As a result of the interservice revalry, the coordination between the two mine devel-opment groups, as well as between the various technicans of SVK, was spotty. Be this method the separate information of each organization was informally pooled and techni-cal difficulties discussed. When requested, the facilities on SVK were made available to E-Stelle, for whatever purposes desired.

Since the E-Stelle's primary responsibility lay in the testing of items received from manufacturers, they established certain general rules for determining the acceptability of material received. Thus where a lot of one hundred items was received, twenty ?????-mens were selected at random and tested. At 200 or more were unsatisfactory, an addi-tional twenty were selected and tested. If or more of the second lot were detective, the material was rejected. Under special circumstances this method could be altered so that is was more or less stringent, but in evely case reports of the tests were forwarded to Air Development (FLE), with explanations and recommendations. In addition, E-7 made spot checks on accepted material stored at the various depots, in order to determine the effect of aging.

Where development work was involved, the first step was the preparation of specifi-cations and requirements by Headquarters with the assistance of Air Developemt: Mines (FLE-7) and Test Station: Mines (E-7). Thereafter a manufacturer was selected and the project assigned. Members of E-7 technical staff were assigned to provide liaison with the firm. If modifications requested by firms were of minor importance, not affecting the working properties of the article to be made, they were generally allowed. If the firm re-quested important modifications, becauses of lack of suitable manufacturing equipment, or if it was unable to carry out important modifications found necessary when the article was put to use, then steps were taken to provide the firm with the requisite equipment. Sometimes there were difficulties which were in reality due only to the police of the firms in question. In these cases, the advice of outside manufacturing experts, not directly in-terested in the matter, was requested before any decisions were made. At other times, the firm taking up the manufacture of a particular part would require some patent pro-cess of another firm. E-Stelle then arranged to borrow special engineers or master me-chanics familiar with the work, from the second firm for the contractor.