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In the front line: Lemon's reforms brought Spitfires into service faster Streamlined production techniques pioneered in the railway industry by Sir Ernest Lemon OBE played a vital role in the British war effort in the Second World War.
Lemon developed his production-line methods for the construction of wagons and carriages while working for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). His success in this led to his appointment as chief mechanical engineer in 1931. In under a year he was promoted to become one of the company’s three vice-presidents. Under his leadership the LMS modernised its motive-power depots.
For Lemon, the railway was a launch pad into other avenues of engineering, as it was for many engineers of the time, such as Christopher Hinton. However, had it not been for the advent of the war, Lemon might have remained a railwayman. In 1938 he was made director-general of aircraft production for the RAF.
He went on to make crucial improvements to aircraft production, which resulted in the UK being able to defend itself. In particular, Lemon was responsible for delivering the Spitfire into the sky.
At the LMS, Lemon had introduced the principles of Taylorism across the organisation to increase labour productivity. He also revolutionised production lines and depots, eliminating inefficient practices. Taylorism, or scientific management, is a theory that analyses and synthesises workflows to improve economic efficiency and productivity. It attempts to apply science to engineering and to management. It was this approach – methodical and broadly scientific – that brought Lemon to the attention of the government, whose drive for rearmament was stalling.
After his transfer to the Air Ministry, he transformed aircraft production, which had previously been dogged by charges of incompetence. The country was being protected by obsolete aircraft, after manufacture of newer models had stagnated.
Lemon was drafted in to complete and rejuvenate the then stuttering modernisation programme to speed up rearmament. His main task was to deliver the much-vaunted new generation of fighters, such as the Spitfire. He received a knighthood in the 1941 new year’s honours list in recognition of his war work, following the RAF’s success in the Battle of Britain in 1940.
The Battle of Britain was made possible by engineers such as Lemon – on both sides of the conflict. It was the first battle fought entirely by air forces, which previously had neither the technological nor logistical ability. The most famous fighters used were the British Hawker Hurricane and Spitfire Mk I, and the German Messerschmitt.
The turnaround time to rearm and refuel the Spitfire was 26 minutes, while the Hurricane’s was only 9 minutes. The Hawker Hurricane was also apparently easier to fly. However, the Spitfire and Messerschmitt were well-matched in speed and agility, and both were faster than the Hurricane.
Lemon’s role was in preparedness, improving production methods and speeds to provide RAF pilots with the craft they needed.
Ernest John Hutchings Lemon was born in 1884. He served an apprenticeship at the North British Locomotive Company. He then worked for the Highland Railway and for Hurst Nelson. In 1911 Lemon became chief wagon inspector of the Midland Railway. By 1923 he had risen to become divisional carriage and wagon superintendent at Derby.
Lemon retired from the railways in 1943, a victim of reorganisation in the face of nationalisation. He then sat and wrote his journal, recording both railway and air-force events and giving his view upon them: these are available to read at the IMechE.
Lemon had also been a member of the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps, a Territorial Army unit. He joined as a major in 1929, and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1932. He resigned his commission in 1943. He died in 1954.