally. In 1942 the 3rd Inverness (Newfoundland) Battalion Home Guard was created consisting of over seven hundred men; the only Home Guard unit composed entirely of men from overseas who were serving in Britain on specialised war work.

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British Honduran Forestry Unit

In 1941, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Moyne, cabled the Governor of British Honduras for help to manage Scotland’s forests.

The call for help was made because there was a huge demand for timber. However, due to the ongoing war, there was a severe shortage of labour as many men were away fighting the enemy.

Key supply routes for imported timber were also drastically reduced therefore home timber supplies needed to be harvested.

Pit props were needed for the coal mining industry which in turn fuelled steel production and ammunitions. The rail industry also needed the timber to repair bomb damage to their railway lines and of course to rebuild many buildings.

Around 900 volunteers from British Honduras (now Belize) came forward to help manage Scotland’s forests, with the first 500 arriving later in the year. The following 400 men arrived in 1942.
British-Honduran-Forestry-Unit-2.jpg


The men were billeted in a number of camps, mainly in East Lothian, the Scottish Borders, Sutherland and in the western Highlands.

Being used to a tropical climate and arriving in a harsh Scottish winter must have been a terrible shock for the Hondurans. For many it was probably the first time they had ever encountered snow.

Added to this, some reports state that the men endured very basic living conditions and the huts and clothing provided by the then Ministry of Supply were not up to scratch. It was clear that it was a hard start for these volunteer foresters.

Despite the conditions and hard work, the men settled in as best they could. They felt welcomed by the local communities and many enjoyed a good social life. Some played in bands, attended dances and were regulars in local pubs or sports days.

The British Honduran Forestry Unit played a significant role in helping in the national war effort at the time.

The Unit was disbanded in 1943 with some returning to Honduras and others deciding to remain in Britain.

All photographs © Imperial War Museum

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These first two posts are taken from articles in the Forestry and Land Scotland website.
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Re: Essential Assistance Provided from Overseas to the UK in her times of need

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A great topic Harry. I remember reading about the help that they gave on the thread in the old Forum and I am pleased that you have resurrected it here.

Jim
HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
JEM, EM, OEM, LOEM, POOEL
Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
Retired since 2002
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Re: Essential Assistance Provided from Overseas to the UK in her times of need

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Scotland's debt to forgotten Belize lumberjacks
By Elizabeth Quigley BBC Scotland news
2 February 2019

The story of how forestry workers from Central America travelled 5,000 miles to Scotland to help the war effort has been largely forgotten.

But the British Honduran Forestry Unit played a vital role in maintaining timber supplies during World War Two.

Almost 900 forestry workers arrived in Scotland at the end of 1941 and were billeted across the country.

They left behind a tropical climate and had to cope with the kind of wintry conditions they had never encountered before.

Sam Martinez lived in Edinburgh until his death at the age of 106

Among them was Sam Martinez, a 32-year-old woodcutter from the forests of British Honduras - now known as Belize.

He was used to hard manual labour, felling mahogany trees with broad trunks.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Britain's resources were being drained by the war and there was a lack of available labour to log and cut the wood in the forests.

The timber was much needed for a range of uses including pit props in the coal mining industry, which in turn produced the fuel for large scale manufacturing in the war.

The then forestry ministry launched a Commonwealth-wide recruitment drive, with workers from Canada and British Honduras embarking on the precarious trip across an Atlantic haunted by German U-boats.
War effort

Before his death in August 2016, at the age of 106, Sam Martinez talked about his memories of that time.

"The war started and we, being Britishers, were asked to come to do forestry work," he said.

"We were divided all over Scotland. Some in different camps to do forestry work for the war effort. And that's what brought us here."
Image caption Yutsil Hoyo Diaz Martinez recorded his grandfather's wartime recollections

Sam's stories were filmed and recorded over a number of years by his grandson, Yutsil Hoyo Diaz Martinez.

He said of his grandfather's journey: "They travelled from Belize to New Orleans by boat."

"From New Orleans they moved to New York and then from New York they travelled across to the UK.

