Part 1 of this fascinating feature appeared in the October issue of Safety Fast!. In conclusion, we look at what the Abingdon factory got up to during the war years. This report concentrates mainly on the work involved with the production and testing of tanks and aircraft.

Experience at M.G. During Wartime

The output in units of all products produced by M.G. during the war was over 17,000, an average of some 3,500 per year. This was complete equipment such as tanks, truck assembly, light tank overhaul, aircraft front ends, Lancaster engine assemblies. In addition, nearly a million components and parts were made as spares or as components for mounting in other equipment made in other factories, such as oil cooler mountings, engine mountings, radiator flaps for Lancaster, Tempest wing spares, tank tool boxes etc..

The details of all the production and some indication of the dates when they were produced is shown in the table below, from an internal M.G. memo dated 4th December 1944. I believe this is the first time this data has been published.

It is interesting to compare these figures with the total car output of the M.G. factories in the years just before and just after the war which are (according to Wilson McComb and Mike Allison) as follows:

The work content of many of these wartime products far exceeded that of the assembly of an M.G. sports car.

(One shop with complete machine tool equipment engaged on the manufacture of a variety of Tank Stowage for ourselves and eight other Tank Manufacturers - quantity of details unknown.)

In the previous article on this subject I concentrated mainly on the people issues at Abingdon during the war. The following notes are taken from a report dated the 22nd March 1945 which provides a brief for each of the products shown in the production figures table.

Overhauling Mark V and VI Light Tanks
This necessitated the construction of Test Beds for the brake testing of all vehicle engines. All electrical equipment was dismantled down to the smallest component for thorough examination. Men who had no previous experience of testing track vehicles took over this job, their only experience being the testing of motor cars.

Overhauling Matilda Tanks
The major job on this vehicle was the overhauling of electrical components and the complete rewiring was found necessary to pretest all dynamos. As we had no Variable Speed A.C. Test Motor, an air blower was removed from one of the V Type Motor Cars to use as a drive to give variable speed for testing.

Day and night shifts worked on 25 vehicles. 20 vehicles were converted from A.E.C. Power Units to Leylands. Many tanks were tested after dark owing to the urgency of these vehicles.

Repairing Armoured Cars
These A.F.V.s had bullet-proof Nickel Chrome Molybdenum steel hulls and turrets, this metal was found to suffer from cracks. The hulls and turrets were sent to be annealed, on return and refitting all cracks were welded. Each vehicle was road tested. A mock battle was carried out between Armoured Cars and Matildas at Didcot.

Assembling USA Trucks
In the first batch of Lease-Lend material, M.G. labour travelled to Avonmouth docks for removing of the trucks from crates and assembling.

Erecting 2 PDR Crusader Tanks
This was our first experience of erecting the complete tank from parts sent here from contractors. A delay was caused by the bombing of Coventry and Birmingham where some of the contractors shops were situated.

One vehicle was presented on behalf of the Ex-Governor General of Nigeria to the War Office.

Women labour was brought into the factory for employment on tank manufacture.

All tanks were given a thorough road and cross-country test of approximately 100 miles for radio and mechanical reliability. All vehicles were subjected to a fording test, and a special water dip was erected on the premises.

Erecting Bofors Tanks
These vehicles consisted of a Bofors 2pdr Gun mounted on a Crusader hull. An interesting feature was the small 2 Stroke engine which was incorporated for the traversing of the turret and gun elevation. Much development was carried out with the suppression of these vehicles for radio interference. This necessitated a visit to Handforth No.2 Depot for eliminating the interference in vehicles which had already left the premises.

Converting Sherman Tanks to O.P.
The primary reason for the conversion of these vehicles was the installation of the Wireless Station consisting of 2 No.19 sets and 1 No.18 set and equipment.

The 75mm gun and breech was removed complete to provide room for Map Boards and a dummy barrel fitted to give the vehicle its original out-side appearance. As these vehicles were primarily Wireless Stations, a screened shed was built for suppressing the vehicles’ interference. Ignition interference became a major problem and to assist us in this development we obtained a High Speed, Sealed off Cathode Ray Oscillograph which has a miniature television set for tracing ignition failures.

A.W. 41 Aircraft
Abingdon assembled the complete front end, or cockpit of the Albemarle, as it was called. One of the most interesting features of the A.W. 41 was the electrical testing gear (see later)

Converting Churchill Tanks to AVRE (flail tanks for mine clearance)
The A.V.R.E. tank was designed by the 79th Armoured Division after their experiences at Dieppe. A 6pdr gun was replaced by a Petard gun which fires a 40pdr charge. Side armour of the hull and turret was increased by the fitting of 20mm Applique Armour, this necessitated training welders for vertical and overhead Arc Welding. An urgent call for these tanks was made by the Ministry of Supply to take part in the operations on D Day. During this rush work, production of 30 tanks per week was required and this necessitated working 12 to 15 hours a day. These attachments were fitted to carry Flail devices.

