[DuncanM]

Originally Posted by tcolvin

DuncanM, can you recommend a study of what Beaverbrook did and what effect he had on aircraft production?
My understanding is he worked on the phone, kept few records, and boasted of real achievements such as sorting out Castle Bromwich by axing bomber production there, sacking Nuffields and hiring Vickers to produce only Spitfires, while Corelli Barnett never understood that world-class productivity was achieved there.

Tony

You can start with these online sources, and UK libraries probably have copies of the sources listed but not on-line:
http://funsite.unc.edu/hyperwar/UN/UK/index.html

This is a complex topic and I don't claim to have read all the available sources, but the effect of Beaverbrook on aircraft production is debatable.

Here's some background, but unfortunately not well sourced:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministe...aft_Production

http://www.battleofbritain1940.net/document-42.html

There are also a number of good sources in
Warfare state: Britain, 1920-1970
By David Edgerton