SR displays his 'L's yet again....

"In just 9 month the inevitable, which was evident to all but the fascist apologist Menzies"

Well that's just rubbish, utter rubbish. One of the major errors those not versed in historic study make is to assume that the people in the past had perfect knowledge of the future. We know that war broke out in Sept 39, so, according to the decrepit thinking, the people in 1938 should have known it also.

The fact is that in December 1938, the majority of the western leadership thought that war had been completely averted. Sure, there were some, like Churchill, who saw it differently. But Chamberlain had only recently decamped from Munich with his "peace in our time"....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SetNFqcayeA

Note the words in that clip..."one man saved us from the greatest war of all".

All that changed in March 1939 when Hitler took the rump Czechoslovakia but was in the future in December 1938. It seems that concept escapes many.

Menzies was only expressing the views of most of the western leadership in 1938. You would do well to read Churchill's eulogy speech in parliament upon Chamberlain's death. Its one of the great speeches of the 20th century which boils down to recognising him as a good man deceived by bad events. But Menzies, in the future, was to vex the left for two wonderful decades, and as such they, the left, will hate him for any reason, including failure to foresee the future.

It would also do SR et al good to look into the attitude of the ALP leadership in this period. They were isolationist and even more supportive of the thinking behind Munich. But alas, these are unwanted facts so SR will ignore them.

Again, Menzies' views expressed in 1937-1939 were completely mainstream. There were dissenters from those views, even in his own party, but for the most part world leaders admired what Germany had done economically and also sympathised with the efforts to reverse Versailles and reunite the separated German groups in Czechoslovakia and elsewhere. That changed in March 1939.

SR,

Quite contrary to your assertion most people and politicians were worried about a war starting, but few were certain that war was inevitable. You should watch the recent film "the edge of war" about exactly this period and it should outline some of the issues.

For example, after years of neglect, the allies' armies were far from ready and needed time to mobilize etc.

Next time don't make such a rookie error.

Individual- If you want to shape/ cut/ drill steel bar- often a neighbour or friend will have a drill press or organisations such as the Men's Shed movement have access to equipment and expertise and they'll let you use it. Some small fabrication businesses will do things on the cheap if you have a good relationship with them- and you bring coffee money- $5- $10- they often have surprisingly good equipment- of course getting exactly what you want requires some subtlety. Even Bunnings will cut to size for a small fee. Many people find that in the end getting your own tools from Gumtree (40 years ago people used The Trading Post which still exists) or similar and then reselling them when you've finished with them is the easiest solution.
I agree that often building something requires an inordinate effort in this supposedly modern age- but it is geared around mass rather than customized production. I'd do something like create a jig using wood that you can test and use it to create the metal piece- if this level of accuracy is required.

People such as Is Mise and Hasbeen will have extemporaneous skill in metal work I assume.

If you don't think that laser cutting is necessary it may not be- sometimes you need to think about why they are saying that

The way Indy slags off workers, he'd be lucky to pick up a greasy bit of rag for free himself. But having said that, back in the day I would have no problem with his little "foreign order", it would be ready for Indy to pick up this arvo. A lot of workshops might not have 15mm, a more common size is 16mm or 5/8".

BTW a decent 15mm HSS drill bit is worth about $50. Cheap sh!t for $20.

Well it seems we have a tweedle deluded and tweedle dumb act.

Come on you two, you are both on a hiding to nothing on this.

In 1938 there was some doubt about Germany's capacity to wage war but little doubt about their intent.

"Germany is in no shape at
all to wage a major, prolonged war.
The German generals have no illu-
sions about it.
That is why they, or some of them,
have been thinking, in terms of the
“blitzkrieg—the “lightning war”—
staking everything on the attempt to
gain victory by one smashing blow;
a knook-out ln the first round.
This idea is to combine an over-
whelming air offensive against big
cities with an irresistible thrust by
mechanised troops before the enemy's
defence consolidates.
And then a, quick peace before any-
body else, joins in.
It is a tempting vision. But—there
are many buts.
The air action must really over-
whelm; the assault must really be ir-
resistible. If there is any miscalcu-
lation, any breakdown, if the first
punch, for whatever reason, falls to
connect, why then—certain disaster.
And the technique of the blitzkrieg
is supremely difficult;
It necessitates the highest standards
of efficiency throughout the whole
army—a perfect machine moving
without hitch at top speed."
The Labour Daily Sept 1938

But according to you clowns Australian's were none the wiser about Hitler's intentions.

In a direct counter to the danger clearly articulated by the left in Australia Menzies was basically giving the green light for the taking of parts of Czechoslovakia saying there were two sides to the story, celebrating Germany re-arming itself, and writing to his sister about his deep admiration for Hitler's cult status

Some small fabrication businesses will do things on the cheap
Canem Malum,
I called (7) seven steel fabricators in Cairns, Townsville & Mareeba & none of them could do the job. Didn't have that size steel bar, one was willing to sell by the metre but the others only sell a length, none of them could supply the steel, drill the holes & get it to the galvanising shop.
My Drill press motor burned out so I thought I'd just get an engineering shop to make it up.
I'm getting one made in Sydney & sent to Nth Qld for less than half the cost !