"They had to zigzag across the Atlantic because there were U-boats and Nazi submarines.

"They had to be wary because they thought they could get bombed at any time."

The journey from New York took 14 days and their cabins were in the bottom of the boat.

His grandson said: "They had three sets of uniforms and they were wearing all three at the same time because it was so cold."

Sam arrived in Port Glasgow at the end of November.

He was sent to a freezing Ullapool to work with a forestry unit cutting mahogany trees.

Others went to places like Golspie, Kinlochewe, Duns and Tranent.
'Not welcoming'

Sam's grandson says when he arrived in Ullapool, the locals were not welcoming.

He described them as being nervous and confused because they had never seen people of colour before.

"A lot of people ran away from them and closed their shops," he says.

"They were screaming 'the coalmen are here'. They had to interact with this society that was not welcoming."

In 1943, before the war was over, the forestry unit was disbanded and the loggers were given the choice between repatriation or taking their chances in Britain.

Sam moved to a hostel in Edinburgh and tried to find work.

He had various jobs including working at a paper mill in Balerno.

"He had a range of work," his grandson says.

"He did not retire until he was 94."

Yutsil says one of the main reasons his grandfather stayed in Scotland was "because he wanted to fit in among white people".

One of the ways he did this was to become an avid supporter of Hibernian.

------------------------------------------------------------

He finally saw Hibs win the cup in May 2016, just months before his death, when they beat Rangers with an injury-time winner.

Oldest Hibs supporter Sam Martinez dies at 106

Yutsil came back to Scotland from Mexico in 2011 to record his 101-year-old grandfather's story.

He says the contribution of the British Hondurans is largely forgotten.

"They played an important role, maybe not as war heroes, but for the war effort," he says.

"You see a lot of the other stories mentioned, but because they were people of colour this is not mentioned."

His grandson is now planning a documentary to ensure his story is told.

"Their story is missing," he said.

"I would like to see something more physical in Scotland in some form of museums or history books so that schools can teach it and everybody knows it."

The Scottish government's Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing, wants to ensure their wartime work is formally recognised.

He has written to the High Commissioner of Belize, Perla Perdomo, to officially thank her on behalf of the Scottish government.

Mr Ewing said: "It's a secret part of wartime history in the Second World War.

"We do really recognise the huge contribution they made and it's fitting and right that you should be recording it now."

Forestry Commission Scotland is also looking at ways of celebrating their work during the war.

Source; BBC NEWS; Scotland

Open link to view full article and several images (late this evening uploading images has again been denied on forum)
Last edited by Little h on Thu Nov 14, 2019 11:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Essential Assistance Provided from Overseas to the UK in her times of need

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jbryce1437 wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 10:50 pm A great topic Harry. I remember reading about the help that they gave on the thread in the old Forum and I am pleased that you have resurrected it here.

Jim
Thanks Jim. I agree it is a great topic and one that should be broadcast far and wide in this country ... we owe a great debt to our overseas friends.

(late this evening uploading images has again been denied on forum)
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Newfoundland & Labrador --- In the First World War


Newfoundland Forestry Corps

The Newfoundland Forestry Corps was a non-combatant military unit that formed in April 1917 to supply Britain with the lumber it needed for the war effort. Its approximately 500 volunteers cleared more than 1,200 acres of timberland in Scotland before the First World War ended on November 11, 1918.

Timber Wanted

Britain's demand for timber rose sharply during the First World War. Its armed forces needed wood for dug-out shelters, to provide stakes for barbed wire on the front lines, to line muddy trench floors, and to build railway ties for the transport of soldiers and equipment to the front lines. The munitions industry also depended on a steady supply of wooden frames (known as pit props) for use in its mines.

Britain traditionally imported lumber from Canada, but German U-boats disrupted maritime trade routes during the First World War. The United Kingdom also had to reserve much of its already depleted cargo space for more critical supplies, such as food and ammunition.

Unable to import sufficient quantities of lumber, the British government decided to harvest its domestic timberlands. A shortage of local woodsmen prompted Britain to ask Canada for volunteers. In April 1916, the first draft of the newly formed Canadian Forestry Battalion arrived at England to commence operations. More drafts followed and were stationed at England, Scotland, and France.

