XPost: soc.history.war.misc

Martin J Pitt
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Read a lot of history and experienced 70 years of itNov 18

How did Britain manage to build a staggering 132,500 aircraft during
WWII, considering that Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain
never had more than 2,000 fighters?

Just north of Leeds was a small airport, Yeadon.

Next to this was built the largest single factory in Europe, covering
one and a half million square feet. To prevent the outline of the
buildings being obvious, grassed earth banks were constructed, and the
top was camouflaged to match the land on which it had been built, with
grass, imitation farm buildings, stone walls, and hedges and bushes made
out of cloth which were changed in colour to match the seasons. The
deceit went as far as to have dummy sheep in the fields, which were
moved around to be different when high flying German aircraft
photographed the land.

Though Leeds itself was bombed, it seems this vital factory was never
detected.

It built Lancaster bombers and cargo variants. At its peak it had 17,500 workers, most of them women, using a highly efficient work design which
limited the amount that an individual had to learn compared with
traditional apprenticeships. Nevertheless the highest quality precision components were produced. They worked 69 hours over 6 days a week, and
the factory of course worked 24/7.

A track to the little airport was disguised and uncovered when the
bombers were transferred under cover of cloud or night. They were then delivered to the destination airfield, generally by women pilots.

This was the largest of what were called Shadow Factories which were
begun in 1936 in anticipation of the need for vehicles, planes and
ammunition. Women made a large portion of the workforce in most.

Shadow did not specifically refer to camouflage, but rather to shadowing
an existing industry with facilities and workforce which could be
switched when the need arose. However in this case, it was appropriate.

Some pictures here:

Avro Heritage Museum | Sites | Yeadon
Avro opened a site at Yeadon during WWII which built Lancasters and Ansons. https://www.avroheritagemuseum.co.uk/yeadon
16.9K viewsView 312 upvotesView 4 shares
25 comments from
Bob Edwards
and more

(For similar, see the Seattle Boeing factory,
Go to Google Images, type in
Boeing factory during WWII )

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XPost: soc.history.war.misc

On 29/03/2022 16:48, a425couple wrote:

Martin J Pitt
Follow
Read a lot of history and experienced 70 years of itNov 18

How did Britain manage to build a staggering 132,500 aircraft during
WWII, considering that Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain
never had more than 2,000 fighters?

Just north of Leeds was a small airport, Yeadon.

Next to this was built the largest single factory in Europe, covering
one and a half million square feet. To prevent the outline of the
buildings being obvious, grassed earth banks were constructed, and the
top was camouflaged to match the land on which it had been built, with
grass, imitation farm buildings, stone walls, and hedges and bushes made
out of cloth which were changed in colour to match the seasons. The
deceit went as far as to have dummy sheep in the fields, which were
moved around to be different when high flying German aircraft
photographed the land.

Though Leeds itself was bombed, it seems this vital factory was never detected.

It built Lancaster bombers and cargo variants. At its peak it had 17,500 workers, most of them women, using a highly efficient work design which limited the amount that an individual had to learn compared with
traditional apprenticeships. Nevertheless the highest quality precision components were produced. They worked 69 hours over 6 days a week, and
the factory of course worked 24/7.

A track to the little airport was disguised and uncovered when the
bombers were transferred under cover of cloud or night. They were then delivered to the destination airfield, generally by women pilots.

This was the largest of what were called Shadow Factories which were
begun in 1936 in anticipation of the need for vehicles, planes and ammunition. Women made a large portion of the workforce in most.

Shadow did not specifically refer to camouflage, but rather to shadowing
an existing industry with facilities and workforce which could be
switched when the need arose. However in this case, it was appropriate.

Some pictures here:

Avro Heritage Museum | Sites | Yeadon
Avro opened a site at Yeadon during WWII which built Lancasters and Ansons. https://www.avroheritagemuseum.co.uk/yeadon
16.9K viewsView 312 upvotesView 4 shares
25 comments from
Bob Edwards
 and more

(For similar, see the Seattle Boeing factory,
Go to Google Images,  type in
Boeing factory during WWII    )

Britain recognised mass production was vital from the start.

For the Castle Bromwich Shadow Factory see. http://spitfiresite.com/2012/07/castle-bromwich-spitfire-and-lancaster-factory-photos.html

Britain was gearing up for mass production when WW2 broke out, in
addition to the aircraft factories there were huge munitions plants and factories churning out trucks at an astonishing rate

Truck production WW2
USA 2.38 million
UK 1.475 million
USSR 197,000
Germany 160,000
Italy 83,000
Japan 165,000

The US and UK went to war using mechanised transport, the Germans used
horse drawn vehicles

After the war Britain was awash with army surplus Bedford (GM) 3 ton trucks

Aircraft production

USA 295,000
UK 177,000
USSR 136,000
Germany 134,00
Italy 13,400
Japan 64,000

Large war ships (Battleships, cruisers, Aircraft Carriers, Destroyers
and Frigates)
USA 2,020
UK and Empire 558
USSR 63
Germany 38
Italy 82
Japan 278

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XPost: soc.history.war.misc

"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message news:t22lmn$s5p$1@dont-email.me...

The US and UK went to war using mechanised transport, the Germans used
horse drawn vehicles

-------------------
Horses can usually live off the land, vehicles need fuel. Motorized
Blitzkrieg was the personal creation of a few officers, notably Rommel and Guderian, and NOT official policy because the marching infantry and
horse-drawn artillery meant to support the tanks and protect the supply
route couldn't keep up. It worked once because it was unexpected.

Rommel used captured British trucks for his mobile command post. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEC_Armoured_Command_Vehicle

I drove one of these. Old German roads weren't built for such large
vehicles. At least I didn't have as much trouble as tank drivers. https://www.nf6x.net/1999/10/m109a3-2-5-ton-6x6-shop-van/

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XPost: soc.history.war.misc

On 31/03/2022 13:35, Jim Wilkins wrote:

"Keith Willshaw"  wrote in message news:t22lmn$s5p$1@dont-email.me...

The US and UK went to war using mechanised transport, the Germans used
horse drawn vehicles

-------------------
Horses can usually live off the land, vehicles need fuel. Motorized Blitzkrieg was the personal creation of a few officers, notably Rommel
and Guderian, and NOT official policy because the marching infantry and horse-drawn artillery meant to support the tanks and protect the supply
route couldn't keep up. It worked once because it was unexpected.

Rommel used captured British trucks for his mobile command post. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEC_Armoured_Command_Vehicle

I drove one of these. Old German roads weren't built for such large
vehicles. At least I didn't have as much trouble as tank drivers. https://www.nf6x.net/1999/10/m109a3-2-5-ton-6x6-shop-van/

They cant move fast enough to keep up with a mechanised army not do they
do well without ample fodder and in a firefight they are exceedingly vulnerable. In the battle for the Falaise gap they were either killed
or had to be abandoned with most their artillery

In fact by 1918 the British Army were already being mechanised and in
1918 had 59,000 trucks including the US Built FWD Model B https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FWD_Model_B

The British Army in WW2 utilised large numbers of tracked carriers with splinter proof armour to move supplies from forward depots to the front
line.

They built 25,000 Loyd Carries alone. Weighing 4 tons and with a Ford V8
engine they could do 30 mph

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyd_Carrier

Bedford QLD 3 Ton 4x4 trucks were the backbone of the supply system
and 52,000 were made.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford_QL

The AEC Matador was a specialist command vehicle with about 400 being made.

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