by Rosen, Sue;
If we have the petrol!
What vehicles we cannot use, we must dismantle or dispose of at once!
What we have to abandon in crisis, we must first destroy!
Every non-motor vehicle must be put to work!
Unsold or unregistered motor vehicles: dispersal or dismantling.
With military approval, the motor trade will be allotted sufficient petrol to disperse concentration of unsold vehicles to country centres more than 50 miles from the coast.
Owners of unregistered vehicles may be given the same facilities.
In either case the petrol allowed will be sufficient only to transfer the vehicles once and for all to approved places.
When such transfers take place, the vehicles should be used also to disperse trade concentrations of tyres and spare parts, radio sets, petrol, lubricating oils &c. - subject always to the “freezing” regulations. Every vehicle should be fully loaded.
All vehicles suitable for military purposes should be offered to the military authorities - now!
Unregistered vehicles which have been “jacked up” for the duration of the war should be dismantled now - disposing of spare wheels, tyres, batteries, distributors, tools and spare parts to registered owners or traders.
Or, if of a type suitable for military purposes, dismantling and labelling parts with owner’s name and address, and vehicle type - ready to transfer to military, N.E.S., or other use on demand.
(Note: As imports of petrol, vehicles, and spare parts for civilian use have ceased for the duration of the war, and there will be shortage for military and economic purposes, it is obviously both economic and patriotic for owners of unused vehicles so to proceed: or else to convert to producer gas for vehicle use in essential services.)
Or effectively burying or hiding the parts beyond possibility of enemy discovery.
Or finally destroying the whole vehicle.
There will be no last minute evacuation of any but absolutely essential vehicles - and no vehicle must remain within reach of the enemy in a useable condition.
Registered Vehicles:
All registered motor vehicles must be effectively serviced every evening, with petrol or charcoal at the full, in readiness for emergency.
Late evacuations of essential registered motor vehicles may be permitted in country districts by the military via non-military roads, subject to their transferring essential warlike or wartime stores and/or women, girls, boys under 16, or aged infirm.
Late evacuations from the cities, if permitted, will be by public transport supplemented by private vehicles pressed into service by the responsible authority.
All vehicles must be destroyed before abandonment. This applies also to assembled motor vehicles in dealers’ or distributors’ stocks.
Drivers or users must make themselves acquainted beforehand with the given methods of destruction.
Outside the city of Sydney, each must carry an axe, suitable tools, and a bottle of inflammable liquid.
Salvage and Destruction before Abandonment:
Before abandoning, the vehicle must be driven off the road out of the way - unless directed by a military officer to form part of a military obstruction.
If possible, prior to abandonment, the driver must salvage spare wheels, tyres, tools, batteries, spare parts, and transfer them to late evacuation trains or motor vehicles.
Otherwise, he must irrevocably immobilise or destroy the vehicle in the manner hereunder:
(Note: Denial of similar parts of every car is essential as the basic plan. This is to prevent the repair of some vehicles by collecting parts from others. The distributor must be removed from every car whatever other steps are taken to complete denial).
(1) Motor Vehicles without Petrol:
Remove and destroy distributor housing complete.
Remove wheels, starting with spare - or slash or saw through tyres.
Remove batteries, or smash with axe or hammer.
Smash cylinder head.
Break bottle of inflammable liquid or heap inflammable material over car; and ignite.
If removed parts and tools cannot be salvaged and transferred, hide, bury, smash and/or throw into the burning vehicles. If buried in safety, wrap in oily rag and place in a container if time permits.
(2) Motor Vehicles with Petrol:
Puncture radiator and sump.
Start engine and leave running at full speed, to seize engine.
Slash or saw tyres, and smash petrol tank and distributor after engine seizes.
Splash petrol inside the vehicle and ignite.
(3) Motor Vehicles on Producer Gas:
If the producer is alight act as in (2) above.
If producer is cold act as in (1) and in addition smash mixing valve and hopper.
(4) Trailers:
Smash spokes.
Smash axle (including differential if any, and springs).
Burn if possible.
(5) Tractors:
Tractors are indispensable for military works and are urgently required.
If not fully engaged on essential wartime production, they should be made available to the Army now - or dispersed from the coastal areas.
On no account must they be allowed to fall into enemy hands.
Destruction on approach of the enemy must be carried out - by one or other of the following methods:
(a) Drain sump and radiator, start the engine at full speed - then: Puncture fuel tank, and ignite.
or:
(b) Remove the distributor housing complete and destroy - or wrap in an oil rag, place in a container and bury or hide in a place known only to the user and not discoverable by the enemy.
or:
(c) Drop a stick of gelignite into the sump and ignite.
or:
(d) Run over a cliff.
If not on essential work, tractors should be evacuated from coastal areas or handed over to the Military NOW.
