Newcastle's Role in World War 2

 

Well, here we are at another Wednesday and this week we will step back to World War 2 for a little more about Newcastle, New South Wales role in Australia’s war effort.

The Japanese knew damn well how important Newcastle’s steel industry and coalmines would be for this small nation to be able to fight and defend itself, as without steel for ships, planes, tanks and weapons any country would struggle to survive a major conflict.  

When the BHP opened its steelworks in 1915 the city became a cornerstone of the country’s defence as well as a target for attack by an enemy.

It seems that in the 1920’s Japan studied Newcastle and its surrounds with intense interest. They believed it was important to seize the Hunter’s coalfields and cutting them off from Australia’s defence force.

They also conducted a sustained and intensive investigation of the topography and economic installations of the Newcastle area.  Most of this information was gathered by officers on Japanese merchant ships that visited Newcastle for coal. On almost every visit to Newcastle the Japanese officers would spend most of their time ashore, driving around the area in chauffeur-driven hired cars. They made maps and took an innumerable amount of photos, it was the shipping companies who paid for these trips and presumably were reimbursed by their government.

Australia’s intelligence people noted that almost all the Japanese officers visited a Japanese owned milliner’s shop, the shop closed up when questions were asked but soon after a Japanese owned fruit shop opened. It was owned by a well known Japanese agent who had a reputation of wealth and leisure and the dingy understocked fruit shop didn’t seem to go with the man.

Between 1924 and 1926 many Japanese ships went out of their way to pass as close as possible to Newcastle paying special attention to the beaches.

In the 1930’s well before the war many of our leading politicians and industrialist believed a conflict was inevitable. When BHP chief Essington Lewis visited Japan in the 1930’s and saw how the Japanese were putting a lot of energy and resources into arming itself for war, he was alarmed and on returning home set about preparing the BHP for a major munitions manufacturing company.

This man was hugely influential, and the federal government appointed him director of munitions meaning he managed a large part od the country’s industrial war efforts.

Newcastle’s steelworks and associated factories were destined to play a massive part in the nations defence, a huge array of weapons, parts and tools were produced in Newcastle with thousands of people being employed.

The challenges the city’s factories faced as they tried to replaced previously imported items were huge, but they managed to produce and churn out items that required the most demanding accuracy. It was a tribute to the hard work and dedication that a relatively novice workforce was able to turn its hand to this new industry with such success.

BHP learned to make the special steels needed for armour and armour-piercing weapons, other firms made steel helmets and other items. The firm of Lysaght made parts for tanks used by Australian forces, they also mass produced the Wollongong designed Owen sub-machine gun, as well as floating pontoons, portable aircraft hangers, army machetes and the precision-made “spinners” for the propellers of Mosquito aircraft.

Newcastle was one of the few locations to be attacked by  the Japanese.