In March 1917, the Newfoundland and British governments decided to form a 500-man Newfoundland Forestry Corps. Britain agreed to cover the costs of raising and maintaining the unit, while the Newfoundland Patriotic Association (NPA) assumed responsibility for recruiting men.

Appeal for Volunteers

On April 4, 1917, Newfoundland Governor Sir Walter Davidson published a call "for lumber men and all skilled workmen not eligible for the Regiment or the Royal Naval Reserve for service in the forests in the United Kingdom." Enlistment requirements were more relaxed than for the armed forces because the Forestry Corps was a non-combatant unit. Recruiters accepted able-bodied men of any age and height, and Davidson wrote that "no one shall be rejected for eyesight, flat feet, loss of fingers, deafness, etc."

The Forestry Corps accepted 498 men in Newfoundland (some reports say 494) and another 2 in Great Britain. An additional 278 were rejected on medical grounds. Its members included teenagers who were too young to join the armed forces, men of military age who were deemed medically unfit for service, and woodsmen who were too old to serve in the Regiment or Naval Reserve. Some volunteers were former soldiers and sailors who had been wounded overseas and discharged from active service.

Volunteers came from across the island of Newfoundland. The largest concentrations were from St. John's (167 men) and the Twillingate District (129 men), which included workers from the paper towns of Grand Falls and Bishop's Falls. The general managers of both the Grand Falls and Bishop's Falls mills were on the NPA's Forestry Committee and encouraged their staff to join the Forestry Corps.

Overseas

The first 99 recruits departed Newfoundland aboard the SS Florizel on May 19, 1917. More drafts followed at irregular intervals. The men were ordered to the hillside forest of Craigvinean, located on the Duke of Atholl's estate at Dunkeld in central Scotland. The Forestry Corps established one camp near the bottom of the hill for sawmill workers and a second camp higher up the hill for loggers.

Moving the logs - which could measure 50 feet or longer - down the steep and difficult terrain to the mill presented an early challenge. Local woodsmen believed a mountain railway would have to be built, but such a task would require significant time, resources, and money. Instead, the Newfoundlanders built a 900-metre-long chute that quickly mooved the logs from the top of the hill to a pond at the bottom, where they were then floated to the sawmill.

The log chute was widely belived to have been the longest in the world at the time and the Assistant Collector of Timber Supplies in Scotland wrote that the innovation would "long be remembered as marking an epoch in forest utilization in Scotland" (Nicholson 475).

By early 1918, the Newfoundlanders had cleared 1,200 acres of timberland in Craigvinean and were transfered to the Scottish village of Kenmore, which lay about 40 km to the east. They set up camp in an 800-acre forest that covered Drummond Hill and continued to log the area until hostilities ended. In January 1919, the Newfoundland Forestry Corps began to close down its operations and send its volunteers home.

A statue of a Newfoundland forester today stands on the National War Memorial in downtown St. John's. The site also includes statues of men from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve, and the Merchant Navy.

Version française
Revised by Jenny Higgins November 2014
First World War Bibliography

Source; heritage.nf.ca where a number of images in support of the article can be viewed.
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Canadian Forestry Corps in WWII
Information supplied by Robert Briggs with contributions by Jude Mitchell
I wish to thank everyone who has made contributions of photos, stories and other info of their
family members of the Canadian Forestry Corps to this website.
If anyone has additional photos or stories they would like us to add here – we would be pleased to do so
For Further information please contact Bob Briggs




No. 2 Company, Canadian Forestry Corps
District 2, Camp 29,
Ballogie No. 2 Aboyne

Canadian Mobilization Point - Westmount, Que
Mobilization Date - Jul 1940
Arrived in Scotland - 1 Mar 1941
Ceased Operations in Scotland - 1 Oct 1943
Camps Occupied in Scotland - Ballogie No. 2 Aboyne