(6) Motor tools and accessories:
Break, smash, cut, burn or otherwise destroy or throw into deep water (sea, river or lake) or bury in a well concealed place. Smashing of electrical equipment especially distributors, is particularly important. Batteries - smash with an axe.
(7) Bicycles:
Bicycles were freely requisitioned by the Japanese in Malaya.
They must not fall into their hands in Australia.
The user will be individually responsible for denying bicycles to the enemy.
Destruction methods are:
Bend or break forks.
Slash the tyres beyond repair.
Slash the wheel spokes beyond repair.
Remove chain, handlebars and tools and bury or hide beyond discovery - or throw into deep water.
(8) Wagons, drays, sulkies and buggies - and horses:
In the likelihood of cessation of petrol imports, these older means of conveyance acquire importance. They should be used for early evacuations or transfers of women, children, and essential goods -
Or hidden in the bush.
In the last resort they must be denied to the enemy: thus
Vehicles:
Smash spokes of all wheels and shafts.
Burn.
Remove or bury chains and other essentials.
Animals:
Any horses that cannot be evacuated before military operations commence must be destroyed if there be danger of their falling into enemy hands.
All fodder must be burned or otherwise destroyed.
All harness that cannot be removed must be buried or destroyed by fire or slashing.
3. FOODSTUFFS, CLOTHING, AND HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS.
Military reason: Events in the Pacific war so far have shown that the enemy has been greatly helped by his ability to live on the country and thus reduce his transport of stores, both by sea and by land. So he must be forced as far as is humanly possible, to bring his own food and clothing with him and thus make himself more vulnerable.
(i) Foodstuffs:
Every kind of foodstuff will be of use to the enemy, and denial will have to be particularly complete in view of his ability to live on what would be very short rations for an Australian.
The Asiatic worker is normally able to live on a diet which may not extend beyond rice, green vegetables and a very little fish or canned meat.
SALT IS VITAL TO HIM AND NONE MUST BE LEFT FOR HIM!
Bulk Stores: These are dealt with more particularly under the Industrial and Services Code which covers the complete denial of perishable and non-perishable stocks.
Wholesalers and retailers of foodstuffs:
(a) will maintain their stocks at minimum levels;
(b) will see to it that, when occupation of a district by the enemy becomes imminent, stocks are as far as possible distributed to the public in quantities which they can reasonably use and which they can easily destroy in the last extremity.
(In this connexion, plans should be made NOW to cache foodstuffs in places where they will not easily be found by the enemy but where they will be available to the citizen who has to “stay put”. Hiding places should be planned at once, and holes or trenches dug in suitable and convenient places so that food may be hidden at a moment’s notice. What foods will be put in these caches must be decided NOW and the means of protecting non-tinned foods devised. Only the most nutritious and least perishable types (particularly tinned foods including milk) should be set aside for hiding. The rest will be dispersed as above or destroyed.)
Householders are expected to refrain entirely from hoarding, but they should set aside, against war’s emergency, a week’s supply of absolute essentials which could be easily hidden or carried, if necessary.
These essentials need not exceed for one adult:-
¼ lb. tea; ½ lb. sugar; 1 lb. slab chocolate;
1 tin condensed milk; 3 x 8 oz. tins beef;
2 lbs. rice; Bovril (plus simple first-aid remedies) or something similar.
All other foodstuffs, if they cannot be disposed of otherwise, must be destroyed or thoroughly adulterated. The householder will easily devise ways and means of making food useless for human consumption by adulteration with kerosene or disinfectants; by mixing sand with sugar; by scattering powdered foodstuffs such as flour and other cereals, sugar, salt on the ground; and, of course, by dumping in rivers, lakes or the sea.
Non-perishable and easily transportable foodstuffs such as those packed in tins must be given special attention since their value is enhanced by their keeping qualities. If you cannot cache them beyond hope of discovery by the enemy, smash all tins at the very least and if possible destroy or adulterate the contents as well.
No brandy or other spirits, or beers or wines must be left for the enemy. This is vital. Smash the bottles. There is abundance of spirits elsewhere for our use.
(ii) Clothing:
In the pleasant climate of N.S.W., clothing is much less important to the Japanese than it is to the Germans in Russia.
But, at the same time, campaigning must not be made easier for the enemy by leaving him any useful garments.
The Japanese does not recognise any rules of war, and disguise has been very useful to him so far. So do not leave any clothes that will help to protect him from recognition by our troops until it is too late.
Clothes should be destroyed by cutting or by fire. Boots should be slashed, but in particular sox; and the Jap’s. favourite tennis shoes must be destroyed.
Leave no blankets.
(iii) Household effects:
It is not intended that the scorched earth should be extended to the destruction of houses or furniture, neither of which will be particularly helpful.
But -
Leave no cooking utensils and in particular hide or dump in deep water all aluminium utensils.
Smash electric bulbs.
