Japanese attack Pearl Harbour

South Australia’s war effort intensified when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and opened the Pacific front. Relatively safe from enemy action, three major government factories were built at Cheltenham, Hendon and Penfield (Salisbury explosives factory) during 1940 and 1941, and the Islington railway workshops (producing shells and components for Beaufort bombers), formed the backbone of the state’s war effort.