No. 2 Company, Canadian Forestry Corps, CASF
History
24 May 1940 – Authorized – Serial 2103 (GO 184/40)
10 July 1940 – Mobilized in Westmount, PQ (CFC Website)
7 November 1940 - CASF designation dropped (GO 273/40)
15 January 1944– Disbanded (GO 113/44)
War Diaries
16421 – 1940/07-1943/09
Notes
5/7/40 – Westmount, PQ – The appointment of Captain John Henry Dunlop to the Canadian Forestry Corps
with the rank of Major was recommended by Brigadier General White, OC Canadian Forestry Corps. Having reported for duty Major Dunlop was TOS with effect from 5th July 1940 [WD]
8/7/40 – Ottawa - Authority was granted for formation of six Forestry Companies of which one company was to be formed in Military District No. 4. Establishment for the later company approved. [WD]
10/7/40 – Ottawa – Authority granted to recruit and organize No. 2 Company, Canadian Forestry Corps in MD No. 4 under the command of Major J.H. Dunlop. Recruiting commenced at Montreal as well as posts situated at Sherbrooke, Celumet and Beauharnois, PQ. [WD]
22/7/40 – Westmount, PQ – HQ of Company established at Montreal Athletic Association Grounds, Westmount, PQ. Company attached to No. 14 General Hosp[ital. RCMC for rations. First recruits attested. Standing Orders for Company posted. [WD]
31/7/40 – Westmount – Strength at 1 officer and 107 other ranks. [WD]
30/8/40 – Company left Westmount Barracks and entrained at 2356 hours from Westmount Station for Valcartier Camp. [WD]
31/8/40 – Company arrived at Valcartier Camp at 1200 hours. [WD]
1/10/40 – Valcartier Camp – Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Companies inspected by Inspector General for Eastern Canada [No. 1 Coy CFC WD]
3/10/40 – No. 5 Company moved to new lines at Valcartier on being grouped with Nos. 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8 Companies, comprising the first contingent of the CFC for overseas service. [No. 5 Coy WD]
6/2/41 – Company entrained at Valcartier on TS-219. (Movement Control)
7/2/41 – Company arrived at Halifax. Embarkation delayed and company moved to Debert Camp. (Movement Control)
15/2/41 – Left Debert Camp and and embarked on E-110 Orontes. [Movement Control]
17/2/41 – Sailed for United Kingdom.
1/3/41 – Arrived in Scotland.
1/10/43 – Ceased operations in Scotland and returned to Canada
Courtesy David Ryan

To read this extensively researched article please open this link that also contains numerious associated images.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The above is a short excerpt from one of the various websites, in this instance relating to the Canadian Forestry Corps; who were billeted at a place, where in later years (late 50's/early 60's) I would go to the village dances (Ballogie), also their celebrations in Aboyne the village where I attended primary and secondary school.
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Australian Lumberjacks In Britain 1942

British Pathé featuring REUTERSTM historical collection


Short Summary Australian Forestry troops chop trees in Scotland for the war effort.

Description Titles read: "AUSTRALIAN LUMBERJACKS IN BRITAIN".

Scotland.

M/S of men of an Australian Forestry Unit marching along a forest path. Mr Stanley Bruce, High Commissioner for Australia, watches some of the lumberjacks in action, chopping down tall trees. Branches are removed from the fallen pine trees, then the trunks are hauled away by soldiers, cranes and tractors.

In the sawmills we see Australian soldiers at work, converting the trunks into planks for the war effort. Mr Bruce chats to troops.

One of the soldiers climbs up a tall pine tree and chops the top off with his axe. He stays on the tree as the top falls to the ground. His fellow soldiers watch and give him a round of applause.

___________________________________________________________________________________


Open link at the beginning of the post to view short (01.28) video
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Re: Essential Assistance Provided from Overseas to the UK in her times of need

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Well done Harry , a very interesting and unknown fact you have brought to light , many thanks for an interesting read . :)
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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The Canadian Forestry Gorps

Much of the information included here is from William C Wonder's article on the CFC in Scotland, published in the Scottish Geographical Magazine in 1987. Wonders is also author of a book on the Canadian Forestry Corps entitled 'The Sawdust Fusiliers'

As had happened in World War I timber rapidly came to be in short supply as trade routes were blocked and overseas supplies cut off or heavily curtailed.Once again Britain had to look to her own forests and endeavour to use morehome-grown timber. Man-power was also an issue and so the UK government once again turned to overseas woodsmen to help swell the workforce and dramatically increase production.