Smash motors of vacuum cleaners.
Smash refrigerator generators and
Don’t forget to dispose of or destroy all maps, cameras, and field glasses.
Tools: Hand over to the Army all tools - saws, axes, shovels, hammers, chisels and others that could be put to use by the enemy - or hide in prior prepared holes or in the bush, or dump in deep water. Be ready for emergency.
Wireless sets and telephones: Make wireless sets useless by removing and hiding or by destroying valves and other important parts such as transformers.
But, better still, smash completely.
(Note:- Battery sets that can be saved and handed over to the Army should be so handed over. They could prove invaluable for communication purposes in the field.)
Smash telephone instruments beyond recognition and cut leads to your own house. The Japanese use the telephone for communications.
(Note:- Don’t interfere with main telephone lines. You may cause havoc by cutting an important line of communication. These lines will be dealt with by the Army or P.M.G.)
4. DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLIES.
The denial of water may in many places in Australia be quite as important as the more spectacular denial of oil and petrol.
The denial of water in reticulation systems will be the duty of the water authorities, but the householder who gets his supplies from wells by bucket, pump, or windmill or from roof catchments discharging into tanks, must accept responsibility for his own arrangements.
Therefore, upon emergency withdrawal, destroy the means of collecting or storing water in farm or home.
Destroy guttering and downpipes.
Puncture tanks.
Destroy head-gear of wells.
Pollute well water.
Destroy all pumps.
Destroy windmills or other machinery operating water pumps.
Smash as much piping as possible.
5. STOCK, FODDER, CROPS, FARM MACHINERY.
Prior dispersal of stock: Arrangements have already been made and carried out for dispersal of young stock to inland areas. These arrangements naturally include all necessary provisions for food and water.
(i) Stock:
Such stock as may be left in vulnerable areas must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy. Beasts remaining in paddocks will have to be slaughtered if abandonment should become militarily necessary. If the meat can be distributed to military or civilians, this must be done, but otherwise all possible steps must be taken to render it unfit for human consumption. Plan NOW.
Horses will have been put into service with the Army or civilian auxiliaries but any that might fall into enemy hands must be destroyed. Their harness must also be made useless by slashing or burning. This may seem unnecessary after the horse is dead but destruction of all horses may not be complete.
(ii) Fodder, crops, grain and seed:
Every farmer will plan NOW so that he can destroy all haystacks, cereal stocks and other feed that might have to be abandoned in emergency. The destruction, if and when commanded, must be complete.
He should therefore devise plans NOW which will enable him to deny to the enemy to the greatest extent that circumstances and season will permit, all kinds of food and fodder crops that may be in the field.
(iii) Farm machinery:
There must be complete denial to the enemy of all tractors and internal combustion or electric power units. Denial methods for the former will be found in Section 2 of the General Citizen Code. Electric motors and generators can be put out of action by smashing the casing.
Destroy switchboards.
Destroy batteries.
Destroy lamps.
Smash chaff-cutters, and mills.
Remove and hide ploughs, harrows and any other implements that are difficult to destroy.
Remove cutting parts of reapers and harvesters and bury them.
Add don’t forget the denial of water as set out in Section 3.
Poster for Civil Construction Corps, 1942.
THE CITIZEN-IN-INDUSTRY:
A special Scorched Earth Industrial Code is being issued to the managements of Industrial and Manufacturing plants and to b
odies controlling Public Utility Services.
The plain citizen will find himself, in many cases, absorbed into these special schemes, but it is important that he should realise to the full that he has a personal as well as a general duty, to see that any scorched earth plan, to which he may be detailed in connexion with his job, is properly understood and will be properly carried out.
Some of the plans call for the use of explosives in demolition, but the job may have to be done without explosives in certain circumstances - for example, they may not be available or they may fail to do the damage expected - and to guard against any eventuality the citizen himself should decide what he could do with simple means (say, with a sledge hammer) to make a real good job.
Small industries, repair shops and the like:
In small concerns the whole responsibility for denial of machines and materials will fall upon the man on the spot, and he can expect advice but must not depend for assistance upon scorched earth organisations. The Government relies on managers and workers to see that their plans are complete and their determination firm to carry them out at the word of command.
Special industries and services:
For the purpose of Scorched Earth planning, the following categories have been accepted:-
Industry.
Craft - sail and power.
Industrial stocks and raw materials.
“ power.
“ water supply and manufacturing plant & machinery.
Machine shops & repair equipment.
Motor fuels - storage.
“ transport.
Utility Services.
Bulk wool.
“ flour.
“ grain.
Coal Mines.
Communication and transport systems.
Electricity, gas.
Landings and jetties.
Road-making plant. Water supply.
It may be stated broadly that there is no article or commodity made or grown in this country or imported to it that would not fit into some part of the enemy’s war-machine or economy.