Converting of Churchill Tanks to ARK
The ARK Bridge was a special device fitted to the top of the tank to enable the standard tanks to be driven over the top of blockhouses. This was done by running the ARK tank up to the side of a blockhouse and lowering its ramps, thereby holding the bridge in position.

Converting Centaur Tanks to Taurus
9 Taurus Carriers were built for experimental purposes as Armoured Troop Carriers.

Converting Centaur to Bulldozer
A call from the War Office for 1 prototype Centaur tank fitted with Bulldozer equipment to be completed in 7 days for test by the Army was received, and this was carried out to schedule. Tests were carried out in London on rubble caused by flying-bombs.

This vehicle is a Centaur hull fitted with a 11' 4" shovel operated with Cable and Winch Gear, they were also fitted with radio transmitting and receiving sets. It was stated by D.T.D. that this vehicle was the best Armoured Bulldozer used by the Forces. It was designed to combat the heavy casualties sustained by the drivers of the standard Bulldozer.

With reference to Albemarle, this was one of the first 'planes to drop troops on the Continent on ‘D' Day. The A.V.R.E. Tank was one of the first in operation on ‘D’ Day.

Both are produced by the M.G. Car Co..

Of particular interest was the assembly of the front end and cockpit of the Albemarle aircraft, the A.W. 41. The photograph (bottom left) shows a line up of some of the people involved in its manufacture. Cis Cousins is third from the left. The Albemarle is interesting for a number of reasons:
I. It was one of the first contracts obtained by Cecil Kimber at the beginning of the war. He obtained the contract at his own initiative since he was desperate to find work for the M.G. factory and its employees.
2. It was this contract, according to McComb, that led him into conflict with the Nuffield Organisation who, themselves, specifically Sir Miles Thomas, Chairman, wanted to organise the war work for the whole of the Nuffield factory structure. This led to Kimber's dismissal from M.G. and George Propert, a long time M.G. manager with a works management background, took over as General Manager, while H.A. Ryder was nominated as M.G. Managing Director.
3. The second reason for the interest is that the front end of the Albemarle aircraft was far more complex than any car ever produced by M.G.. In particular the front end contained the cockpit and all the pilots' and navigators' control systems which had eventually to be connected to the rest of the aircraft in another factory. In order to ensure that this front end was properly assembled and that all controls would work, the inspection team at M.G. devised an ingenious test rig for testing the completed aircraft front end before delivery to customers. A write-up of this electrical test rig (see below) was made in September 1942 and given to Works Superintendent Bill Slingsby who would eventually transmit this to the Autocar magazine. I am not sure at this stage whether the Autocar ever published it.

The new test rig allowed the Albemarle nose section to be fully and accurately tested in a single hour. This method replaced an old "bell and battery" method, described as rather hit and miss, which used to take three days for each front end. Apparently, the new rig worked so well and so impressed other aircraft companies that at the end of the war it was sold to the aircraft industry for use in peace time aircraft production. In all, 653 of these Albemarle aircraft units were made. Each nose section required as much work as the construction of a complete fighter aircraft.

The Albemarle planes dropped the first airborne troops in Europe on ‘D’ Day, and earlier the Albemarle was used with distinction in the Salerno landings, and for running ferry services between England and Gibraltar and England and Russia.

ELECTRICAL TEST A.W. 41 AIRCRAFT (Report 1. 9. 42)
All operational tests which can be carried out on G1 Section are carried out by coupling batteries to the machines. This covers all interior lights, Asimuth steering, undercarriage, horn and all other electrical equipment in the pilot’s and navigator's compartment.

There are, however, circuits that are not completed G1 Section for which we have built a test rig, which is which is situated on the last Section. This ensures a complete test of the Electrical Installation throughout. This test rig completes the circuits as fitted to an airborne craft. The test rig consists of the following components;
(a) Petrol Fuel Gauge Transmitters. This consisted of four resistances for checking the function of petrol gauge heads.
(b) Flap Indicators. Two resistances for checking flap movement on gauge heads.
(c) Bomb Release Gear. This test is carried out by connecting the bomb aimers panel to terminals on test rig. After pressing release button lights indicate whether or not bombs are released.
(d) Identification Light, Navigation Light, Station and Formation Lights. Equivalent lights are placed on panel test rig. After circuit is completed they’re tested by pressure switches pilot’s panel.
(e) Starter, Airscrew, Feathering, Fire Extinguishers, Engine Speed, Indicator, Generators and Magnetos are all checked for functioning by connection with warning lights on panel.
(f) Cowl Gill Position Indicators and Gill Indicator Lights are checked by energising by connection to batteries on test which also operates lights situated on pilot's panel to indicate correct functioning.
(g) Camera Control. Function and tests are carried out in similar manner to previous paragraph.

The test rig is powered by 24 volts, consisting of four 6V batteries. Each electrical component not fitted on G1 is represented by warning lights placed in appropriate position on indicator panel above main test bench. This is connected by wiring to terminals on test bed. Drawings of completed circuits were supplied by Messrs Hawksley Aircraft Co. Ltd. which gave all information required.

