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 (industrialist), John Whitney with government encouragement in 1885 during the Panjde ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

founded an ammunition factory in Footscray, a suburb of

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. 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, Maribyrnong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Australian Com ...

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 London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

northwest of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

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 southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,672 people. Low-lying parts of the suburb are flood prone. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The ...

south of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

(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 ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

(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 rifle and 9mm Parabellum submachine gun (1942–1945) 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), also known as .45 Auto, .45 Automatic, or 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 su ...

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 in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town sits on the Broken River (Victoria), Broken River, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the , the population wa ...

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 and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

(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 List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

(1942–1945) Manufactured .303 rifle ammunition (1942–1943), .380 Enfield and .455 Webley 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, Kwin ...

(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 2021 census recorded a population of 872 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: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Converted

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

into

nitric acid Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most com ...

, 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 nitroglycerine), also known as trinitroglycerol (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless or pale yellow, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by ...

- a high explosive made from combining

glycerol Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pha ...

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 in Australia, local government area and the centre of a prosperous and productive agricultural ...

. Manufactured fuses. *Ammunition Factory Kalgoorlie –

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just 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 referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surrounding ...

. 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 resi ...

. 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 (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australi ...

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

Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, ...

. 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 Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm 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 Charger or Chargers may refer to: * Charger (table setting), decorative plates used to enhance a place setting * Battery charger, a device used to put energy into a cell or battery * Capacitor charger, typically a high voltage DC power supply des ...

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 or ...

) –

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

(in the area now known as

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

) **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. Port Pirie is the largest city and the main retail centre of the Mid North region of South Australia. The city has an ...

. 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 27 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. History The Aboriginal tribe of Gand ...

. Converted

into

, which was then used to make

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

and

Tetryl 2,4,6-Trinitrophenylmethylnitramine or 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 by RDX. Tetryl is a ...

. *Munitions Factory Albury (MFA) –

Albury, New South Wales Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

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

Broken Hill, New South Wales Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

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

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

. 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 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

. 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 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

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

Tamworth, New South Wales Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-eastern 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 (state), 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 cen ...

. 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 ...

was opened elsewhere at

Benalla Benalla is a small city in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town sits on the Broken River (Victoria), Broken River, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the , the population wa ...

. 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, .243 Winchester, .300 Blackout, and .308 Winchester 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