Alison uncovers a surprising slice of Australian Defence Force history at Lithgow

Words and photos Alison Huth, Editor at Large

 

We were in the Blue Mountains, NSW, touring around with friends, Lithgow was the place chosen for one day’s outing. The main focus of the day was to show us interstate people something special about Lithgow.

The ‘something special’ was the Small Arms Museum. This had some of us scratching our heads. Small arms, what do you mean? When we arrived, we saw a stark building, no sign of life at all.

 

Active from 1912

The building we wanted was on the road and was clearly home to something quite extraordinary as closed in. The Small Arms Museum had the story of the Small Arms Factory, why it started, what they made, and what they made when they weren’t making small arms.

The first thing was that I had no idea that such a factory existed. I always thought that any armaments our Defence Forces had were imported. I soon changed my mind about that when it became obvious that this factory in Lithgow had been manufacturing arms since 1912.

The factory was at its busiest during times of war, but it didn’t stop when peace prevailed. In fact, you may well have something made in this factory during peacetime, or someone in the older generations may.

During peacetime the factory made household items including a brand of sewing machine. They also made farm equipment, kitchen equipment and I saw a whole case of handcuffs so I feel confident in saying they made those too.

 

 

Rising Sun display

While I’m not at all a guns person, some of the displays were really interesting. The one Rising Sun display is particularly artistic and very well done. The Hayes Handgun Gallery houses the collection of one man, and has 800 hand guns in it.

There were some very ornate guns in the display cases and one that had been presented to Australia’s First Lady Sonia McMahon.

 

 

 

Historic Snap Shots

The history on show is quite amazing, as are the collections. There are photos from the ‘old’ days showing the factory floor and it must have been a very busy, bustling place. There is an on-going Factory that is part of an International Munitions Supply Group. But according to the history of the factory, it’s just not the same anymore.

All that aside, a trip to the Small Arms Factory is really interesting and showcases a part of Australian’s defense that I didn’t know existed.

Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum