Small Arms Ammunition Factory

File:Women commonwealth small arms factory.jpg

Women bundling ammunition in a Commonwealth Small Arms Ammunition Factory, c. 1944

The Small Arms Ammunition Factories were ammunition manufacturing plants run by the Australian government. Nearly all of their production was for domestic use by their military, the police forces, and government-appointed agents.

Founding (1888–1939)

In 1888 the Colonial Ammunition Company of New Zealand founded an ammunition factory in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. It was purchased by the Australian government in 1927.

World War Two production (1939–45)

In August, 1939, a plan was created to expand native ordnance production in case a war cut Australia off from the rest of the Commonwealth. The antiquated ammunition plant at Footscray was to be abandoned as soon as a more modern and efficient factory was built nearby. To differentiate between them, in 1940 the old factory briefly received the designation of Munitions Factory No.1 (MF1) and the new factory was designated Munitions Factory No.2 (MF2). Demand forced the old factory (later redesignated SAAF No.1) to remain open until the war's end. The new factory (now designated SAAF No. 2) would be the only one to remain open after the war. The plans to make one factory at Hendon was expanded to two factories (designated SAAFs No. 3 & No. 4) that were built only a few hundred yards apart. Conversely, the original plans to make two small factories at Rocklea (originally designated SAAFs No. 5 & No. 6) was abandoned and one large facility was made instead (SAAF No. 5). The sixth and last factory at Welshpool (originally to be designated SAAF No. 7) received the designation of SAAF No. 6.

Note: The acronym in parentheses following the factory's name is the facility's contractor code and stamp. For example, a rifle cartridge with the headstamp "MH" was made at SAAF No.3 at Hendon. A 25-pounder shell casing with an "MR" headstamp was made at GAF Rutherford.

Small Arms Ammunition Factories (SAAF)

• Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.1 (MF1 or MF) – Footscray; Melbourne, Victoria (1888–1945) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition. Headstamp was initially "MF1" (1940) - later changed to "MF" (1940-1945).
• Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.2 (MF2 or MG) – Footscray; Melbourne, Victoria (1940–1994) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition. Also manufactured .45 ACP submachinegun ammunition (February, 1943 – July, 1944). Headstamp was initially "MF2" (1940) - later changed to "MG" (1940-1948), "MF" (1949 to 1987), "AFF" (1988 to 1993), and "ADI" (1993–1994).
• Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.3 (MH) – Hendon; Adelaide, South Australia (1940–1945) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition.
• Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.4 (MJ) – Hendon; Adelaide, South Australia (1940–1945) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition.
• Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.5 (MQ) – Rocklea; Brisbane, Queensland (1942–1945) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition (1942–1943), .380 Enfield and .455 Webley revolver ammunition, .45 ACP submachinegun ammunition (1942–1943), and smoke shells for 2-inch mortars. Machined 25-Pounder Q.F. gun shell casings.
• Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.6 (MW) – Welshpool, Western Australia (1942–1945) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition.

Ammunition Factories

The small arms ammunition factories were fed by specialized facilities designed to supply their components.

• Ammunition Factory Derwent Park (MD) – Derwent Park, Tasmania. Manufactured cartridge cases and 2-inch mortar shells.
  • Albion Explosives Factory (MDK) – Deer Park, Brimbank City, Victoria (1940–?). Converted ammonia into nitric acid, which was then used to make cordite and TNT. It also made Carbamite – a low explosive made from combining urea (or carbamide) and nitric acid, and Nitroglycerine – a high explosive made from combining glycerol and nitric acid.
• Ammunition Factory Hay – Hay, New South Wales. Manufactured fuses.
• Ammunition Factory Kalgoorlie – Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Manufactured 40mm Bofors shells.
• Guns Ammunition Factory Finsbury (MC) – Finsbury, South Australia. Manufactured cartridge cases and shell fuses.
• Guns Ammunition Factory Rutherford (MR) – Rutherford, New South Wales. Manufactured cartridge cases, 4-inch Naval Gun shells, and 25-Pounder Q.F. shells. Forged 5.5-inch Naval Gun shell cases.
• Explosives Factory Ballarat (MB) – Ballarat, Victoria.
  • Ordnance Factory Bendigo (BO or MBO) – Bendigo, Victoria. Manufactured artillery pieces and assembled shells.
• Explosives Factory Maribyrnong (ME) – Maribyrnong; Melbourne, Victoria (1910–).
  • Explosives Factory Maribyrnong – Cordite Annexe (MEC) – Manufactured cordite propellant for cartridges and shells.
  • Explosives Factory Maribyrnong – Pyrotechnics Annexe (MEP) – Manufactured Explosive, Incendiary and Smoke shell projectile fillings.
  • Ordnance Factory Maribyrnong (MO or OFM) – Maribyrnong; Melbourne, Victoria. Manufactured artillery pieces (OFM) and assembled shells (MO). It also made chargers for rifle ammunition and metal links for disintegrating machinegun belts.
• Explosives Factory Salisbury (MS) – Salisbury, South Australia.
  • Ammunition Annexe Salisbury (MS) – Salisbury, South Australia (1943–1944). Manufactured .303 rifle Tracer rounds exclusively using components from SAAF No.3 (Hendon). Closed because most of the millions of rounds produced there proved defective. Production was then taken up at Hendon from 1943 to the war's end.
  • Munitions Factory Port Pirie (MSP) – Port Pirie, South Australia. Manufactured shells for 25-pounder Q.F. guns.
• Explosives Factory Villawood (MV) – Villawood, New South Wales. Converted ammonia into nitric acid, which was then used to make TNT and Tetryl.
• Munitions Factory Albury (MFA) – Albury, New South Wales. Manufactured shell fuses.
• Munitions Factory Broken Hill (MFB) – Broken Hill, New South Wales. Manufactured shell fuses.
• Munitions Factory Goulburn (MFG) – Goulburn, New South Wales. Manufactured shell fuses and Armor-Piercing and Tracer projectiles for 25-pounder Q.F. guns and 20mm Oerlikon cannons.
• Munitions Factory Wagga Wagga (MFW) – Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Manufactured shell fuses.
• Munitions Powdermill Mildura (MPM) – Mildura, Victoria. Manufactured primers and gunpowder.
• Munitions Powdermill Tamworth (MPT) – Tamworth, New South Wales. Manufactured primers and gunpowder.
• Munitions Filling Factory St.Marys (MY) – St.Marys, Penrith, New South Wales (1941–1993?). Filled cartridges, mortar bombs, shells, and pyrotechnics.
• Munitions Supply Lab Maribyrnong (ML) – Maribyrnong; Melbourne, Victoria.
• Ordnance Factory Echuca – Echuca, Victoria. Manufactured ball-bearings (beginning in June, 1945) and roller bearings (beginning in August 1945) – the only such factory in Australia at the time.

Post-war production (1945–94)

In 1989 the Australian government nationalized munitions manufacture under a government-owned company called Australian Defence Industries (Ltd.). Its first round of business was to consolidate and regulate ordnance production. Production at Ammunition Factory Footscray (AFF) was slowly wound down beginning in 1991 until it was closed in 1994.

A new factory run by Australian Defense Industries was opened elsewhere at Benalla, Victoria.