by Rosen, Sue;
If the enemy should effect a landing in Australia, there is nothing more certain than that the transports that brought his troops and materials, will go back to their bases, in the Islands or in Japan, loaded with whatever machinery, plant, goods or raw materials are surplus to his local needs!
Apart from materials, he would be greatly aided in maintaining a footing if he could bring and take to his own use, our machines and power, could extend his communications and improvise his defence works with our equipment and maintain his whole structure on the power of our oil, our coal, our electricity and our gas.
We must see to it, therefore, that no useful manufactures, raw materials, machinery or sources of power fall into the enemy’s hands intact.
Destruction must be sufficiently selective to ensure that all the things most important to the enemy are dealt with whatever happens, and the methods must be sufficiently thorough to ensure complete denial.
This does not mean that the aim should be less than the total denial of everything but simply that if time and circumstances limit the action possible, then the most important things should be dealt with first.
In every case the aim should be the most thorough destruction by the simplest methods.
If a sledge hammer will demolish a machine, why use explosives which might be used to make a landmine?
The suggestions made in regard to each category are only suggestions - they are good ways of carrying out the job, but if you can think of a better one, by all means use it.
The enemy will be more effectively hampered if the same item of machinery or the corresponding vital part of a particular type of machine or installation is denied in every case than if one item or part is destroyed in one place and a different one in another.
Special attention should therefore be paid to the destruction of independent prime-movers and steam-boilers, so that no source of power for any purpose may be available.
The resulting scrap-iron, much desired by the Japanese, leaves a final problem; to be solved by the exercise of our every possible means and device.
FINALLY:
Scorched Earth plans for special services and industries have been drafted in consultation with these services and industries, and are available to unit managements as guides in the preparation of their own Action Details - to deny to the Japanese invader what he depends upon for our conquest!
THE PRODUCTS OF OUR HANDS AND LANDS!
ø/ Thus may we help to keep Australia a free democracy!
GOD SAVE THE KING!
___________
The owners and managers of farms, factories and mills were directly addressed in the second part of the Scorched Earth Code. They were urged to immediately make detailed plans so that they would be ready to implement the denial policy as soon as the Army issued the order. By then the enemy would be closing in and there would be no time to waste. Business owners were warned that the Japanese would try to seize lightly defended areas before ‘converging … on the fortified industrial zones’. Those in coastal areas outside the Newcastle-Sydney-Port Kembla strip were to start preparing at once.
All factories and businesses were asked to list their machines and equipment, stocks of raw materials and finished products; detail how these would be wrecked, buried or disabled; and name the individuals appointed to carry out the denial tasks. These lists were to be submitted to the Army for approval. Businesses that contributed to the War Damages Fund would receive compensation if their property had to be destroyed to deny it to the enemy.
The subcommittee tried to cover every type of trade and business, from garages to tanneries to soap factories. It gave broad instructions for disabling a huge variety of tools and equipment, including drills, power units, compressors, forges, vehicle jacks, optical lenses, batteries, mills, chemical vats, looms, slipways, distilleries, canning machinery, saws, cranes, tent making equipment, rubber vulcanising machinery, cameras and film. In the case of engines and machinery too large to destroy completely at short notice, vital parts were to be identified for removal or destruction. The aim in every case was ‘the most thorough destruction by the simplest methods’.
DENIAL OF RESOURCES TO THE ENEMY N.S.W. L. OF C. AREA.1
CIRCULAR TO INDUSTRIES: DENIAL OF MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT, PLANT, AND STOCKS, IN FACTORIES, WORKSHOPS, WAREHOUSES AND STORES &C.
At Army request the State War Effort Coordination Committee is endeavouring to cover every civil eventuality of war, and through its Scorched Earth Sub-Committee is investigating and planning for the completest possible denial to the enemy of all local aids to war, should he secure foothold in Australia.
This policy of denial is called “Scorched Earth”, although normally, the denial will be selective rather than devastative.
In the contingency of actual invasion and occupation of any sector, the need for such denial to the enemy of all our resources of transport, power, machinery and raw materials will be apparent to you if you recall the extent to which the Axis powers have harnessed to their war-machine the industrial resources of Europe, and if you consider how much more vulnerable will be the Japanese transport lines if all his supplies have to be brought by sea and not secured from the country invaded.
For these reasons there can be no doubt that should the need arise you will not require the Government to invoke powers of compulsion in applying a Scorched Earth plan, but, realising its importance to Australia and the United Nations,2 you will give with willingness the fullest instant cooperation, and will collaborate in that degree of preparation which alone can make Scorched Earth an effective weapon with which to strike the enemy.
If actual implementation becomes necessary, the Army will give the order and you will be expected, as a responsible management and citizen, to put into action plans which you will already have formulated on the general lines of the hints which follow.
