On Nov 22, 2024, at 7:25?AM, Mike Poore via groups.io <mpoore10@...> wrote:

? I recall lend/lease was already well underway by spring of 1941. We entered the war by the end of 1941. Lend/lease began, I think, in the late 30's when the UK entered the war. By 1942, we were sending massive amounts of equipment and soldiers to the UK to stage for invasion. A lathe made in spring of 1941, would have taken several months to find its way to the UK by ship. Assuming the bearing date is meaningful, I think it is equally possible that the lathe was part of lend/lease or part of the US Army supply chain. We are known to leave a lot of equipment behind after a war so that our military contractors can make more profit resupplying us.

Bearing dates during that period are probably not as certain of an indicator as one might think. It was obviously? a little chaotic. Those bearings may not have been immediately used. They could be replacement bearings too. Atlas would not have been directly involved in lend/lease, but they were certainly a supplier. The US government would buy products from manufacturers and lend/lease it to the UK. You will often find a tag on machine tools made for the War Dept with some language indicating such. I do not know if that was required or done because the machinery was not always made to the same standards as commercial products. I doubt too many people were actually making parts at home for the war. However, nearly everything was rationed due to shortages. Having a lathe at home to make or repair parts not available would make sense.

On 11/21/2024 2:41 AM, hedgesben via groups.io wrote:

It would be interesting to try and find out the history of my lathe and how it came to be in the uk.? It appears that it was made end of april /beginning of may 1941 (going by the dates on the headstock bearings) so right when America was ramping up the lease lend program during ww2.

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Was atlas involved in the lease lend?? where lathes sent to the uk?

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of course the slightly less historical important theory is that an american solder bought it before the americans went to war and then relocated over here after the war sometime

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many thanks

Coop