BMARC
Encyclopedia
BMARC was a UK
-based firm designing and producing defence products, particularly aircraft cannon
and naval anti-aircraft cannon. It was based on a 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) site on Springfield Road, (part of the A607), in Grantham
, Lincolnshire
.
's Shadow factory plan headed up by Herbert Austin
, the company was founded by William Denis Kendall. Shortly after start-up during the World War II
rearmament period, Kendall became MP for Grantham
from 1942–50.
By 1943 its two production units fulfilled 46% of the UK's demand for the Hispano-Suiza 20 mm
cannon. The remainder came from the Birmingham Small Arms Company
(BSA) shadow factory in Newcastle-under-Lyme
, 25%; Poole Royal Ordnance Factory
, 25%; and the Royal Small Arms Factory
Enfield, 3%. At the time of the Battle of Britain
in 1941, 20mm cannon were only just starting to arm the Spitfire
and Hurricane
. By 1943, the RAF had converted entirely to cannon armament for its fighters. Grantham received 21 raids by the Luftwaffe
for precisely this reason, which killed 70 people in 1941-2 (many around the Commercial Road and Norton Street area on 9 January and 4 February in 1941). One notable raid was on 24 October 1942 when 30 people were killed when bombs destroyed most of Stuart Street and its air-raid shelter
. The Ministry of Aircraft Production site on Springfield Road was hit on 27 January 1941, when a plane was shot down. The factory was also attacked in daylight on 3 December 1940, but the plane was damaged by the 3rd Kesteven (Grantham and Spittlegate) Battalion who had an anti-aircraft battery
at the factory.
The 1942 morale-raising film The Foreman Went to France
was based on an employee of the Grantham factory. Melbourne Johns, from Pembrokeshire, was working at the Grantham factory and realised in 1940 that the Hispano-Suiza factory in France had important Deep Hole Boring Machines that could be of immense value to the Germans and set out on a mission with a team to recover the equipment. Finding the French factory and local village deserted, they drove the equipment back to England on a lorry. Melbourne Johns died in Grantham in 1955. The Deep Hole Boring Machine (DHBM), used for drilling the barrels of the guns, in the Grantham factory was very valuable, and was encased in a specially-made bomb-proof shelter.
, near Market Rasen
which had two indoor firing ranges for testing and proving of cannon (Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
). The site also had the capability to store nuclear weapons such as Redbeard
and WE.177
. This site is currently used by BAE Systems
. The company also made the Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon
(Skyguard).
BMARC was a subsidiary of Hispano-Suiza
and then was owned until 1987 by Oerlikon
, the Swiss
defence contractor. It was then sold to Astra Holdings, which had a head office in Kent, in May 1988. In the 1990s
, the company was investigated for alleged illegal dealings with Iraq
. Jonathan Aitken
was a non-executive director of the company from September 1988, and in a libel trial in March 1997, BMARC was accused of selling weapons to Iran
. On 11 December 1995, an ITV World in Action
programme covered the subject and the Scott Report
. It was extensively (and exclusively) investigated by the Guardian
newspaper, largely motivated by the potential to discredit (and later convict) Jonathan Aitken.
s). After the financial collapse of Astra Holdings, in April 1992 BMARC was bought by British Aerospace
briefly becoming part of Royal Ordnance
. The company later closed the Grantham site later in 1992, and the site was sold in 1994.
, the Type 42 destroyer
, the Fort Victoria class replenishment oiler, the Fort Rosalie class replenishment ship
, the River class patrol vessel
, the Castle class patrol vessel
, the Fearless class landing platform dock
, the cancelled Type 82 destroyer
, and RFA Fort Victoria
and HMS Roebuck
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-based firm designing and producing defence products, particularly aircraft cannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
and naval anti-aircraft cannon. It was based on a 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) site on Springfield Road, (part of the A607), in Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
.
Second World War
Created and funded under the Air MinistryAir Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
's Shadow factory plan headed up by Herbert Austin
Herbert Austin
Herbert 'Pa' Austin, 1st Baron Austin KBE was an English automobile designer and builder who founded the Austin Motor Company.-Background and early life:...
, the company was founded by William Denis Kendall. Shortly after start-up during the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
rearmament period, Kendall became MP for Grantham
Grantham (UK Parliament constituency)
Grantham was a Parliamentary constituency in Lincolnshire, England.The constituency was created in 1468 as a parliamentary borough which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until the union with Scotland, and then to the Parliament of Great Britain...
from 1942–50.
