In 2012 I was fortunate to visit the Lithgow Small Arms Factory for their centenary celebration. At the time I was working for Thales Australia who owns and runs the factory and I was there to document the event photographically.
The Hon Jason Clare MP, the then Federal Minister for Defence Materiel, attended to officially unveil the centenary plaque. Other notable guests came from Steyr in Austria and from the Australian Army. For me the most important person there was Ted Ferguson, who had worked for the Lithgow factory for 50 years, and had served as a very young man in WWII.
Ted is pictured above talking with local media during the centenary event about the Small Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle, the first weapon ever manufactured at Lithgow. The rifle on display during the celebration was one of the original batch of riles manufactured at Lithgow and was donated for the event. The Enfield was used by Australian soldiers in all major WWI battles except Gallipoli.
Between August 1913 and July 1918 almost 100,000 Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifles and accessories were produced at Lithgow.
After retirement Ted volunteered at the Lithgow Small Arms Museum, located in the grounds of the factory, where I’m sure he had many wonderful memories and stories to share of his long service with the factory. Ted’s greatest disappointment though was that his 50 year tenure of employment was not officially recognised due to the changes from being a government owned factory, then a government enterprise that was then sold into private ownership.
Sadly I learned while researching Ted’s story for this project that he had passed away about 2 years ago. Lest we forget!
Ted is pictured below at the celebration holding the factory’s latest concept rifle the F90, known by the Australian Army as EF88.
The Hon Jason Clare MP, the then Federal Minister for Defence Materiel, attended to officially unveil the centenary plaque. Other notable guests came from Steyr in Austria and from the Australian Army. For me the most important person there was Ted Ferguson, who had worked for the Lithgow factory for 50 years, and had served as a very young man in WWII.
Ted is pictured above talking with local media during the centenary event about the Small Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle, the first weapon ever manufactured at Lithgow. The rifle on display during the celebration was one of the original batch of riles manufactured at Lithgow and was donated for the event. The Enfield was used by Australian soldiers in all major WWI battles except Gallipoli.
Between August 1913 and July 1918 almost 100,000 Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifles and accessories were produced at Lithgow.
After retirement Ted volunteered at the Lithgow Small Arms Museum, located in the grounds of the factory, where I’m sure he had many wonderful memories and stories to share of his long service with the factory. Ted’s greatest disappointment though was that his 50 year tenure of employment was not officially recognised due to the changes from being a government owned factory, then a government enterprise that was then sold into private ownership.
Sadly I learned while researching Ted’s story for this project that he had passed away about 2 years ago. Lest we forget!
Ted is pictured below at the celebration holding the factory’s latest concept rifle the F90, known by the Australian Army as EF88.
As part of the centenary celebrations the VIP guests were taken to the live firing range at Lithgow SAF and were able to fire the new F90 rifle at balloon targets quite some distance away. I was there taking the photos and at the very end of their session I was asked if I would like to try? I hit the last remaining balloon on my second shot. I had never fired a weapon before!
The Hon Jason Clare MP, then Federal Minister for Defence Materiel, official guest at the centenary celebration of the Lithgow Small Arms Factory in October 2012. On the left is Chris Jenkins, Thales Australia CEO. The official opening date of the factory was in June, but due to the usual cold winter conditions, the company chose to hold the ceremony in springtime.
RSS Feed
