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Concept
Minister of Aircraft Production
Summary
The Minister of Aircraft Production was, from 1940 to 1945, the British government minister at the Ministry of Aircraft Production, one of the specialised supply ministries set up by the British Government during World War II. It was responsible for aircraft production for the British forces, primarily the Royal Air Force, but also the Fleet Air Arm.
During the war, British aircraft production quickly expanded to be the largest industry in the country, involving hundreds of private firms and employing nearly two million workers. The Ministry was set up to co-ordinate the activity of this industry to maximise aircraft production. There was a headquarters in London and twelve regions, each with a controller and resident Ministry representatives in most of the larger factories.
The department was formed in May 1940 by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, to produce large numbers of aircraft to fight the Battle of Britain. The first minister was Lord Beaverbrook; under his control the Ministry presided over an enormous increase in British aircraft production. Initially under the personal direction of the Minister, for a time it operated from his private home. The initial Chief Executive of the Ministry was Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Freeman, who left after frustrations with Lord Beaverbrook's working methods but returned in October 1942 and served until 1945. The Director-General of Aircraft Production from April 1943 was Eric Fraser, who remained the most senior non-elected figure in the department. Fraser, whose pre-war career had been with Imperial Chemical Industries, was first appointed director-general of equipment production, before moving to the aircraft production post, which he held throughout the rest of the war. In 1945, Ben Lockspeiser was appointed director-general.
The first minister, Lord Beaverbrook, pushed for aircraft production to have priority for raw materials over virtually all other types of munitions production. This was needed in the summer and autumn of 1940 but it distorted the supply system of the war economy.
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