Given their impressive record in World War One it was natural that Britain looked to Canada to provide forestry units again. The initial request was made as early as October 1939. In May 1940 the Canadian government decided to form a new Canadian Forestry Corps. The collapse of France reduced the initial British suggestion of 80 companies to 2O (with ultimately an additional 1O to follow).

The financial agreement between the two governments was similar to that in World War One, Canada was to bear the cost of pay, allowances and pensions of officers and men, all initial personal equipment, transport to and from the United Kingdom, and some minor matters, while the British Government paid for all other services connected with equipment, work or maintenance and certain others including medical services. Canada provided and paid medical officers for the Forestry Corps, but the British authorities paid the cost of 'hospiialization'.

The arrangement was unusual in that it resulted in a Canadian military unit working for the Briiish Government. Timber operations were directed by the British authorities, through the Home Grown Timber Production Department of the Ministry of Supply, which arranged the areas where the Canadians were to work and the disposal of the product. Control of military operations of the CFC was never surrendered by the Canadian authorities to the United Kingdom however, and the Corps came under the command of Canadian Military Headquarters London. Despite the potential difficulties of serving two masters, the arrangementworked well and no serious problems resulted.

Continues; in this 13 page illustrated PDF
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Copied in full since it is an absolutely fascinating read (IMO) - some passages have been bolded by myself.

Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit
(Related Articles: For other related articles view the Government and Politics Table of Contents Second World War section.)


Alongside sailors, airmen, and soldiers, Newfoundland and Labrador also sent some 3,600 loggers overseas during the Second World War. These volunteers formed the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit (NOFU) and helped supply timber products critical to British coal mining operations.

Cut off from its usual sources of imports, the British government experienced a severe timber shortage just two months after hostilities broke out. Although there were plenty of forests in the United Kingdom, there were too few loggers to meet the increased demand. Of immediate concern was the coal industry, which was central to Britain’s war-time economy and depended on a steady supply of wooden frames (known as pit props) to support the mines.

The Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs sent a telegram to Newfoundland Governor Sir Humphrey Walwyn on November 9 asking that 2,000 men “capable of good work with axe and hand saw” be sent to Britain to work in its forests. The British government suggested making the unit a civilian one, arguing that there would not be enough time to recruit, equip, and train a military company.

Recruiting begins

The Commission of Government agreed, and quickly assembled the requested labourers. In a radio address broadcast on November 17, the Commissioner of Natural Resources appealed for volunteers from all over the island. Two days later, the government passed the Newfoundland Forestry Act, authorizing the formation of the NOFU and outlining the regulations under which it would operate. Recruiters reported an abundance of applicants eager to assist in the war effort overseas – aside from a previous call from the British Royal Navy for 625 recruits, this was the first opportunity Newfoundlanders had to serve abroad. As a result, the problem quickly shifted from finding enough men to determining which were most suitable for the job.

Officials devised an interview process and medical exam to screen applicants. Within two months, they had selected some 2,150 volunteers, all between the ages of 18 and 55. Upon acceptance, recruits agreed to six months’ labour in the United Kingdom and signed a contract outlining the terms of employment. They would earn $2 per day (the then minimum wage local paper companies paid), but had to send half of that home to relatives in Newfoundland. Wages were further reduced to $1 per day for any work missed due to illness or accident.

The first draft of 350 men sailed from St. John’s to Liverpool on December 13, 1939. By mid-February, the entire unit had arrived in Britain and started to work in forests extending from southern England to the Scottish Highlands. Initial progress, however, was slow. While the British government stressed an immediate need for loggers, it was still trying to acquire private woodlots from landowners when they arrived. Moreover, no camps existed to accommodate the foresters near any of the land on which they were to work. Some men lived for the first few months in two large deserted army camps in the Scottish Lowlands and began logging small stands of timber within walking distance; others dispersed throughout Scotland and England to build camps near forests there.

