The Department of Munitions was an

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

that existed between 11 June 1940 and April 1948. Reporting to it was the Factory Board, which was in charge of the six

Small Arms Ammunition Factories The Small Arms Ammunition Factories (SAAF) 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 ...

, along with a number of

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

and

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

factories across Australia. The Minister for Munitions was responsible for the Department.

History

The Department was created during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in an effort to speed up

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

production, after it became apparent that Britain would not be able to supply Australia's armed forces with

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

and ammunition throughout what was shaping up to be a long and hard war. The department was created on 11 June 1940, only about a week after the end of the

evacuation of Dunkirk The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

, where British forces were forced to leave Europe without most of their

vehicles A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wate ...

armour Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...

and

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

. The department's main responsibility was the oversight of increased production of defence components. Between November 1940 and November 1941, the

Salisbury Explosives Factory Edinburgh is an outer northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Salisbury. The suburb was created in 1997, on land straddling Penfield and Salisbury, that was compulsorily acquired by the Commonwealth Government in 1940 in ord ...

, then the largest such factory in Australia, was built in farmland area north of Adelaide (now

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

). The site was chosen because of "its strategic position and its proximity to rail transport, and to a water supply and labour". The architect

Herbert Jory Harrold Herbert Jory (20 March 1888 – 16 May 1966) , known as Herbert Jory, was a South Australian architect. He was a partner in the leading firm of Woods, Bagot & Jory from 1913, which became Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne Smith from 1915 t ...

was engaged by the department to oversee the building of the factory, which at its height employed 3000 labourers and tradesmen seven days a week. The factory was completed within a year. In

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, other factories were built at Finsbury (now

Woodville North Woodville North is a north-western suburb of Adelaide 10 km from the Adelaide city centre, in the state of South Australia, Australia and falls under the City of Charles Sturt. The post code for Woodville North is 5012. It is adjacent to ...

) and

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

. In addition, the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Austr ...

workshops at

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

as well as automotive and other plants were converted in order to produce the machinery of war. The Commonwealth Munitions Supply Laboratories moved into some of the Finsbury buildings after the war. In April 1948 the department was wound up and its functions shifted to the Department of Supply and Development, a change necessitated due to the legislation that the munitions department had been established under during wartime, that could not continue indefinitely.

Structure and functions

The Department was a

Commonwealth Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the Go ...

department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Munitions. The position of Minister for Munitions was occupied by (in chronological order): *

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

(June 1941 – September 1940); *

Philip McBride Sir Philip Albert Martin McBride, (18 June 1892 – 14 July 1982) was an Australian politician. He was a United Australia Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for Grey from 1931 to 1937 and the Australian Senate from 1937 to ...

(from after the September 1940 election until 1941); *

Norman Makin Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

(1941 — November 1946?); *

John Dedman John Johnstone Dedman (2 June 1896 – 22 November 1973) was a Minister in the Australian Labor Party governments led by John Curtin and Ben Chifley. He was responsible for organising production during World War II, establishing the Australian N ...

(November 1946 –?); and * John Armstrong (? – 1948). The Factory Board was a body that was in charge of the six

, along with a number of

and

factories across Australia. Other information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements and in the Department's annual reports.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Department of Munitions

Munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

Ministries established in 1940