Canadian rifle production
 

Not a widely known fact down under, so this might be classified as a "Stupid Question", but when did Longbranch start production of Lee-Enfield Rifles? Was it pre-war or during the war? For that matter, when did John Inglis start production of Bren LMG's.
This is all related to a discussion I had recently concerning Lithgow's Small Arms Factory, which this year celebrates it's 90th year of supplying small arms to the Australian Army.

Commonly called "Long Branch" this actually identifies the location and not the name of the company which was "Small Arms Ltd". SAL was created in 1940 nd produced the first rifle in 1941 (from memory here as my references are at home). Firts orders were for the Canadian Army and British War Office. In short time the plant was doubled in size and doubled again. By war's end almost 1 Million rifles were produced at SAL.
The Bren was produced by the John Inglis Co. Ltd, on Strachan Street, Toronto. The contract was awarded in 1938 by the British for 5,000 guns and the Canadian government tacked on an untendered contract for 7,000 guns. This contract caused a furor and resulted in a Royal Commission.
Although I have not researched the quantities of SAL rifles or Inglis Bren guns to Australia I did discover the exact quantity of Inglis Hi-power pistols sold there.

Canadian exports to Australia....
 

...were virtually nil. During 1940-41 (until the Japanese came into the picture) virtually 100% of Lithgow production was sent to Britain. We were making much more than locally needed. During the panic of 1942 that exporting shrank to about 20% of production. I just wondered if Canada was also able to re-arm the British army in the months following Dunkirk.