Two other products were of particular interest, especially in regard to the role they played during and after the ‘D’ Day landings. The first of these was the wading equipment for tanks of which 3000 sets were made. Apparently Cis Cousins and other executives were called away to a secret meeting in 1944, at which the designs for this tank wading equipment were presented. These had to be made under severe time pressure and under conditions of great secrecy, since they were part of the huge logistic effort for ‘D’ Day. The wading equipment allowed the tanks to come off the landing craft much earlier and to make their own way to the beaches. Apparently they worked very satisfactorily.

The second interesting product was the conversion of the Crusader and Centaur tanks to Bulldozers. These were used by the Allied Armies as they moved through Europe to clear rubble in the towns devastated by the fighting. The first one, at the urgent request of the Army, was completed in seven days, and after being tried out in the bombed ruins of London was declared the best Bulldozer ever. It was heavily armed to give the driver a better chance of survival than he had on the standard machines. In the book "Calling All Arms" that describes the effort of all the Nuffield factories towards the war efforts, the bulldozer tanks were singled out for special praise for the way they helped the advancing Allied Armies. It is an ironic tribute to the men of Abingdon that one of these Churchill bulldozers helped to shovel up the rubble ruins that were once the great Krupp armaments factory.

A variety of other tank conversions was carried out at Abingdon. One was a Churchill tank mounted with flails designed to help the Engineer batallions clear minefields. Another Churchill conversion was a portable bridge over which ordinary fighting tanks could climb to negotiate pill boxes and similar obstacles.

The M.G. production ingenuity is also shown in the way they approached the manufacture of the Tempest wing spars. These were made of Duralumin and Wadkins wood-working machines for shaping and drilling, and were adapted to make the finished shape of the spars by cutting away the surplus metal. The photo below shows Ken Bertram third from right, and Cis Cousins, second left, showing the spars to some visiting RAF pilots.

The post war report of the activities concerning the various products continues with a number of other snippets as follows:

"Our job in life was to produce as many and as quickly as possible Churchill Tanks converted to A.V.R.E. (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers), a special purpose job for mine detection, road block destruction and fitted with a special mortar known as the Petard Gun. A Captain J. Donovan, a Canadian, was responsible for this weapon of terrific destruction and he was a frequent visitor in the early stages of our production. Life soon became extremely hectic and production of 30 tanks a week was attained, and maintained until we outstripped Vauxhall and Broome and Wade's production of basic vehicles. An extremely tight target of 208 vehicles by the end of March was set by the Ministry and we hit the target to the day!

To add to our difficulties, we had to sandwich the 24 Churchill ARK, mobile bridges, in between the A.V.R.E.. The 24 ARK were completed by April 25th.

Whilst all this activity was going on in the Tank Shop the Press Shop had landed a special Wading Equipment job and, although a most mysterious fire broke out in the Press Shop the day before we were due to start a night shift (incidentally this was at Easter), by an all in effort production was not affected and 2000 sets of equipment for carriers was produced and finished by April 14th, the target date, a very creditable effort on everyone's part.

During these activities in the Tank and Press Shops the main factory was being laid out for the Tempest job, and some difficult technical points met and overcome as time went on, although it must be admitted progress was extremely slow owing to the non arrival of jigs and special tools. By the middle of August we started to produce Rear Spars and in the middle of November, Front Spars.

Reverting to Tank production, steady production with the A.V.R.E. went on and the great day arrived, June 6th 1944, ‘D' Day. The products of the M.G. Car Company were used with good effect, first came the Albemarle as tug planes to land our gliders and paratroops, and then the A.V.R.E. blasted their way through the ‘West Wall'. The Wading Equipment made it possible for us to land hundreds of troops in carriers from the landing barges to the beaches.

Our next effort was the Bulldozer, here we took on the responsibility of 'parentage' and in August we produced in a week the first Centaur prototype Bulldozer. Production started and has continued to the present day.

Great strides were being made on the Tempest which became an urgent priority owing to the Flying Bomb attack on London, and every effort was made to supply the R.A.F. with a machine which could successfully combat these last efforts of the Nazis.

The greatest of all days has arrived and gone, VE Day, May 8th 1945, and now our war contracts are gradually being finished off."

The skills learnt during the war under severe time and space pressure, the ability to progress chase scarce components, as well as the need for high product reliability, must have been most valuable to M.G. in building up the production after the war. The details of these efforts are chronicled by both Wilson McComb and Mike Allison in their excellent M.G. books, "M.G." and "the Magic Of The Marque".

I am indebted to Ken Bertram for all the material used in these articles and for his recent recollections on these M.G. activities of more than 50 years ago. Most of the material comes from original reports and documents created at the time, but some also comes from the book "Calling all Arms" by Ernest Fairfax, and from Ken’s own photographs.

DAVID ALLEN