page_title: British shadow factories
section_title: London Aircraft Production Group
hierarchical_section_title: British shadow factories / Strategic dispersal / London Aircraft Production Group
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Ground crews overhaul the Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engines of Handley Page Halifax Mark II, BB194 'ZA-E', of No. 10 Squadron RAF, in a dispersal at Melbourne, Yorkshire.
context_page_description: British shadow factories were the outcome of the Shadow Scheme, a plan devised in 1935 and developed by the British Government in the buildup to World War II to try to meet the urgent need for more aircraft using technology transfer from the motor industry to implement additional manufacturing capacity.
  The term 'shadow' was not intended to mean secrecy, but rather the protected environment they would receive by being staffed by all levels of skilled motor industry people alongside their own similar motor industry operations.
  A directorate of Aeronautical Production was formed in March 1936 with responsibility for the manufacture of airframes as well as engines, associated equipment and armaments. The project was headed by Herbert Austin and developed by the Air Ministry under the internal project name of the Shadow Scheme. Sir Kingsley Wood took responsibility for the scheme in May 1938, on his appointment as Secretary of State for Air in place of Lord Swinton.
  Many more factories were built as part of the dispersal scheme designed to reduce the risk of a total collapse of production if what would otherwise be a major facility were bombed.
context_section_description: In parallel with the Shadow Factory scheme, the London Aircraft Production Group (LAPG) was formed in 1940 by combining management of factories and workshops of 
  Chrysler at Kew,
  Duple,
  Express Motor & Bodyworks Limited,
  Park Royal Coachworks and
  London Transport.
  The major activity of the group was the production of Handley Page Halifax bombers for the RAF, ammunition, gun parts, armoured vehicles and spare parts for vehicles. The group was led by London Transport from their works at Chiswick, Aldenham Works and the new De Havilland factory at Leavesden, Hertfordshire, which had a large purpose-built factory and airfield (construction of both was authorised on 10 January 1940) for production, assembly and flight testing of completed Halifax bombers.
  The following list of eight members of the London Aircraft Production Group was published in March 1945: This includes LAPG members with factories at Preston, Speke and Stockport.
  English Electric in Preston
  London Passenger Transport Board — made the centre section and installed fittings and equipment for the front part of the fuselage
  Rootes Securities in Speke
  Chrysler Motors — rear part of the fuselage
  Express Motor and Body Works — intermediate wings and tail-plane
  Duple Bodies and Motors — the shell and components for the front part of the fuselage
  Park Royal Coachworks — outer wings
  Fairey Aviation Company in Stockport
  from May 1941 they took responsibility for final erection followed by the test flight and their first aircraft was airborne before the end of 1941. They were allotted their own aerodromes instead of sending aircraft to the Handley Page aerodrome.
  At peak the group involved 41 factories and dispersal units, 660 subcontractors and more than 51,000 employees,
  Ultimately output rose to 200 Halifaxes a month and the group provided something like 40 per cent of the nation's heavy bomber output. Halifax bombers dropped more than 200,000 tons of bombs.
  Sir Frederick Handley Page's "thank you" to these "daughter" firms was a luncheon at The Dorchester at which the head of each firm received a silver model of a Halifax bomber and representative workmen received scrolls of commendation.
  Due to the high priority placed on aircraft production, large numbers of workers were drafted with little experience or training in aircraft production, with over half the workforce eventually being female. At its peak the LAPG included 41 factories or sites, 600 sub-contractors and 51,000 employees, producing one aircraft an hour. The first Halifax from the LAPG was delivered in 1941 and the last, named London Pride, in April 1945.
caption: Halifax has its 4 Merlins overhauled in a dispersal in Melbourne, East Riding of Yorkshire
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