It is possible to wage war in spite of severe shortages of strategic metals; the Germans have been doing it for five years. The Japs are not troubled by the problem; they have plenty of strategic metals. These hard facts were reported last week by U.S. metallurgists who have analyzed captured enemy war materiel for Dr. Vannevar Bush's OSRD.
With test tube and spectroscope, the metallurgists reconstructed a revealing picture of arms-making inside the Axis countries. The Germans started the war with meager supplies of copper, nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, chromium, manganeseĀall considered vital for war. They showed great skill and ingenuity in...