At the outbreak of WWII, Australia wasn't really an industrial nation. Our manufacturing capability lay in the railway workshops; engineering enterprises which had morphed from goldfields equipment into general mining, agriculture & irrigation; woodworking shops which had built horse-vehicle, tram and motor bodies; shipbuilders, and the fledgling automotive industry.
They swung into action, and developed new skills, which served them well into the 1950s decade of huge manufacturing growth.
I have countless examples in my files.
The patrol boats, which triggered this thread.
Holden had started life making wooden bodies. It made wooden-frame aeroplanes.
Kelly & Lewis made irrigation pumps, and had built two diesel locos for a timber line in Alexandra. It made electric locos for SEC's Yallourn railway when repeat orders from Germany were out of the question.
Postwar NSWR railmotors used aircraft framing techniques, which resulted in a profile more tubular than most railway equipment.
CAC turned its aircraft skills into building buses, notably the prolific and iconic Bedford SB.
With the giving away of industrial capability, would we have the ability if WWIII broke out next week?
One heartwarming story which shows than we can still do it: with the loss of supply for blue diesel additive, Pivot (maker of fertiliser and explosives) is swinging into action to make the product here.
That follows the recent morphing of distilleries from brandy, rum, gin and other spirits into covid19 sanitiser.
My wooden-boat hobby has extensive posts of workboats which have survived, although most with extensive modifications.
Roderick