The denial command will be issued by the Army only if danger is imminent and enemy pressure critical. In such case little time will remain for the implementation of the prepared action detail and the selected staff must hold themselves in readiness to receive the Army order from the Zone Control Officer.
Destruction must be sufficiently selective to ensure that all the things most important to the enemy are dealt with whatever happens, and the methods must be sufficiently thorough to ensure complete denial for as long as possible.
This does not mean that the aim should be less than the total denial of everything, but simply that, if time and circumstances limit the action possible, then the most important things should be dealt with first.
In every case the aim should be the most thorough destruction by the simplest methods.
If a sledge hammer will demolish a machine, why use explosives which might be used to make a landmine?
The section detail to be prepared by you for your emergency use should set out:-
(i) Name, make and type of machines in the factory and the method of destruction of each.
(ii) Details of stocks of raw materials, and finished or partly finished products on hand; and suggested methods of destruction or rendering useless, if this is possible.
(iii) The names of members of your staff who have been selected to destroy each machine.
A copy of this action detail should be forwarded to your local Zone Control Officer for military approval. (This plan would incidentally constitute supporting evidence in War Damage Insurance claims.)
In all cases - remember that the enemy will destroy when driven out or take valuable plant with him - so don’t leave him anything that he can use in the vain hope that you will find it intact on your return.
The State War Effort Co-ordination Committee, therefore, on behalf of the State Government, asks that you will give the most earnest and immediate attention to the formulation of plans and preparations which, in the case of invasion and of military necessity, would most effectively deny the use of your plant and materials to the enemy; and also that having made these plans you will see to it that th
ose reliable members of your staff whom you will have chosen to carry out the work are so trained that, even in the stress of near-by battle, they will do the job at the last moment Army order, swiftly, effectively, unobtrusively.
Compensation:
Property owners who are contributors to the War Damages Fund will be compensated for Scorched Earth demolition; “War Damage” includes damage (accidental and otherwise) occurring as the result of the destruction of any property or goods for the purpose of preventing it or them from falling into enemy hands or being used by the enemy - as well as damage caused by enemy action or action taken in combating the enemy. Accidental damage resulting from precautionary or preparatory measures taken under proper authority to prevent or hinder enemy attack is also covered by the National Security (War Damages to Property) Regulations.
Contribution to the Fund is compulsory in the case of owners of fixed property, plant over £1,000 in value, and stock-in-trade over £1,000 in value; whilst owners of private chattels, plant or stock under £1,000 value, growing crops, livestock or agricultural fencing may participate in benefits by voluntarily contributing to the Fund.
The War Damage Commission should be consulted regarding plant and stock-in-trade of over £1,000 in value, local government authorities regarding fixed property and approved insurance companies regarding private chattels, plant or stock under £1,000 value, growing crops, livestock and agricultural fencing.
The limits of compensation are ascertainable from each of the authorities mentioned.
DENIAL METHODS:
By Disposal:
Trenches should be prepared beforehand in hidden localities known only to trusted persons, and well removed from the workshop - the top turf to be retained intact and the surplus soil indiscernably scattered. These trenches are to be used in emergency for the reception of such light equipment, tools, parts etc. as cannot be previously disposed of or are difficult to destroy. Particular attention to the disposal of precision instruments and gauges is required.
Alternatively, deep water should be located in which to sink them.
If buried in trenches, tools, parts &c. should be greased and wrapped to protect them from moisture; the top turfs should be restored and the surface camouflaged against enemy detection, e.g. as a rubbish or firewood heap, or as may occur.
By Destruction:
Because of the scope of the field, it is not possible to give detailed advice as to the methods applicable to each special machine, and in any case, it is not the intention of this code to teach the expert his own job. It is essential, however, that in formulating plans, special attention should be paid to certain equipment, and the following are notes in that connexion, given in the order of their importance.
In all cases, it is essential that a complete denial be made, organised simply, but in such a way that an effective plant cannot be assembled from parts collected from a number of partly denied plants. As an example, if the distributors of every internal combustion engine are destroyed, then no engine can be run; but if every second engine only is denied in this way, then half the engines could possibly be put to work again.
Equipment:
(a) Machine Tools:- i.e. ALL metal working and repairing machines.
Lathes
- Smash pieces out of bed, with a sledge hammer, also smash driving gears, speed cones or other pulley drives. Cut lead screws, spline shafts and spindles with an oxy-torch or hammer, if time permits.
Drills
- Destroy saddle and drive, also lead screws, spline shafts and spindles as for lathes, if time permits. For small electric drills, thrust a screwdriver into the windings while the machine is in motion, or cut them with an oxy-torch, or smash machine with a sledge hammer.
Milling Machines
- Smash gears and, if time permits, cut lead screws, spline shafts and spindles as for lathes.
