by Rosen, Sue;
Splash petrol inside the vehicle and ignite.
(3) Motor Vehicles on Producer Gas:
If producer is alight act as in (2) above.
If producer is cold act as in (1) and in addition smash mixing valve and hopper.
(4) Trailers:
Smash spokes, if possible.
Smash axle (including differential if any, and springs).
Burn if possible.
(5) Tractors:
Tractors are often required for military works.
If not fully engaged on essential wartime production they should be made available to the Army now, if required.
On no account must they be allowed to fall into enemy hands. If they cannot be hidden beyond hope of discovery by the enemy they should be destroyed.
Destruction on approach of the enemy must be carried out - by one or other of the following methods:-
(a) Drain sump and radiator, start the engine at full speed. After seizing, puncture fuel tank, smash battery and ignite; or
(b) Remove the cylinder head and injector complete and destroy - or wrap in an oil rag, place in a container and bury or hide in a place known only to the user and not discoverable by the enemy. Also slash tyres and smash battery; or
(c) Drop a stick of gelignite into the sump and ignite, then slash tyres and battery; or
(d) Run over a cliff.
(6) Motor tools and accessories:
Break, smash, cut, burn or otherwise destroy or throw into deep water (sea, river or lake), or bury in a well concealed place.
Smashing of electrical equipment, especially distributors, is particularly important.
Batteries - smash with an axe.
(7) Unassembled motor vehicles:
The engine and its component parts are separately cased. Open case and destroy the power unit, including carburettor and distributor with a sledge hammer.
(8) Motor vehicle spare parts stock:
Smash with sledge hammer all fitments such as carburettors and distributors, batteries, car radios, etc. Saw tyres through in several places - but salvage and transfer or give away if at all possible - otherwise fire the store containing them, but only as a last resort.
(9) Aluminium, brass and copper parts &c.
Bury at some remote spot or dump into sea or river, otherwise fire the store containing them.
(10) Bicycles:
Bend or break forks, slash tyres, smash spokes.
(n) Stocks of Fuels:
(1) Liquid fuels in underground tanks:-
If power is available, pump out contents and run to waste, or displace with water. Care must be taken to ensure that no damage can be caused if the liquid ignites while running to waste.
In any case, arrangements should be made to destroy the tank in the following way, in case time or circumstances will not permit the above method being used -
Prepare a piece of iron piping, 1½” diameter, sealed at one end, and long enough to reach from the bottom of the tank to the surface of the ground. For tanks about 500 gallon capacity, charge the pipe with 12 ozs. of A.N. 60 gelignite.3 Fit the safety fuse and detonator and fill the pipe with dry sand.
If it should become necessary to destroy the tank, place the tube, sealed end down, in the dip pipe of the tank, so that it rests on the bottom of the tank. Ignite the fuse and after the explosion, toss a bundle of flaming waste into the fuel and ignite it. If not full, fill up with water.
Bowsers:
Wreck the mechanisms of bowsers with a sledge hammer.
Drums, Tins &c.
Puncture all containers of liquid fuel (drums, tins etc.) and run contents to waste.
If time does not permit this, keep as much as possible together then puncture some of the containers and ignite.
Oils &c:
All oils, greases, diesel fuels, etc. must also be treated similarly.
(2) Solid Fuels:-
Those fuels (timber, coal, charcoal etc.) must be burnt.
(o) Firefighting Equipment:
Destroy in the following order: foam plants, power fire pumps, water mains, static water storage.
(p) Telephone Systems (private and P.M.G.):
Destroy switchboards and wreck instruments, using a sledge hammer.
(q) Horse Drawn Transport:
Vehicles:
Smash spokes of all wheels and shafts.
Burn.
Remove or bury chains and other essentials.
Animals:
Any horses that cannot be evacuated before military operations commence must be destroyed if there be danger of their falling into enemy hands.
All fodder must be burned or otherwise destroyed.
All harness that cannot be removed must be buried or destroyed by fire or slashing.
(r) Stocks of raw, finished and partly finished products:
(1) Metal Industries and General Engineering:
In the case of large stocks of metals, it would be a practical impossibility to destroy completely. It may be possible to hinder the enemy to some extent by firing the stores containing these stocks, and this should at least be done by generating an intense fire made from old timber, oils, waste, etc., in the store. Stocks stored in the open can only be left, unless time permits their removal, burying or dumping in the sea, river or lake as the case may be. All timber stocks to be burnt. With small stocks, burying, removing or dumping in the sea river, or lake may be possible.
(2) Precision Instrument Industry:
All lenses should be smashed and all instruments destroyed or wrecked by smashing with a hammer or, as a last resort, by fire.
(3) Chemical Industries:
Run products to waste where possible, otherwise throw into sea or river if time permits, or else burn.
(4) Textile and Leather Industries:
Burning of all stocks should be carried out only if it is impracticable to remove stocks and bury or throw into the sea or a river.