By 1943 its two production units fulfilled 46% of the UK's demand for the Hispano-Suiza 20 mm
Hispano-Suiza HS.404
The Hispano-Suiza HS.404 was an autocannon widely used as both an aircraft and land weapon in the 20th century by British, American, French, and numerous other military services. The cannon is also referred to as Birkigt type 404, after its designer. Firing a 20 mm caliber projectile, it delivered...
cannon. The remainder came from the Birmingham Small Arms Company
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....
(BSA) shadow factory in Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal town of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944...
, 25%; Poole Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factories was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories in and after World War II. Until privatisation in 1987 they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply and later the Ministry of Defence....
, 25%; and the Royal Small Arms Factory
Royal Small Arms Factory
The Royal Small Arms Factory was a UK government-owned rifle factory in the London Borough of Enfield in an area generally known as the Lea Valley. The factory produced British military rifles, muskets and swords from 1816...
Enfield, 3%. At the time of the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
in 1941, 20mm cannon were only just starting to arm the Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
and Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
. By 1943, the RAF had converted entirely to cannon armament for its fighters. Grantham received 21 raids by the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
for precisely this reason, which killed 70 people in 1941-2 (many around the Commercial Road and Norton Street area on 9 January and 4 February in 1941). One notable raid was on 24 October 1942 when 30 people were killed when bombs destroyed most of Stuart Street and its air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelters, also known as bomb shelters, are structures for the protection of the civil population as well as military personnel against enemy attacks from the air...
. The Ministry of Aircraft Production site on Springfield Road was hit on 27 January 1941, when a plane was shot down. The factory was also attacked in daylight on 3 December 1940, but the plane was damaged by the 3rd Kesteven (Grantham and Spittlegate) Battalion who had an anti-aircraft battery
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
at the factory.
The 1942 morale-raising film The Foreman Went to France
The Foreman Went to France
The Foreman Went to France, also known as Somewhere in France, is a 1942 British World War II war film starring Clifford Evans, Tommy Trinder, Constance Cummings and Gordon Jackson...
was based on an employee of the Grantham factory. Melbourne Johns, from Pembrokeshire, was working at the Grantham factory and realised in 1940 that the Hispano-Suiza factory in France had important Deep Hole Boring Machines that could be of immense value to the Germans and set out on a mission with a team to recover the equipment. Finding the French factory and local village deserted, they drove the equipment back to England on a lorry. Melbourne Johns died in Grantham in 1955. The Deep Hole Boring Machine (DHBM), used for drilling the barrels of the guns, in the Grantham factory was very valuable, and was encased in a specially-made bomb-proof shelter.
Post-war
In 1974, the company acquired a 720 acres (2.9 km²) site at FaldingworthRAF Faldingworth
RAF Faldingworth was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command during and after World War II. It was located close to the village of Faldingworth in Lincolnshire...
, near Market Rasen
Market Rasen
Market Rasen is a town and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the River Rase northeast of Lincoln, east of Gainsborough and southwest of Grimsby. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 3,200....
which had two indoor firing ranges for testing and proving of cannon (Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
). The site also had the capability to store nuclear weapons such as Redbeard
Red Beard (nuclear weapon)
Red Beard was the first British tactical nuclear weapon. It was carried by the English Electric Canberra and the V bombers of the Royal Air Force, and by the Blackburn Buccaneers, Sea Vixens and Supermarine Scimitars of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm...
and WE.177
WE.177
WE.177 was the last air-delivered tactical nuclear weapon of the British Armed Forces. There were three versions; WE.177A was a boosted fission weapon, while WE.177B and WE.177C were thermonuclear weapons...
. This site is currently used by BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
. The company also made the Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon
Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon
The Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon is a towed anti-aircraft gun made by Oerlikon Contraves . The system was originally designated as 2 ZLA/353 ML but this was later changed to GDF-001...
(Skyguard).
BMARC was a subsidiary of Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza was a Spanish automotive and engineering firm, best known for its luxury cars and aviation engines in the pre-World War II period of the twentieth century. In 1923, its French subsidiary became a semi-autonomous partnership with the parent company and is now part of the French SAFRAN...
and then was owned until 1987 by Oerlikon
Oerlikon Contraves
Rheinmetall Air Defence AG is a division of German armament manufacturer Rheinmetall, created when the company's Oerlikon Contraves unit was renamed on 1 January 2009 and integrated with Rheinmetall's other air-defence products...
