Pledged & Delivered

An honor guard of Belgian troops smartly presented arms on the dock one day last week as the Canadian freighter Beaver-brae nosed into Antwerp's harbor. In the ship were the last of 170 artillery pieces, 23,000 machine guns and rifles, and 2,500 tons of ammunition shipped from Montreal to equip a Belgian infantry division.

While Belgian and Canadian flags fluttered overhead, Lieut. General Maurice Pope, the Canadian ambassador, turned over the gift as a "reinforcement of the defense of liberty in Western Europe." Then a crane swung a 40-mm. self-propelled gun through the air. Colonel Eugene de Greef, Belgian defence minister, turned to Pope and said: "[A strong army] would be above our powers if we were not effectively helped by American nations and notably by your country."

A similar gift of Canadian materiel for a Dutch division was delivered in December. A third batch will be shipped to Italy as soon as Canada gets replacement hardware from the U.S.

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