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 (1888–1939)

In 1888 the

Colonial Ammunition Company The Colonial Ammunition Company (CAC) was an ammunition manufacturer in Auckland, New Zealand. Its predecessor, Whitney & Sons, was established by John Whitney with government encouragement in 1885 during the Russian Scare. Whitney later recrui ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

founded an ammunition factory in Footscray, a suburb of

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

. During World War One from 1915 to 1918 the plant made over 2 million rounds of rifle ammunition a year. It was purchased by the Australian government in 1927.Mayne, p. 58 The

Defence Explosive Factory Maribyrnong Defence Explosive Factory Maribyrnong is a heritage-listed military installation and former munitions factory at Cordite Avenue, Maribyrnong, Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004. The ...

opened in 1908. A factory annexe was built in 1912 to supply Footscray with domestically-produced cordite. It also had an ordnance annexe that produced artillery pieces, mortars, and shells. During World War One, the phrase "Made in Maribyrnong" referred to how central the town and its industries were to the Australian war effort. The Footscray plant's headstamp was originally ''CAC'' from 1888 to 1918 and ''->CAC<-'' (the letters between two horizontal "Government Property" arrowheads) from 1918 to 1920. The headstamp was changed to ''->SAAF<-'' (for "Small Arms Ammunition Factory") from 1921 to 1923 and one lot in March 1924, ''A''↑''F'' ("AF" for "Ammunition Factory", the letters flanking a vertical arrowhead) during 1924 to 1925, "↑F" (vertical arrowhead to the left of the F) from 1925 to 1926, and ''MF'' (for "Military Factory") from 1926 to 1945.

World War Two production (1939–1945)

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 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 ...

northwest of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

was expanded to two factories (designated SAAFs No. 3 & No. 4) that were built only a few hundred metres apart. Conversely, the original plans to make two small factories at

Rocklea Rocklea is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,595 people. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The west of the suburb is bordered by the Oxley Creek. The ...

south of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

(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 Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

(originally to be designated SAAF No. 7) received the designation of SAAF No. 6. In 1940 the workforce at Footscray grew from a few hundred men to 6,000 men and women at its peak. Employees worked 12-hour shifts for six days a week. A women's hostel was opened across the street to house the female workforce and ensure continuous operation of the production lines. The Maribyrnong complex employed 20,000 men and women at its peak, with women making up 52% of the workforce. :Note: The acronym in parentheses following the factory's name is the facility's contractor code and headstamp. 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. Headstamp is the facility's code letters at 10 o'clock, the two-digit year of production at 2 o'clock, and the type and mark of cartridge at 6 o'clock.

Small Arms Ammunition Factories (SAAF)

* Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.1 (MF1 or MF) – Footscray;

(1888–1945)Australian Military Headstamps (1939–1945)
/ref> Manufactured

.303 .303 may refer to: * .303 British, a rifle cartridge * .303 Savage, a rifle cartridge * Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the B ...

rifle ammunition. Headstamp was initially "MF1" (1940) – later changed to "MF" (1940–1945). * Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.2 (MF2 or MG) – Footscray;

(1940–1994) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition. Also manufactured

.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol) or .45 Auto (11.43×23mm) is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After successful military trials, it ...

submachine gun 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). ADI moved production to a new site in

Benalla, Victoria Benalla is a small city located on the Broken River gateway to the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria, Australia, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. At the the population was 10,822. It is the administrative centr ...

and finally closed down the Footscray site in 1994. * Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.3 (MH) –

;

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

(1940–1945)Hendon Ammunition Factory
/ref> Manufactured .303 rifle and 9mm Parabellum submachine-gun (1943-1944) ammunition. * Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.4 (MJ) –

;

(1940–1945) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition. ** Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.4, Annexe B (MJB) –

;

Originally manufactured Australian standard .303 B IV (.303 Incendiary Mark 4) rifle ammunition in 1942. Only 9,000 .303 B IV incendiary rounds were made before the lines were upgraded to produce British standard .303 B VII (.303 Incendiary Mark 7) ammunition. * Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.5 (MQ) –

;

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

(1942–1945) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition (1942–1943), .380 Enfield and

.455 Webley .455 Webley is a British handgun cartridge, most commonly used in the Webley top break revolvers Marks I through VI. It is also known as ".455 Eley" and ".455 Colt". The .455 cartridge was a service revolver cartridge, featuring a rimmed car ...

revolver ammunition, .45 ACP submachine gun ammunition (1942–1943), and smoke shells for

2-inch mortar The Ordnance SBML two-inch mortar, or more commonly, just "two-inch mortar", was a British mortar issued to the British Army and the Commonwealth armies, that saw use during the Second World War and later. It was more portable than larger mort ...

s. Machined 25-Pounder Q.F. gun shell casings. * Small Arms Ammunition Factory No.6 (MW) –

Welshpool, Western Australia Welshpool is an inner southeastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located mostly within the City of Canning and partially within the Town of Victoria Park. The area is one of the main industrial areas of Perth, along with Kewdale, Kwina ...

