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HISTORY
Big wheels & little wheels – the story of UK-born Australian Sir Laurence John Hartnett (1898 – 1986) Australia’s “Father of the Holden” and much more
PART 48
STILL CONVINCING AN ALLY PART 2
WW2: Laurence is still in the US meeting its top brass in order to change its perception that offering Lend Lease war materiel to Australia would be a waste. Steel shell cases are now under discussion. Warfare in the tropics is new to America, but not to Australia. Will America listen to the advice Australia offers based on our experience in the tropics? Laurence overcomes fierce resistance and prevails.
A
ustralia had the reputation in America of being young, eager and falling over itself to try anything. Lend-Lease (US) was concerned that we might lack the know-how to make full use of the equipment we asked for. And it was very difficult to change their minds. America was very new to the war and was almost completely without experience of the type of war she would be fighting in the tropics. We had been forced to learn the hard way, and some of our developments in machine-tool operations, which enabled us to get the maximum output from our existing equipment, were news to them. Most of their objections were based on misconceptions of Australia and the problems of war in the Pacific. Our request for machine-tools to increase output of shells and small-arms ammunition provided a typical example of their wrong thinking. One of the top Lend-Lease officials, a man named Carpenter told me flatly, "You're wasting your time and effort out there on a lot of things. You talk glibly about making all these shells and ammunition for a variety of guns, but we know you can't do it: you haven't got any copper. And without copper how can you make brass for the shell-cases?" ''But we have copper - plenty of it,'' I protested. ''In the early days of the war, when we could see a copper shortage coming, we brought in about three thousand tons. We've got more since, and now there's a very good stockpile of it.'' (It was through the wisdom of Sir Colin Fraser that we had stockpiled copper and as Director of Materials he had told me all about it.) Carpenter wouldn't buy that one. He sat there in disbelief. He obviously thought I was lying. Frantically I cabled Australia: "Please tell them we have plenty of copper." But I got very poor support from Australia, and I couldn't convince them on my own. I kept at it, though in later meetings, and there was a bit of a thaw in their attitude. Then they came up with an offer. "Look, Mr. Hartnett," Carpenter said. "We can't accept your facts about copper, but we'll let you have some equipment if you'll agree to make your ammunition cases out of steel. We've perfected excellent steel cases and we are very happy with them." Pointedly, he added: "They are a baby of Bill Knudsen, who, as you know, was
Inspecting anti-aircraft shell cases in a munitions factory at GHM Woodville Plant, South Australia, 1942.(State Library, SA)
president of Chevrolet in your time and a good manufacturing man.'' "Well, I'm not happy about steel cases not for warfare in the tropics," I told them. "In New Guinea we're fighting in a very humid climate. A film of rust grows on steel overnight. I know you can coat the steel with preventives, but you 'II probably get jammed shell-cases and all kinds of troubles. In that climate and terrain I think steel shell-cases would be useless." To hell with Bill Knudsen and his pet schemes! I wasn't going to let his GM connections throw me. Steel shells were out! The Americans thought otherwise. And so we were at a dead end. That evening in a Washington club, I met one of the most extraordinary characters I have come across: a debonair young Colonel in the British Army named Gosling. He was a Regular Army officer, the King's Gunner - one of those odd roles the British sometimes give to an expert. Gosling - he was known to everyone in Washington as "The Goose"- was in the U.S. on a liaison job. We started talking guns, and I mentioned the trouble I was having. He agreed with me that steel shell-cases would be useless in the tropics. There was to be a full dress meeting with Army Ordnance and
Lend-Lease the next day, and "The Goose" offered to go with me as technical adviser. He was a wonderful help. When the subject of steel shell-cases was brought up he said: ''If you gentlemen are so confident about steel ammunition why don't you give it a go yourself in the tropics?" "We've tested the shells here in the U.S. Fired thousands of rounds. There's no trouble with them," they said. "Fine," said The Goose , “but you try serving steel ammunition up to your troops. If those fellows in the tropics, say it's good, then we'll have another look. In the meantime, you can understand our reluctance to be the guinea-pigs.'' He said all this in high good humour, and he brought a good atmosphere to the discussion. The Americans agreed to have another look at the steel cases. Two days later we met again. They had checked my story about stocks of copper in Australia and found it was perfectly true. They appreciated our reluctance to try the steel shells in the tropics and they'd help us get most of the equipment we wanted for guns and brass shell-case production. I think the happy chance of meeting "The Goose" gave us success with that negotiation.
This is an extract from ‘Big Wheels & Little Wheels’, by Sir Laurence Hartnett as told to John Veitch, 1964. © Deirdre Barnett.
AMT APR 2022
To be continued…