Presses
- Smash frames, flywheel, arms and clutch with a sledge hammer or oxy-torch. Smash compressor on hydraulic presses by hitting cylinder head.
Grinding Machines
- Smash head and bed, also grinding wheels. With portable grinders, smash or cut with an oxy-torch as stated above for drills.
Shaping, Planing & Boring Machines
- Smash table and slides with a sledge hammer, and treat lead screws, spline shafts and spindles as for lathes.
(b) Power Units:- i.e. ALL sources of power.
Internal Combustion Engines
- Drain or smash sump and radiator and run engine at full speed. After seizing (which may take about 15-20 minutes) smash the distributor or injector. If circumstances do not permit this, smash cylinder head and distributor or injector. Also smash batteries and starting motors.
Electric Motors
- Smash end cases with a sledge hammer and burn out insulation and windings by lighting a bundle of oily waste inserted in the end frames.
Steam Engines
- Screw down safety valve of boiler, cut off feed water and build up a large fire. Smash slide valve, housing and cylinder with a sledge hammer.
(c) Welding Plants:
Electric Plants
- If power is available - short circuit leads of transformer, otherwise smash with a sledge hammer. Also smash torches.
Oxygen and Acetylene Plants
- Smash gauges and torches and release supplies of gas. (Be sure to release gas in open air.)
(d) Furnaces and Forges:
Smash casing of blower with a sledge hammer. Also smash switchboards, tuyere, burner, heating elements, as applicable and if possible, damage lining of furnaces. It may be possible to leave a charge of molten metal in the furnace, in addition to the above.
(e) Compressors:
Smash cylinder head.
(f) Charging Equipment:
Burst globe and smash stage switches.
(g) Retreading Plants:
Smash steam cavities on moulds. Smash compressors and steam plant as stated above.
(h) Hydraulic Units:
Smash cylinder head and remove plugs on hoists.
Smash valves and pumps.
(i) Jacks:
Smash gearing or cylinder.
(j) Blocks and Tackles:
Smash pulleys and gear wheels with a sledge hammer or cut with an oxy-torch.
(k) Precision Tools, Gauges and Hand Tools:
Every endeavour should be made to remove to a place of safety, all precision tools and gauges. Otherwise, grease well, wrap in cloth, place in tins and bury in some place remote from the factory. As a last resort - smash them or throw them into deep water, e.g. a well, river, lake, etc., or into a furnace. Hand tools to be smashed, buried, or thrown into water.
(l) Switchboards:
Smash all boards and meters with a hammer. Cut electric wires in as many places as possible, if time permits.
(m) Motor Vehicles:
Unregistered vehicles that are jacked up should be dismantled. Carburettors, distributors, spark-coils, spark plugs, batteries, generators, tools and tyres should be packed in a box and properly labelled. Each part should have its own label giving the name of the owner and the type and model of the car to which it belonged. The box should not be nailed up, however, until instructions are given as to where it should be sent for storage, as in an emergency it would be necessary to destroy some or all of the parts, in particular distributors, at short notice.
Registered vehicles should be effectively serviced every evening, with petrol or charcoal at the full, so that they can be used at a moment’s notice in emergency. But at the same time the owners should plan to immobilise them at equally short notice if the situation requires and the Army so orders. Whatever salvage is possible should be done in the latter case but this must be subsidiary to complete denial to the enemy.
Salvage and Destruction before Abandonment:
All vehicles should be destroyed in the event of abandonment. This applies also to unassembled motor vehicles in dealers’ or distributors’ stocks.
Outside the city of Sydney, each should carry an axe, suitable tools, and a bottle of inflammable liquid.
Before abandoning, the vehicle must be driven off the road out of the way - unless directed by a military officer to form part of a military obstruction.
If possible, prior to abandonment, the driver should salvage spare wheels, tyres, tools, batteries, spare parts and transfer them to evacuation trains or motor vehicles, if any are permitted by the Army at the time of abandonment. Otherwise, he must irrevocably immobilise or destroy the vehicle in the manner hereunder:
(Note: Denial of similar parts of every car is essential as the basic plan. This is to prevent the repair of some vehicles by collecting parts from others. The distributor must be removed from every car whatever other steps are taken to complete denial.)
(1) Motor Vehicles Without petrol:
Remove or destroy distributor housing complete.
Remove wheels, starting with spare - or slash or saw through tyres.
Remove batteries, or smash with axe or hammer.
Smash cylinder head with an axe or hammer.
Break bottle of inflammable liquid or heap inflammable material over car, and ignite.
If removed parts and tools cannot be salvaged and transformed, hide, bury, smash and/or throw into the burning vehicles. If buried in safety, wrap in oily rag and place in a container if time permits.
(2) Motor Vehicles with Petrol:
Puncture radiator and sump.
Start engine and leave running at full speed, to seize engine.
Slash or saw tyres, and smash tank and distributor after engine seizes.
