In 1942, in the middle of World War 2 an agency of the Ministry of  Supply, the Machine Tool Control Board (a body responsible for all the Nation's engineering production), decided that Drummond should concentrate on production of their "Maximat" multi-tool lathe (introduced in 1935) and required Myfords to take over manufacture of the "M Type", a long-established design that had been adopted some years before as the standard small machine for the Armed Services. One might question why Myford were not allowed to sell their own lathes into this market but, unfortunately, their contemporary models, the ML2 and ML4, were completely unsuitable for professional work and with all machine-tool production allocated to approved industrial users, there was (at least in theory and temporarily) no private market for Myford and the company would have had some spare capacity. They did make an effort to get round this problem, by producing the so-called "4-inch Precision", and this was built in some numbers during the war years. They also make several capstan lathes loosely based on the ML2 and ML4, as well as other production lathes with beds and headstocks of an entirely different design. 
One can imagine the situation at Myford's Beeston works as the first trucks arrived from Surrey carrying the Drummond equipment including machined and part-machined parts, patterns, drawings, jig, fixtures and tooling. There can be little doubt that, under the pressure of war-time schedules - and with a suitable Myford badge unavailable - the first machines to be built would have been sold with the traditional Drummond badge and its essential screwcutting chart.  Certainly several M-Types have passed through the writer's hands that may have been of this type; they were fitted with flat-belt drive, equipped with old-fashioned, wall-mounted countershafts, had exposed changewheels but were finished in grey rather than the traditional Drummond black. Other alterations quickly followed, including the use of metal instead of horn handles for the carriage and leadscrew handwheels and, more significantly, a change from a 3-step cone (flat) pulley drive on the headstock to a 3-step V-belt. One serious drawback to the original Drummond M-Type was that neither a modern self-contained stand nor any form of integrated drive system had ever been developed for it - and the changewheels were still dangerously exposed. In this respect the lathe was hopelessly old-fashioned, and nearly 10 years behind American machines like the Atlas 9 and 10-inch and South Bend "9-inch Workshop" lathes, all of which had either built-on multi-speed countershafts, the availability of underdrive stands or neat bench-mounted drive systems - and safe enclosures for gears and belts. In order to update the Drummond, and turn it into something that could be plugged in and used immediately, or mounted on  bench with the minimum of trouble, several important modifications were made: the headstock pulley system was converted to run an "A"-section V-belt, two-step pulleys were fitted to the motor/countershaft drive and the changewheels fully enclosed with an inner pressed-steel guard and a heavy cast-iron outer cover. It was offered with either a neat, bench-countershaft unit, or fitted to a heavy cast-iron stand with a long countershaft unit hinged from the back and fitted (like the bench countershaft) with a powerful over-centre belt-tensioning arrangement. These late M-Types easy to date - the changewheel cover carrying a sheet-brass changewheel chart stamped with the year of manufacture.
One special version of the lathe also made by Myford was the BS power-cross-feed model, a continuation of the design developed by Drummond for use on board naval ships where power feeds would have been essential in a workshop that pitched and corkscrewed in rough seas. Some modified specials were also constructed (probably to a military requirement) and, though rare, do still occasionally still surface.
Although Myfords were very busy from 1946 with their new and very successful ML7, the M Type continued in production until the late 1940s. The last examples, all of which seem to have been long-bed models - and probably built up from unsold spares - were stamped '1951'.
The changewheel set for the M Type was altered from previous versions the new arrangement (including metric-conversion gears) consisting of: 20t, 30t, 35t, 38t, 40t, 45t, 46t, 50t, 55t, 60t, 65t and 73t.
A Drummond M-Type photographic essay can be seen here

Above, as first produced circa 942/4, the new Myford  M-Type lathe mounted on an improved cast-iron stand with a hefty, built-on, 12 speed all V-belt countershaft unit with speeds of  26, 38, 46, 55, 67, 97, 234, 339, 412, 494, 600 and 874 rpm - usually from a 950 rpm 1-phase motor, but also (with faster speeds) from a 1425 rpm version. The motor pulley was a double-step type for an "A" section belt that drove up to matching pair on the countershaft. All pulleys were in cast iron, so adding to the inertia of the drive and helping to smooth out vibrations from the 1-phase motor. A distinctive steel-mesh countershaft belt guard cover was fitted and the very heavy, cast-iron stand supplied with two sheet-steel shelves; this was the best-ever and most highly-developed version of the original Drummond lathe.
Should you have to remove or replace the countershaft from one of these stands, find some help. The unit, especially when fitted with the original motor, is very heavy and hinged around a triangular cast-iron plate at its base; if the unit is allowed to swing downwards with any force this plate will be snapped in two. A heavily-built bench countershaft was also manufactured and this, like the stand-mounted unit, had an integral motor bracket that could be independently adjusted to set the motor-to-countershaft belt tension.
As a matter of interest, the backgear "bushes" are screwed into the headstock casting of the Myford M Type are fitted with a very unusual thread: somewhere between 0.823" and 0.824" x  14 t.p.i. Whitworth--this is very close to, but not exactly on, the specification for "half-inch gas" at 0.825" x 14 t.p.i.
If you have a particularly original version of this lathe, and would be willing to contribute a

Left: a very unusual combination of treadle and electric power from a 1930s catalogue - the "Drummond Knee Planer" Surprisingly, the makers failed to fit a guard over the flywheel rim gear-teeth. Although several lathes have been found with stands incorporating the cast-in motor mounting plate, only a handful have so far been discovered with a complete operating system like the one illustrated. If you know of a Drummond lathe like this the writer would be interested to hear from you.