ROF Maltby

{{short description|British munitions factory}}

{{use British English|date=April 2018}}

{{use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

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ROF Maltby was a Royal Ordnance Factory rifle manufacturing plant near Maltby, South Yorkshire which manufactured weapons such as the Lee–Enfield rifle and Sten submachine gun. During World War II, ROF Maltby manufactured over 737,000 weapons.{{cite book|last1=Walter|first1=John|title=Rifles of the world|date=2006|publisher=Krause|location=Iola, Wis.|isbn=978-0-89689-241-5|page=254|edition=3}} Rifles manufactured at Maltby were marked either with and M, RM or ROF(M) to distinguish them from rifles made at other ROF plants.{{cite book|last1=Haas|first1=Frank de|last2=Zwoll|first2=Wayne van|title=Bolt action rifles|date=2003|publisher=Krause Publications|location=Iola, WI|isbn=978-0-87349-660-5|page=102|edition=4}}

ROF Maltby and ROF Fazakerley were established in the 1930s before World War II to increase arms production facilities in areas less vulnerable to aerial attack, and were called shadow factories after an earlier national plan to increase military airplane production.{{PastScape |num=1433991 |desc=Monument No. 1433991 |access-date=19 April 2018}} The main British factory for rifle manufacture in WWII was the BSA shadow factory in Shirley. R.S.A.F. Enfield, which until 1941 was Britain's main military rifle production facility, focused on producing Bren Guns etc.

ROF Maltby's closure was announced in Parliament in July 1957 with dismantling work beginning almost immediately afterwards{{cite web|title=CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet held at 10 Downing Street, S.W.1, on Tuesday, 9th July, 1957, at 11 -30 a.m.|url=http://filestore.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pdfs/small/cab-128-31-cc-57-50-50.pdf|website=nationalarchives.gov.uk|accessdate=19 April 2018|page=5|format=PDF}} and complete withdrawal and demolition had been achieved by 1958.{{cite web|title=ROYAL ORDNANCE FACTORIES (Hansard, 15 July 1957)|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1957/jul/15/royal-ordnance-factories|website=api.parliament.uk|accessdate=19 April 2018}}