Allied Works Council (1942 - 1945)

Summary

Established in February 1942, the Allied Works Council was responsible for carrying out any works required by the Allied Forces in Australia during the Second World War. This included providing any equipment, materials or workmen required to carry out these works.

The Council also mobilised and co-ordinated the work of the State public works and road-building agencies, and appointed State and Area co-ordinators.

The works and staff of the Works and Services Branch of the Department of the Interior [II] that had been carrying out programmes of works for the Departments of Navy, Army, Air, Munitions and Civil Aviation, were placed under the control of the Director-General of Allied Works. When the Allied Works Council was abolished in February 1945, its staff and works were transferred to a reformed Department of the Interior [III], and to post war reconstruction and national development agencies.

Details

On 26 February 1942 the National Security (Allied Works) Regulations (Statutory Rules 1942, No. 88) were promulgated, that made provision for the appointment of a Director-General of Allied Works who was to have direct control of:
(a) the carrying out of works of whatever nature required for war purposes by Allied Forces in Australia;
(b) the securing of supplies of materials, plant, tools and equipment for the purposes of such works;
(c) the employment of technicians, workmen and others for the purposes of such works, and the transport, accommodation and provisioning of such workmen and others.

On 14 April 1942 the Regulations were amended by Statutory Rules 1942, No. 170, and the Civil Constructional Corps (CA 681) was established under the control of the Director-General of Allied Works. This was mainly formed by calling up men, generally aged between 45 and 60, who were not in protected industries or the armed forces - 60,000 of them at the end of 1943. They worked on docks, factories, roads, aerodromes and airstrips, wharves, camps and installations.

On 3 May 1943 a Civil Aliens Corps (CA 680) was established by National Security (Aliens Service) Regulations, Statutory Rules 1943, No. 108 under the control of the Director-General of Allied Works. He was given power to direct any male refugee alien or male enemy alien between the ages of 18 and 60 to serve in the Civil Aliens Corps.

On 2 February 1945 the Department of Works [II] (CA 50) was established and on 16 February 1945 the National Security (Allied Works) Regulations, Statutory Rules 1945, No. 16 were promulgated, abolishing the position of the Director-General of Allied Works, and hence the Allied Works Council.

------------
Associated notable engineering achievements :
* Large number of aerodromes and airstrips built throughout inland Australia, particularly in Northern Australia;
* Road from the railhead at Alice Springs north to the railhead at Larrimah (Birdum) [Stuart Highway];
* Road from the railhead at Mt.Isa, Queensland, to Tennant Creek on the Alice Springs - Darwin road;
* Road from Ipswich to Charters Towers via Claremont;
* Road from Cairns to the Atherton Tablelands via Kuranda and Mareeba;
* Road from Port Pirie, South Australia to Norseman, Western Australia;
* Road from Meekatharra to Marble Bar, Western Australia;
* Road from Windsor to Singleton, to provide a link from Sydney to the New England Highway;
* Road from Narrabeen to Seaforth [Wakehurst Parkway];
* Road from Pagewood to Botany [Wentworth Avenue, 'the Burma Road');
* Overall ~6000 kilometres of new roads; and reconstruction of ~8000 kilometres of stock routes for wheeled vehicles;
* Replacement of the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge;
* Duplication of the railway from Cootamundra to Junee;
* Duplication of the railway from Goulburn Junction, NSW to Seymour, VIC;
* Third rail between Port Pirie and Broken Hill;
* Addition of many passing loops on single track railway lines;
* Extra handling facilities at border 'break-of-gauge' stations.

Related entries

Published resources

Edited Books

• Carroll, Brian ed., The Engineers: 200 Years at Work for Australia (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1988), 311 pp. 'Part 4 : Engineering in war and peace', p.126, 142. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4732611. Details
• Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-525319. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Primary description of agency CA 497; Allied Works Council', in RecordSearch, National Archives of Australia, 2001, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?Number=CA%20497. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_a.html. Details