Lithgow

Lithgow is a large regional center approximately 150 kms west of Sydney, on the west end of the Blue Mountains. The region covers an area of 3500 sq. kms.

The Lithgow Small Arms Factory history  started in 1908 when the government of Australia decided to build there because of the availablity of power, steel, etc.  Lithgow was hidden in the interior of New South Wales away from the East Coast of Australia and is protected by the Blue Mountains. It is also believed that the local member of parliament, Mr. Joseph Cook, the defense minister, was influential in pushing to have it in his electorate.

Pratt and Whitney, from the U.S., trained six men from Lithgow, and Mr. Ratcliffe of P&W was sent to Lithgow to supervise the construction of the facility. On June 8, 1912, the plant was opened with many of the materials needed to produce guns coming from the local area.

During WWI, the production of the SMLE went from 15,000 to 80,000 units per year. At the end of the Great War, the production of armaments was cut back. In the period before WWII, half of the factory was making consumer items, at this time the production of the Vickers Machine Gun was added to it's line.

When WWII broke out, production was increased and Bren gun production was also commenced. The work force was now 6000 in the plant and 6000 in smaller feeder plants. On certain parts of the SMLE, the sub contractors leave their code (e.g. BA from Bathurst) and is commonly found on nose cap. Major extensions were carried out to bring the plant up to the task ahead. Even a new rail station was built along with a suburb called Littleton was founded to accomodate the increased workforce. After the end of the war, the plant naturally scaled down as well as the civilian facilities doing war production.

During the two world wars, the Lithgow Small Arms Plant manufactured a total of 640,000 .303 cal rifles that contributed to the defeat of regimes that threatened the very freedom of man. What was produced by the men and women at Lithgow then made history in faraway places with many famous names.
                                          Text by Paul Botha