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WW2 : Weapons, Armies, History, Pictures

Billige Festkjoler

British and Commonwealth arms production
in WW2

British and Commonwealth arms production in WW2 from 1939-1945

Following are tables of the British and Commonwealth armaments and military equipment production (excluding ammunition) and a comparison of the necessary strategic raw materials.

Picture: The final assembly line at Avro's Woodford plant in 1943 with Lancaster Mk Is.

At the end is an approximate implementation of the British and Canadian armaments production to PP's (production points) for the strategy game WW2 Total - for the case that the game play is close to the events in history of WW2.

British arms production by weapon types

The British annual production figures of the main arms and military equipment (without ammunition) during WW2 from 1939-1945:

Type of Weapon	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	Overall	use in the strategy game for the calculation of:
Tanks and Self-propelled guns	969	1,399	4,841	8,611	7,476	4,600	?	27,896	Tanks, self-propelled guns
Artillery (including Anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns)	538	4,700	16,700	43,000	38,000	16,000	5,939	124,877	AT, AA, Artillery
Infantry weapons: Mortars	102,950							102,950	Mortar
Infantry weapons: Machine-guns (without sub-machine guns)	297,336							297,336	Machine guns
Infantry weapons: rifles	1,000,000+ (including in Canada and U.S.A.)							1,000,000+	rifles
Infantry weapons: sub-machine guns (Sten)	-	-	2,000,000 + (icluding in Canada, approx. 40%)					2,000,000+	Sub-machine guns
Military trucks and Lorries	?	89,582	88,161	87,499	113,912	54,615	47,174	480,943	Trucks
Fighter planes	1,324	4,283	7,064	9,849	10,727	10,730	5,445	49,422	Fighters
Bomber planes	1,837	3,488	4,668	6,253	7,728	7,903	2,812	34,689	Bombers
Reconnaissance planes	61	387	196	546	1,054	1,123	600	3,967	-
Transport planes	-	-	-	-	209	889	686	1,784	-
Trainers and miscellaneous military types	4,209	6,415	6,934	5,942	4,825	2,877	692	31,894	-
Aircraft carriers	-	2	2	-	2	4	4	14	CV
Battleships	-	1	2	2	-	-	-	5	BB
Cruisers	3	7	6	6	7	2	1	32	BB
Destroyers	22	27	39	73	37	31	13	240	DD
Escorts (Corvettes, Frigates)	5	109	87	71	79	55	7	413	DD
Submarines	7	15	20	33	39	39	14	167	Subs
Merchant shipping tonnage	629,705	842,910	1,185,894	1,270,714	1,136,804	919,357	393,515	6,378,899	Transport ships

Raw material production for the military weapon production above:

Annual strategic raw material production (m. metric tons)	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945
Coal	231.3	224.3	206.3	204.9	198.9	192.7	182.8
Ore	14.5	17.7	19.0	19.9	18.5	15.5	14.2
Steel	13.2	13.0	12.3	12.8	13.3	12.1	11.8
Aluminium (in 1,000 metric tons - especially important for aircraft production)	25.0	18.9	22.7	46.8	55.7	35.5	31.9

Arms production in Commonwealth

Total numbers only for the arms production of the Commonwealth. There are no details about the annual production figures available except the merchant shipping tonnage.

Type of weapon	Canada	Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa	Overall	use in the strategy game for the calculation of:
Tanks and Self-propelled guns	5,678	1,399	7,077	Tanks, self-propelled guns
Artillery (including Anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns)	10,552	4,700	15,252	AT, AA, Artillery
Infantry weapons: Mortars	20,619	25,395	46,014	Mortars
Infantry weapons: Machine-guns (without sub-machine guns)	251,925	37,983	289,908	Machine guns
Infantry weapons: sub-machine guns (Sten)	approx. 800,000 after June 1941	?	approx. 800,000	Sub-machine guns
Trainers and Military planes of all sorts	16,431	3,081	19,512	40% as fighters
Escorts (Corvettes, Frigates)	191	12	203	DD

	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	Overall	use in the strategy game for the calculation of:
Merchant shipping tonnage	36,142	18,886	90,595	720,172	1,002,850	692,405	141,893	2,702,943	Transport ships

Production of strategic materials in Canada:

Annual strategic raw material production (m. metric tons)	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945
Coal	13,3	14,9	15,3	15,9	14,7	14,2	13,6
Ore	0,1	0,4	0,5	0,5	0,6	0,5	1,0
Steel	1,4	1,7	2,5	2,8	2,7	2,7	2,6

British arms production for the strategy game WW2 Total

The transformation of the previous British production figures in average numbers per month and the value in PP's (production points) as part of the total Anglo-American military production for the strategy game WW2 Total :