(1942–1945) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition.

Ammunition factories

The small arms ammunition factories were fed by specialised facilities designed to supply their components. *Ammunition Factory Derwent Park (MD) –

Derwent Park, Tasmania Derwent Park is a residential locality in the local government area (LGA) of Glenorchy in the Hobart LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about east of the town of Glenorchy. The 2016 census recorded a population of 657 for the state subu ...

. Manufactured cartridge cases and 2-inch mortar shells. **Albion Explosives Factory (MDK) (''No 5 Explosives Factory'') (1939–1986) – Deer Park, Brimbank City,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Converted

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

into

nitric acid Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitri ...

, which was then used to make cordite, fuse powder, and TNT.Mellor, p. 358 It also made carbamite - a low explosive made from combining urea (or ''carbamide'') and

, and

nitroglycerine Nitroglycerin (NG), (alternative spelling of nitroglycerine) also known as trinitroglycerin (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating ...

- a high explosive made from combining

glycerol Glycerol (), also called glycerine in British English and glycerin in American English, is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known ...

and nitric acid. *Ammunition Factory Hay –

Hay, New South Wales Hay is a town in the western Riverina region of south western New South Wales, Australia. It is the administrative centre of Hay Shire local government area and the centre of a prosperous and productive agricultural district on the wide Hay Plain ...

. Manufactured fuses. *Ammunition Factory Kalgoorlie –

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. Manufactured 40mm Bofors shells. *Guns Ammunition Factory Finsbury (MC) –

Finsbury, South Australia 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 P ...

. Manufactured cartridge cases and shell fuses. *Guns Ammunition Factory Rutherford (MR) –

Rutherford, New South Wales Rutherford is a suburb in the City of Maitland in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 census, Rutherford was home to almost 12,000 residents, making it one of the most populated suburbs. The suburb consists of mixed re ...

. Manufactured cartridge cases, 25-Pounder 7.6-mmQ.F. gun howitzer shells, and anti-aircraft 4-inch 01-mmNaval Gun shells. Forged 5.5-inch 40-mmNaval Gun shell cases. *Explosives Factory Ballarat (MB) –

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vic ...

. **Ordnance Factory Bendigo (BO or MBO) –

Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

. Manufactured artillery pieces and assembled shells. Also stamped out ball bearings for later finishing at Echuca and forged races. *Explosives Factory Maribyrnong (ME) (

) – Maribyrnong;

(1908?–1989). Complex was built from 1909 to 1912, originally to make commercial explosives for the mining industry. Its high-volume war production of explosives in World Wars One and Two led to the "Made in Maribyrnong" moniker for Australian-made artillery shells. **Explosives Factory Maribyrnong – Cordite Annexe (MEC) (1912-?) – Manufactured

cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burni ...

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;

. Manufactured artillery pieces (OFM) and assembled shells (MO). It also made

chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

for rifle ammunition and metal links for disintegrating machinegun belts. *Explosives Factory Salisbury (MS) (

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 ...

) –

Salisbury, South Australia Salisbury is a northern suburb in Adelaide, South Australia. It is the seat of the City of Salisbury, and in the South Australian Legislative Assembly electoral district of Ramsay and the Australian House of Representatives division of Spence. ...

(in the area now known as

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 ...

) **Ammunition Annexe Salisbury (MS) –

(1943–1944). Assembled some .303 G II (.303 Tracer Mark 2) rifle ammunition exclusively using components from SAAF No.3 (Hendon). Closed because most of the 4 million rounds produced there proved defective. All tracer projectiles used by the Hendon factory were filled at Salisbury. **Munitions Factory Port Pirie (MSP) –

Port Pirie, South Australia Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...

. Manufactured shells for 25-pounder Q.F. guns. *Explosives Factory Villawood (MV) –

Villawood, New South Wales Villawood, a suburb of local government areas City of Canterbury-Bankstown and City of Fairfield, is 22 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the Greater Western Syd ...

. Converted

into

, which was then used to make

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

and

Tetryl 2,4,6-Trinitrophenylmethylnitramine commonly referred to as tetryl ( C7 H5 N5 O8) is an explosive compound used to make detonators and explosive booster charges. Tetryl is a nitramine booster explosive, though its use has been largely superseded ...

. *Munitions Factory Albury (MFA) –

Albury, New South Wales Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the C ...