Most of the construction work was completed by the summer of 1940, allowing foresters to move out of the army camps and focus all of their energies on logging. They settled into a basic 44-hour work week, with Saturday afternoons and all of Sunday off. This was a welcome change from the early weeks of construction, which saw the foresters working 10-hour shifts, six days a week. Government officials also acquired large woodlots in the Scottish Highlands, allowing operations to expand north. It was here that the Newfoundland Foresters eventually concentrated most of their efforts.

Just as the unit was moving into full production, however, it began to lose members. After completing six months of service in the summer of 1940, many foresters chose not to renew their contracts and instead either returned home or joined the British armed forces. The British government asked Newfoundland to recruit an additional 1,000 volunteers, but this time requested that the contract last for the duration of the war rather than for six months. The first draft of 205 men arrived in England on July 14 and another 800 joined them the following month.

By the end of 1940, some 30 logging camps had been established in about 25 forests in Scotland and England. Each camp had a population of between 30 and 100 men, and consisted of bunkhouses, a cookhouse, a washroom, office space, and various smaller buildings. The work, however, was both hard and dangerous. The men cut all wood by hand using buck saw or axe and also lifted each log onto trucks and trains for transport. Some foresters were injured on the job and 34 died.

At the height of logging operations, a typical NOFU camp had an inventory of more than 100 different sizes of pit props. These ranged from about 60 centimetres long with diameter of five centimetres, to almost three metres long with a diameter of up to 20 centimetres. The unit also produced telegraph poles, pulpwood, and lumber used in shipbuilding, the rebuilding of bombed structures, and the construction of air raid shelter bunks. The NOFU sent all its timber to local consumers by rail or road, which prevented Britain from having to import wood overseas and use valuable shipping space.
3rd Inverness (Newfoundland) Battalion Home Guard

Alongside supplying the United Kingdom with much-needed timber products, the NOFU also contributed to its home defence. When the British government called upon civilian volunteers to form a Home Guard in 1940, many Newfoundland Foresters immediately signed up. Two years later, a high concentration of forestry units in northern Scotland made it possible to form a Home Guard there entirely made up of Newfoundlanders. On September 30, 1942, the 3rd Inverness (Newfoundland) Battalion Home Guard was formed and had a complement of more than 700 men.

Volunteers trained on weekends and during evenings. They spent the first winter in basic training, before moving on to field exercises and weapons training. A rifle range and assault course were also built at one of the deserted logging sites at Carrbridge. The unit disbanded at the end of 1944 (alongside all British Home Guard companies), and every member received the Defence Medal.
War’s End

Although the British government released all foresters from their contracts when hostilities ended in May 1945, approximately 1,200 Newfoundlanders continued working until Britain’s timber imports returned to pre-war levels. By July 1946, the NOFU had disbanded and most of its members returned home. Integration into post-war society, however, was unexpectedly difficult. The Commission of Government did not recognize the foresters as veterans because they had served in a civilian unit and barred them from rehabilitation programs designed to help soldiers, sailors, and airmen readjust to civilian life. The British government made these programs available to foresters, but only if they remained in the United Kingdom. After Confederation, the Canadian government also failed to recognize the foresters as veterans and excluded them from war benefits. This changed in 1962, when Ottawa formally recognized the foresters’ wartime contribution under the Civilian War Allowances Act. Almost four decades later, in 2000, then federal Veterans Affairs Minister George Baker announced that members of the NOFU would be eligible to receive benefits and pensions.

Version française
Article by Jenny Higgins. ©2006, Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Web Site
Bibliography

Source of article; is HERITAGE Newfoundland & Labrador

My Comment; the failure(s) to recognize the Foresters as veterans (not once but twice) and by two different Administrative/Gov't Authoriies seems quite extraordinary; until one reads it took almost four decades for the NOFU to be eligible for benefits and pensions :oops:
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