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Newcastle Industries Plaque : 09-March-2014
Newcastle Industries Plaque : 09-March-2014

Photographs supplied by Sandra Brown
An Australia Remembers plaque commemorates the contribution of Newcastle industries and their employees to the war effort during World War Two.

This plaque was originally located on Braye Park Hill, Waratah overlooking many of the manufacturing and industry sites mentioned on the plaque. Unfortunately, the plaque was stolen several years after being placed. A new plaque was manufactured and placed in its present location in August 2007. Most of the Industries mentioned have since closed.

Newcastle with its heavy industry, steel works and plentiful coal supply played a vital role during World War Two providing much of the essential war materials and weapons required.

Location

Address:Wharf Road, Harbour Foreshore, Newcastle, 2300
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -32.925813
Long: 151.783528
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW2
Approx. Event Start Date:1945
Approx. Event End Date:1995

Dedication

Approx. Monument Dedication Date:2007
Front Inscription

This Plaque Honours The
Contribution Of Newcastle`s
Industries And Their Employees To
World War II.  They Worked 24 Hours A 
Day To Supply The Nation`s Industrial
And Military Needs, Making Australia
Less Reliant On Imports.

BHP - Ferro alloys, magnesium, ferro-zirconium, tungsten carbide

Lysaghts - Portable aircraft hangers, pontoons, machetes, nose cap spinners for Beaufort and Mosquito aircraft. Owen machine guns, bullet proof steel plate and steel for helmets, aircraft and Anderson air raid shelters for Britain.

Rylands - Barbed wire used at Tobruk and Singapore, and wire for telephone field cables, gun parts, aircraft bolts, and anti-submarine and torpedo nets including the net that captured a Japanese submarine in Sydney Harbour in 1942.

Stewarts and Lloyds - 18, 25, and 60 pounder, 6 inch naval, 4, 5 and 6 inch howitzer, 5·5 and 3·7 inch anti-aircraft shells, and tubes for 3·7 inch anti-aircraft guns, Bofors and 25 pounder guns.

Commonwealth Steel - 180 types of special steel including Australia’s first stainless steel and 2 million steel helmets for the Australian, New Zealand and Indian armies.

Newcastle Chemical Company - Chemicals to aid industries and drugs to fight tropical diseases.

Goninan - Refrigeration barges, Bren gun carrier parts

H.R. Hayman and Sutcliffe Manufacturing - More than 2 million articles of military clothing.

Also Involved In The War Effort Were Henry Lane,
Sulphide Corporation And Cardiff Railway Workshops.

In 1943, BHP And Related Industries Employed 17,500 Compared To 3,800 In 1932. The War Saw Women Work In Heavy Industry For The First Time, In February 1942 At Rylands And In August At BHP. About 2,000 Women Were Employed Between 1942 - 1945

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au