The Second World War

After the out break of World War 2 in 1939, realising the importance of S.U carburetter production to the war effort, work was started at the Riley Plant in Coventry to duplicate production. S.U manufactured the carburetters for the Rolls Royce Merlin engines fitted to Spitfires, Hurricanes, Lancasters and many other aircraft,and when the factory was damaged by two air raids on Birmingham in 1940, the Air Ministry evacuated it to another factory in Highlands Road, Shirley. In 1941 the S.U Company acquired a shadow factory in the Wharfe Valley in Yorkshire, and during these years a fuel injection pump was developed for use on Merlin aircraft engines.