Opened in 1912 the Lithgow Small Arms Factory was Australia’s first precision mass production factory. The Small Arms Factory was commissioned out of a need to make sure Australia was safe from invasion. Little did they know that world war would break out in two years creating a major demand for their product—Short Magazine Lee Enfield Rifles for the Australian military.

Building the Small Arms Factory at Lithgow changed the lives of the town and many people as it brought employment and housing to the area. I was excited to visit this factory as my father had only recently told me that my grandfather had found employment there when he was a boy. Despite the family connection, it was not until I spent a morning in their fascinating museum that I realised the true important of Lithgow’s Small Arms Factory on Australia’s history. The museum built on the site of the original factory is manned by very knowledgeable volunteers—many of whom had previously worked in the factory and had many interesting  stories to tell. We got lucky because it was a quiet morning the volunteers were happy to chat for half an hour and I was grateful to get some insight into my grandfathers life.

Between the wars the Lithgow Small Arms Factory produced an incredible array of commercial products and in their spare time worked on inventing new technologies and devices.