(5) Electrical Industries:
Burn stocks or remove and bury, or throw into sea or river, if possible.
(6) Foodstuff Industries:
Generally, foodstuffs can be contaminated or ruined by exposing to the weather, contaminating with creosote or by mixing with some other substance easily obtained, such as water or sand etc.
Only as a last resort use fire, and as far as possible every endeavour must be made to give away to civilians all stocks of foods which can be stored or hidden by them. Only destroy when it is impossible to prevent the foods falling into enemy hands.
Additional Notes for certain specialised industries:
Some vital part of every machine in the factory must be removed or destroyed - that is essential, and the following suggestions, under specialised industry headings, are additional to and may be used to supplement the methods based on the denial of fundamental plant already given. They should be used to make the job more thorough, and not as the basic denial method, since the basic methods are devised on the principle of the prevention of rehabilitation by the enemy by the putting together of “bits and pieces” collected from different partially demolished plants.
If notes have not been included here to cover your industry, prepare your action detail on similar lines to that recommended for a similar industry.
If in doubt, contact your local Scorched Earth Support Squad; also contact them if explosives are required for any of your plant.
Foodstuff Industries:
Breweries, distilleries and wine industries:
Destroy stills, burst digester, damage vats and run contents to waste. Smash all kegs, casks and bottles and allow contents to run to waste. If underground, contaminate with creosote.
Also smash motors of conveying machinery and compressors and motors of refrigeration plant. Smash some part of refrigeration system to allow the gas to escape.
Flour and Rice Mills:
Remove and bury rolls in a remote place, or throw them into a river, lake or well. If time does not permit this, introduce heavy pie
ces of metal into the rolls. At all costs, smash or remove rolls.
Dairy Produce Factories:
Destroy or remove all valves, taps and manhole covers, on milk vats, cream vats, vacuum pans, etc. Dispose of bowls on centrifugal separators. Smash water and vacuum pumps by smashing casing. Smash motors and some part of system on refrigeration plant. Also smash compressors.
Abattoirs and Butcheries:
Smash compressors, motors and some part of system on refrigeration plant. Smash vital parts of byproducts plant. Also wreck boilers, etc.
Sugar Refining:
Destroy boilers, centrifuges, vacuum plant and vacuum pans. Run alcohol and molasses to waste. Destroy distillery, fractionating columns and stills, burst digester, damage vats and remove taps and valves and bury, or destroy, or throw them into a river or the sea.
Canneries:
Destroy canning and canmaking machinery, also cookers and digesters.
Metal Industries and General Engineering:
In some of the heavy machines, explosives may be necessary to destroy the machine itself, but in all cases, destroy the power unit of the machine. Smash motors on overhead lifting gear and cranes or remove stops from crane tracks, start up. Drain oils from tempering vats and cut holes in sides. Smash valves of steam hammers, cut the piston rod in two places and smash cylinder. Power hammers can be used for the smashing of essential parts of other machines before being wrecked themselves. In electro-plating works, remove or destroy anodes of special metals such as nickel, chromium, silver, etc.
Destroy some vital part of every machine, in all cases.
Sawmills and Timber Yards:
Smash saws completely - don’t just smash teeth, as these can be re-cut.
Burn all stocks of timber.
Ship and Boat Builders:
Destroy slips and crane mechanisms.
Toolmakers:
It is of great importance that as much of the toolmaking plant and equipment as possible be removed to a safe area.
Textile, and Leather Industries:
Boot Factories:
Destroy all machines in the clicking room, by wrecking the clutch mechanisms and drives. Also smash sole and heel attaching machines, and smash bearings and shafts on combination finishing machines and padding and brushing machines. Working part of each sewing machine should also be removed or smashed.
Leather Trades:
Smash vats.
Tents, Sails, Canvas Goods, Tailors:
Smash working part of sewing machines and cutting machines.
Woollen and Cotton Weaving, Spinning and Knitwear:
Destroy spindles and shuttles etc.
Chemical Industries:
Acid Manufacture:
Remove or destroy catalyst, and small ammonia catalyser.
Explosives Manufacture:
Fire raw materials.
Glue, Glycerine and Soap Manufacturers:
Destroy vats.
Optical Glass Manufacture:
Destroy grinders, etc.
Pharmaceutical and Chemical Manufactures:
Destroy reagents, retorts, vats.
Photographic Apparatus, and Materials:
Burn.
Rubber Industry:
Destroy rolls and vulcanising units.
Precision Instruments:
Destroy all instrument making and repairing machinery and equipment.
It is the habit of the enemy to attempt first entry in undefended or lightly defended areas, converging thence on the fortified industrial zones.
Denial actions therefore may be called for first of all in coastal sectors, and preparation of denial plans is therefore the more urgent for such sectors.
Obviously the cities will be defended to the last street, but their complexity makes prior preparation of denial plans also important.