Type of weapon	Fighting power	1 unit for the game for every:	1942			1943			1944
Type of weapon	Fighting power	1 unit for the game for every:	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)
Tanks, Tank Destroyers and Self-propelled guns	64%, 80% from 1944	300 (250 from 1944)	718	100	239	623	100	208	383	100	153
Trucks	80%	3,750	7,292	12	23	9,493	12	30	4,551	12	15
Rifles	80%	11,000	16,667	10	15	16,667	10	15	16,667	10	15
Sub-machine guns	80%	11,000	25,000	8	18	25,000	8	18	25,000	8	18
Machine-guns	80%	5,500	4,130	16	12	4,130	16	12	4,130	16	12
Mortars	80%	1,900	1,430	20	15	1,430	20	15	1,430	20	15
Artillery, AT, AA	80%	750	3,583	30	143	3,583	30	143	3,583	30	143
Fighter planes	80%, 100% from 1944	375 (300 from 1944)	821	160	350	894	160	381	894	160	486
Bomber planes	80%, 100% from 1944	375 (300 from 1944)	521	250	347	644	450	773	659	450	989
Battleships and Cruisers	100%	4 BB or 16 CA or 24 CLA	0.192	2,500	120	0.029	2,500	18	0.008	2,500	5
Aircraft carriers	100%	4 CV or 10 CVL/CVE	0	1,500	0	0.167	1,500	63	0.333	1,500	125
Destroyers, Escorts	100%	20 DD or 30 TB or 40 Esc or 80 MTB	9.042	500	226	6.38	500	160	4.875	500	122
Submarines	100%	20	2.75	250	34	3.25	250	41	3.25	250	41
Transport ships	100%	per 80,000 tonnes (because for whole world)	105.893	120	159	94.734	120	142	76.613	120	115
TOTAL					1,701			2,019			2,254
for use outside the European theater of war				-10%	- 170		-10%	-202		-10%	-225
Sub-total (PP's)					1.531			1.817			2.029
Change of price value by increasing the productivity and savings in the civilian industrial sector without more consumption of strategic raw materials				-40%	-612		-60%	-1.090		-60%	-1.217
Sub-total (PP's)					919			727			812
Losses of raw materials on sea				+15%	+138		+10%	73		+5%	+41
Sub-total (PP's)					1.057			800			853
Additional PP's for research, maintenance, political influences and starting of offensives				+70%	+740		+75%	+600		+65%	+554
TOTAL (PP's)					1.797			1.400			1.407

Canadian military production:

Type of weapon	Fighting power	1 unit for the game for every:	1942			1943			1944
Type of weapon	Fighting power	1 unit for the game for every:	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)
Tanks, Tank Destroyers and Self-propelled guns	64%	300	80	100	27	80	100	27	80	100	27
Sub-machine guns	80%	11.000	13,000	8	9	13,000	8	9	13,000	8	9
Machine-guns	80%	5.500	3,500	16	10	3,500	16	10	3,500	16	10
Mortars	80%	1.900	286	20	3	286	20	3	286	20	3
Artillery, AT, AA	80%	750	150	30	6	150	30	6	150	30	6
Fighter planes	80%	375	100	160	43	100	160	43	100	160	43
Destroyers, Escorts	100%	20 DD (or 30 TB, or 60 ESC, or 80 MTB)	1.5	500	38	1.5	500	38	1.5	500	38
Transport ships	100%	per 40,000 tonnes (because for whole world)	60,000	120	90	83,000	120	125	57,000	120	86
TOTAL					226			261			222
Change of price value by increasing the productivity and savings in the civilian industrial sector without more consumption of strategic raw materials				-40%	-90		-60%	-157		-60%	-133
Sub-total (PP's)					136			104			89
Additional PP's for research, maintenance, political influences and starting of offensives				+70%	+95		+75%	+78		+65%	+58
TOTAL (PP's)					231			182			147

Notes:

The aircraft production (one per 300 planes at 100% fighting power) is calculated about 1/3 less than the comparable tank production (one per 200 tanks at 100% fighting power) because about 1/3 of the total aircraft losses were due to accidents.
The fighting power of the tank production from 1942-1943 is only 64%, because the quality of the British tanks of this period was at most far below the used U.S. standard of the strategy game WW2 Total (M3 Grant, M4 Sherman) which resulted in a very unfavorable loss ratio against German tanks due their lack in gun power.
Because of the various V days (April-May 1945 in Europe, August-September 1945 in the Pacific) and as a result of the shutdown of the arms production, the value for 1945 can not be reasonably calculated and the figures for 1944 should be used instead.

Note: a number of the unit types listed here already will be added only in later versions of the strategy game WW2 Total !