Essington Lewis (1881- 1961), who was Director General for Munitions, was one of Australia’s most recognised engineers and industrial leaders who ensured Australia was better prepared for industrialisation at the start of WWII.

Graduating as a mining engineer from the South Australian School of Mines in 1903, he started work with Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP).

He moved through the company ranks and became Manager of Broken Hill Munitions Company Pty Ltd in 1915 and Assistant General Manager of BHP in 1919.  In 1920 he and Harold Darling – the youngest of the BHP directors - visited numerous steel plants and iron mines in the USA.  Delprat (the then Managing Director) and his steelworks manager were taken with a new method for converting pig-iron into steel, but Lewis was convinced that the method was unsuitable for Australian conditions.  His opinion carried enough weight with the board for his cable to halt the plans. 

On 18 February 1921 Lewis submitted his report of the tour of the USA steel plants and iron mines.  Delprat agreed to step down that day, and Lewis was appointed General Manager at a salary of £4000.  He was the first Australian to hold the office since the resignation of S R Wilson in 1886.

However, the Australian steel industry was already tottering and BHP could not compete with imported steel.  In June 1922 the fires at Newcastle were drawn and nearly 5000 men dismissed.  Lewis took the opportunity to study the efficiency of plant, men and managerial methods.  He improved the rod mill and bloom mill, rebuilt open-hearth furnaces and erected a new metal foundry.  The changes, which extended to the safety code and the plant’s transport system, were effective - but the board might have rejected them had it not been for the strong support of Darling (who had become Chairman in October).

Rather than recruit skilled men from overseas, Lewis preferred to select Australians and send them overseas periodically. In 1927 he began what was probably the most stringent staff-training scheme attempted for an Australian company.  He insisted that all junior technical officers who lacked the relevant diploma should study in their spare time.

Essington Lewis anticipated world conflict.  In 1934, while in Japan enroute to Europe and the US, he was perturbed by the rapid expansion of the Japanese steel (and other strategic) industries.  He mentioned his concerns to [Sir] John Latham who was also in Japan at the time, and wrote of his concerns to the Chairman of the Board of BHP.   Within two days of leaving Japan, he had drawn up a plan for stockpiling of raw materials, manufacture of munitions and building ships.

Through his work with BHP, and in other pre-war roles (eg: Chairman of the Advisory Panel on Industrial Organisation, and as a business consultant to the Department of Defence), he did much to prepare Australian industry for war long before the first shot was fired. 

He was given a seat on the Defence Committee and in early 1940, Prime Minister Menzies appointed him Director-General of the new Department of Munitions.  He was given direct access to the Prime Minister and War Cabinet – a privilege otherwise enjoyed only by the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Services. 

Essington Lewis had the power to acquire compulsorily any materials or building he needed; could issue contracts with private firms without calling for tenders; could spend up to £250,000 on any project without approval; and he could delegate and revoke responsibilities at will.

Under his leadership munitions production expanded swiftly and showed a marked increase in efficiency.

His responsibilities grew in December 1941 when Prime Minister Curtin appointed him Director-General of Aircraft Production; and again in August 1943, when he was asked to take over control of Small Craft Production.  In late 1944 he visited the USA, Canada, the UK and India to view and assess the Allies' munitions and aircraft production. 

Upon his return to Australia in May 1945 he resigned from his government appointments to resume his BHP responsibilities full-time.

His goals for BHP continued to be expansion and efficiency.  Lewis led the way in mechanising the coal-mining industry; he opened new ironstone quarries at the back of Whyalla and a second source of iron ore at Yampi Sound (WA); and in 1948 he began developing a tinplate industry at Port Kembla.  After Darling's death in January 1950 Lewis rejoined the BHP Board and became Chairman.  His influence permeated important projects outside BHP, including General Motors-Holden's first all-Australian cars in 1948; and the long-range weapons project at Salisbury and Woomera in 1946. He served as Chairman of the Industrial Design Council of Australia and of the Australian Administrative Staff College at Mount Eliza (VIC).  As honorary fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, he chaired the 5th Empire Mining and Metallurgical Congress which met in Australia and New Zealand in 1953.

Among Lewis's papers was found the simple text that had ruled his life: I AM WORK.  By following this precept he had made BHP one of the most efficient steel companies in the world, and his influence was felt in every industry and occupation. His work in munitions was a prerequisite for many of the complex manufacturing ventures developed in Australia during the 1940s and 1950s. There can be little doubt that but for his premonition of war in the 1930s, and his rare talents and dedication as an organiser during the war, Australia would have played a lesser part in fighting in the Pacific.

Bibliography

G. Blainey, The Steel Master (Melb, 1971) and for bibliography.
Print Publication Details: Geoffrey Blainey, Ann G. Smith, 'Lewis, Essington (1881 - 1961)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 87-92.