E.H.F. Swain,
Chairman,
State War Effort Co-ordination Committee, Scorched Earth Sub-Committee
14.11.42.
Invasion would come by sea, with Northern Australia deemed the most vulnerable area because of its sparse population and its proximity to islands already occupied by the Japanese. But the east coast was seen as the most valuable area because government, the military establishment, industry and other resources were concentrated there. Ocean jetties and estuary wharves were therefore a key focus of the NSW Scorched Earth subcommittee. They made a careful inventory, listing 17 ocean jetties from Coffs Harbour to Eden that were to be destroyed by the Department of Public Works, including seven at Port Kembla and Catherine Hill Bay, with Byron Bay, Hawkesbury River, Lake Macquarie and Bermagui also on the list. They were ranked in order of potential importance to the enemy. Timber jetties were to be prepared immediately for demolition by explosives; access to masonry jetties would be prevented by scuttling moored ships or sinking concrete obstacles a short distance offshore as defenders withdrew.
Estuary wharves were also inventoried and assessed; a total of 149 were counted and their size, state of repair and ownership were meticulously recorded. Those able to accommodate large coastal vessels were accorded high priority for denial. However, the subcommittee decided that it was pointless to destroy them because the enemy could still unload troops and materiel onto river banks. Instead, artillery batteries would be placed within range of river mouths and at the last minute, mines would be laid in the channels.
DENIAL OF RESOURCES TO THE ENEMY N.S.W. L. OF C. AREA.
Jetties and Wharves.
Ocean Jetties and Estuary Wharves (excluding the Port Stephens - Port Kembla Operational Areas, with the exception of the Hawkesbury River).
Military – reason
Ocean Jetties would assist the enemy in his initial attack, and their occupation would greatly facilitate the landing of second and subsequent waves of troops and material and consolidation of the position.
Estuary wharves could be availed of for outflanking, infiltration and supply. The wharves of which denial to the enemy is more important are those to which seagoing ships can proceed and be accommodated. The denial of the smaller wharves is of little consequence. It should be noted that the destruction of estuary wharves will not greatly hinder the landing of enemy troops and supplies as this can be made directly on to the high river banks.
Mooring buoys could be used by the enemy in connection with berthing, but denial of these would cause little inconvenience.
Ocean Jetties:
Outside the defended areas there are thirteen ocean jetties (ten of timber and three of masonry) involved; they are important for denial to the enemy. In some order of denial priority, these and their appropriate “Scorched Earth” preparation agencies are:-
(1) Coff’s Harbour
Public Works Department.
(2) Woolgoolga
“
(3) Byron Bay.
“
(4) Jervis Bay (2 jetties at college).
“
(5) Eden
“
(6) Port Kembla No. 1.
“
“ No. 2 (A.I.S. Jetty).
“
“ No. 3 (new).
“
“ No. 3 (old).
“
“ No. 4.
“
“ Inflammable Liquids Jetty.
“
“ Water Jetty.
“
(7) Merimbula.
“
(8) Bermagui.
“
(9) Tathra.
“
(10) Catherine Hill Bay. (Wallarah Coal Co.)
“
(11) Kiama.
“
(12) Ulladulla.
“
(13) Wollongong.
“
In addition to the above, however, there are two jetties in the Hawkesbury and two wharves in Lake Macquarie of equal denial importance, and these are with their appropriate preparation agencies:-
Hawkesbury River:
Long Island Work
shop Jetty. Railway Department.
Peats Vehicular Ferry Docks. Main Roads Board.
Lake Macquarie:
Swansea Bridge Wharf (owned by Lake Macquarie Shire Council).
Public Works Dept.
Coal Wharf North Bank near entrance (owned by Cam & Sons).
“
Estuary Wharves:
A total of 149 estuary wharves has been listed and classified on consideration of the following factors, viz:
(a) Depth of water at bar; (b) navigation difficulties (shallow water, use of tugs, sharp bends etc.); (c) depth of water at wharf; (d) size and condition of wharf.
Schedule “A” appended shows the owner and appropriate Scorched Earth agency in connection with each wharf, while the wharves themselves are evaluated for denial purposes on the following factors:-
(1) Good berth for larger coastal vessels.
(2) Possible berth for larger coastal vessels.
(2a) Good berth for small coastal vessels.
(3) Possible berth for small coastal vessels.
(4) Little importance due to size, poor repair or lack of water depth.
Summarising Schedule “A” by rivers and berthing values, it appears that only the Richmond, Clarence and Macleay Rivers have wharves of first and second denial importance, vide the following table:
River. Classification.
1 2 2a 3 4.
Tweed. - - 1 7 7
Richmond. 9 9 - - 5
Clarence. 13 15 - - 5
Bellinger. - - - - 3
Nambucca. - - - - 2
Macleay. 4 10 - - 12
Hastings. - - - 1 3
Camden Haven. - - - 2 -
Manning. - - 4 5 7
Cape Hawke. - - - 2 4