, the Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
defence contractor. It was then sold to Astra Holdings, which had a head office in Kent, in May 1988. In the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
, the company was investigated for alleged illegal dealings with Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and British government minister. He was convicted of perjury in 1999 and received an 18-month prison sentence, of which he served seven months...
was a non-executive director of the company from September 1988, and in a libel trial in March 1997, BMARC was accused of selling weapons to Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. On 11 December 1995, an ITV World in Action
World in Action
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...
programme covered the subject and the Scott Report
Scott Report
The Scott Report was a judicial inquiry commissioned in 1992 after reports of arms sales in the 1980s to Iraq by British companies surfaced. The report was conducted by Sir Richard Scott, then a Lord Justice of Appeal. It was published in 1996...
. It was extensively (and exclusively) investigated by the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper, largely motivated by the potential to discredit (and later convict) Jonathan Aitken.
Financial collapse
On 4 February 1992, after owing £50 million, Astra went into receivership. In Britain, it also owned the pyrotechnics company Haley & Weller (who made grenadeGrenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s). After the financial collapse of Astra Holdings, in April 1992 BMARC was bought by British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
briefly becoming part of Royal Ordnance
Royal Ordnance
Royal Ordnance plc was formed on 2 January 1985 as a public corporation, owning the majority of what until then were the remaining United Kingdom government-owned Royal Ordnance Factories which manufactured explosives, ammunition, small arms including the Lee-Enfield rifle, guns and military...
. The company later closed the Grantham site later in 1992, and the site was sold in 1994.
Royal Navy use
Ships using the 20mm weapons are the Type 22 frigateType 22 frigate
The Type 22 Broadsword class is a class of frigate built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen of the class were built in total, with production divided into three batches. With the decommissioning of HMS Cornwall on 30 June 2011, the final Type 22 of the Royal Navy was retired from service...
, the Type 42 destroyer
Type 42 destroyer
The Type 42 or Sheffield class, are guided missile destroyers used by the British Royal Navy and the Argentine Navy. The first ship of the class was ordered in 1968 and launched in 1971, and today three ships remain active in the Royal Navy and one in the Argentinian Navy...
, the Fort Victoria class replenishment oiler, the Fort Rosalie class replenishment ship
Fort Rosalie class replenishment ship
The Fort Rosalie or Fort class is a class of fleet replenishment vessel of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary. These ships are designed to replenish Royal Navy ships with all kinds of armaments and victualling stores while under way....
, the River class patrol vessel
River class patrol vessel
The River class is a class of three offshore patrol vessels in the Royal Navy, replacing the seven ships of the Island class. A fourth, modified vessel based on the River class has also been built for the Royal Navy, replacing the Castle class, for duties in the Falklands...
, the Castle class patrol vessel
Castle class patrol vessel
-Ships in Class:HMS Leeds Castle HMS Dumbarton Castle -Design:The Castle class was intended as a series of six offshore patrol vessels for the Royal Navy, designed in response to criticism of the previous Island class for insufficient speed, non optimal sea keeping and lack of a flight deck for...
, the Fearless class landing platform dock
Fearless class landing platform dock
The Fearless class amphibious assault ships were the first purpose built amphibious warfare vessels in the Royal Navy. The class comprised only two ships: and ....
, the cancelled Type 82 destroyer
Type 82 destroyer
The Type 82 or Bristol-class destroyer was to be a class of four Royal Navy warships intended as area air-defence destroyers to replace the County-class destroyers, and to serve as escorts to the planned CVA-01 aircraft carriers...
, and RFA Fort Victoria
RFA Fort Victoria (A387)
RFA Fort Victoria is a Fort Class combined fleet stores ship and tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary of the United Kingdom tasked with providing ammunition, fuel, food and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world....
and HMS Roebuck
HMS Roebuck (H130)
HMS Roebuck was a coastal survey vessel of the Royal Navy . She was commissioned in 1986, and was the last traditional survey ship to join the fleet. Although nominally used for surveying along the United Kingdom continental shelf, with the downsizing of the survey fleet, Roebuck was enhanced to...
.
Current use of the site
The former site's offices are now home to the Springfield Business Park, with the rest of the factory part developed for housing. South Lincolnshire Enterprise Agency was based there.External links
- BMARC (http://www.bobfairbrother.freeuk.com)
- Faldingworth site
- BMARC and Michael Heseltine.
- Listen to a BBC documentary about BMARC/Astra.
- 20mm weapon on HMS CumberlandHMS Cumberland (F85)HMS Cumberland was a Batch 3 Type 22 frigate of the British Royal Navy. She was launched in 1986 and commissioned on 10 June 1989. The frigate was on station during the First Gulf War and was part of the Devonport Flotilla based at Devonport Dockyard. Cumberland was decommissioned on 23 June...