Vauxhall Motors Designed Churchill Tank
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-rHE story behind the war-time effort. 1 of Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., reads more like a fairy story than reality, so seemingly fantastic are some of the figures concerned. An idea of the volume of work that passed through the factory may be gauged from the turnover for the last year of the war in Europe. The figure was R22,004,000, or £423,000 a week.
Bedford trucks were turned out at the rate of 1,000 a week, and between September 3, 1939, and YE-Day 209,096 vehicles were delivered, which means that, roughly, one in every three trucks supplied to the Forces by British manufacturers was a Bedford. Incidentally, the many thousands cif Beds fords authorized for delivery to civilian operators are not included in the foregoing figure.
Vauxhall Motors; Ltd., was responsible for the production of the Churchill Tank. Even now the concern does not tell the fall story, but it. can be said that, starting from zero, the first hand[Dna models were running iii' six months and production Tanks were. coming off the line in exactly a year.
In that period, the Tank had been ' designed, a new factory erected, sources of supply for materials estab lished, and' tools and ecinipm.-nt designed, obtained and installed. The concern also acted as parent company and provider of materials to 10 other organizations also engaged on similar work. The total of Churchill Tanks delivered from Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., and the other concerns was • 5,247. To the-end of December, 1939, the company delivered parts to the value of £250,000; in 1944 the deliveries were worth £5,500,000. The total valtie of all parts delivered throughout the war was £18,450,156.
Major assemblies ran into thousands. The components and quantities were as follow:—Engines,. 28,430; front axles, 10,512; rear axles, 11,149; gearboxes, 11,728-; transfer boxes, 3,013; steering
gears; 11,459, . • • Vauxhall. Motors, Ltd., was one of the concerns which was askedrto produce what the Tommy 'christened the " Jerrican," the petrol container culled from''the German', became the standard can throughout the R.A.S.C. The company's sheet.
• inetal department designed and made the dies, and production of the two sides of the can was soon going ahead in millions. Over 5,000,000 pressing,-a; which represented over 2,500,000 cans, were delivered, and at'the.peat of production the output reached 65,000 a week. * Following some difficulty with the production of venturis. as used in rosket guns, the company was approached with a view to overcoming the problems, both of spoils and of production. Within six weeks, its press shop was delivering at the rate of 50.00 venturis a week, a figure that was eventually taken to 70,000 a week. Aitogethe4, .nearly 4,000,000 of these vitally important items were made.
Within, six weeks of being asked to take on the job of producing 6-pounder ammunition, deliveries were being made,. and it did not take long to reach 5,000 rounds per week.
-Here, in brief, are some further ways in which this vast organization discharged its stewardship of .public money. A 204mm. gun mounting was designed, made and approved; the company designed and had ready for emergency a resilient wheel which. was to be used had the rubber situation grown worse; 4,673 dies and jigs for aircraft and naval construction, were designed and made; 22,199 Bedford engines received from the Forces were recondi
tioned.