. Manufactured shell fuses. *Munitions Factory Broken Hill (MFB) –

Broken Hill, New South Wales Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

. Manufactured shell fuses. *Munitions Factory Goulburn (MFG) –

Goulburn, New South Wales Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent ...

. 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 Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

. Manufactured shell fuses. *Munitions Powdermill Mildura (MPM) –

Mildura, Victoria Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area had ...

. Manufactured primers and gunpowder. *Munitions Powdermill Tamworth (MPT) –

Tamworth, New South Wales Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River (New South Wales), Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest ...

. Manufactured primers and gunpowder. *Munitions Filling Factory St.Marys (MY) – St.Marys,

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

(1941–1993?). Filled cartridges, mortar bombs, shells, and pyrotechnics. *Munitions Supply Laboratories Maribyrnong (ML) – Maribyrnong;

(1922 - 1948). Performed research and development of ammunition, explosives and weaponry. Was renamed and reorganized as the Defence Research Laboratories (1948 - 1953), Defence Standards Laboratories (1953 - 1974), and Materials Research Laboratories (1974 - 1994). *Ordnance Factory Echuca –

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest s ...

. 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 (1945–2006)

In 1945, the facilities at Hendon (MH & MJ), Rocklea (MQ), and Welshpool (MW) were closed, followed by the original old Footscray ammunition factory (MF). The second Footscray facility (MG) was later redesignated to MF in 1949. In 1986 Albion Explosives Factory was closed due to suburban encroachment. Production was moved to Mulwala Explosives Factory (MEF), New South Wales in 1988. Mulwala Explosives Factory was privatised in 2011 and then bought out by Thales Australia Ltd. In 1989 the Australian government nationalised munitions manufacture under a government-owned company called Australian Defence Industries (Ltd.).Mayne, p. 132 Its first round of business was to consolidate and regulate ordnance production. The Explosives Factory Maribyrnong complex was closed during restructuring later that year. 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 Defence Industries Thales Australia (formerly Australian Defence Industries and ADI Limited) is a defence contractor based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the French defence technology conglomerate Thales Group. Thales Australia had been engaged in numerous pr ...

was opened elsewhere at

Benalla Benalla is a small city located on the Broken River gateway to the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria, Australia, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. At the the population was 10,822. It is the administrative centr ...

. When ADI was bought out by Thales in 2006, ADI was renamed Thales Australia Ltd. In 2012 Thales Australia spun off its factories at Benalla and Mulwala to form the Australian Munitions group. It is also responsible for managing any Australian military logistical functions involving munitions. Benalla still uses the ADI headstamp from 1994 to as recently as 2014. Production of 5.56mm NATO F1 Ball resumed in 1995 and F1A1 Ball began in c.2010. Both cartridges are similar, but the F1A1 ammo has a green meplat tip and the headstamp has dimples at the 3 and 9 o'clock position (a peculiarity of the electric bunter used by the new cartridge-making machinery). 5.56mm NATO F3 Blank production began in 1998 and is produced in batches every three years. Production of .50 BMG M33 Ball began in 1999 and 7.62mm NATO F4 Ball began in 2008. Since they now only produce Ball ammunition, headstamps since 1995 only include the contractor code at 12 o'clock and the two-digit production year at 6 o'clock. It also produces 20mm autocannon rounds and will possibly begin production of 81mm mortar shells as part of a 5-year reorganization plan.''Australia to Keep Thales-operated Munition Plants'' > UPI , Defense News , September 12, 2014
/ref> Since 2014 Australian Munitions produces civilian market ammunition under the Australian Outback brand. Civilian ammunition is in

.223 Remington The .223 Remington (designated as the 223 Remington by the SAAMI and 223 Rem by the CIP) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It was developed in 1957 by Remington Arms and Fairchild Industries for the U.S. Continental Army Command ...

, .243 Winchester,

.300 Blackout The .300 AAC Blackout (designated as the 300 BLK by the SAAMI and 300 AAC Blackout by the C.I.P. or 300 AAC Blackout'' C.I.P. TDCC sheet 300 ACC Blackout/ref>), also known as 7.62×35mm, is an intermediate cartridge developed in the United Stat ...

, and

.308 Winchester The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar but not identical to the 7.62×51mm NATO ...

and military surplus is in 5.56mm NATO F1A1 Ball and 7.62mm NATO F4 Ball. The civilian cartridges use Sierra- and Swift-brand match and hunting bullets with a special high-temperature-tolerant propellant.

References

Sources

* * * *{{cite web , url=http://www.auspostalhistory.com/articles/926.shtml , title=Hendon Ammunition Factory , publisher=Australian Postal History and Social Philately , work=auspostalhistory.com Military history of Australia Ammunition manufacturers Former defence companies Defence companies of Australia