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Bsa Factory In Blitz

This was also reported on the "Made in Birmingham" website newsletter. It also states that the planners have given permission for the Armoury Rd building to be cladded, not realising its important historical significance ( its the oldest Truscon reinforced concrete factory building in the UK). Listing of the building has been (is) being applied for.
The site are also seeking recognition of the company and the 1940 disaster by the erection of a monument. Both Carl Chinn and the local MP support this but when Birmingham Councillors were contacted only two made any effort in replying.
 
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my mother tells me that a relative of ours albert carter won a medal for assisting here
i can find no record of it though

any ideas
 
Michael Minton in "Heroes of the Birmingham Air Raids" lists a number of national awards given for heroism that night including no less than three George Medals. Unfortunately there is no Carter amongst them. Could there have been further, Company awards, I wonder?

There is mention of a G. Carter and a W.M. Carter for heroism on other occasions in the Birmingham Blitz.

Chris
 
This is the list from the BSA Memorial site

https://madeinbirmingham.org/bsamem.htm


Alfred F. Stevens, BSA Electrician awarded the George Medal

Private Albert Bailey, Home Guard awarded the George Medal

Alfred W. Goodwin, awarded the British Empire Medal

Arthur R.E. Harris, awarded the British Empire Medal

Albert Slim, awarded the British Empire Medal

Corporal John H. Beattie, awarded the British Empire Medal

Sergeant Joseph Topham, awarded the British Empire Medal

Private William Saragine. awarded the British Empire Medal

Ada Deeming, Matron at BSA awarded a MBE

Samuel S Ashburner, Commended

Edwyn Hoof, Commended

Private Frank Knight, Home Guard, Commended

Private George Treen, Home Guard, Commended,

Ernest Williams, Commended
 
hi
i just spoke to my mother who now says Albert Carter got a medal from Dunlop

As a by i knew Micheal Minton well he llived over the road from my parents and died in the 90s
 
Calling all ex-BSA workers especiall those who worked there during ww2.
As many of you know there is a story that has persisted since the war that following the bombing of the night of 19th Nov 1940 the rescue workers were unable to recover many of the poor people who tragically lost their lives during that raid. the story goes that they were sealed up in the basement area and maybe are still there. What i wish to do is to either prove or disprove this story as i really do beleive that if this is true then some sort of memorial MUST be erected. my own personal thoughts that somehow the story has been mixed up somehow with another part of the vast factory site. So i would like to know from ex employees if there was indeed a basement underneath the rear end or indeed anywhere underneath the new building primarily under the rear of "A" block.
Thanks for ANY help in finding out what really happened
 
Captblack my late mother was working there that night and by all accounts it took 6 weeks to recover the bodies and i`m not sure but some time back a memorial was built to the workers but i cannot be sure
 
Thanks for the link graham, there are two stories that are prevelent one is that they got all the bodies out after 6 weeks and the other as you know is that they didnt, i really need to confirm if there was indeed a basement at the rear of "A" and "S" block, this would be a great help. if there was then it throws my theory right out and will have to think of a new approach. if there wasn't then where did this story come from ? i have been told it many times in the past by my mom and aunts and countless others, maybe the story got confused with another part of the factory ? All i know is that if it is true then the site involvled needs to be protected and honoured.
as for a past memorial i believe there was once one in morrisons by the blues ground but i cannont find it in there,
 
My father's uncle, William Hemms died in this bombing. I cannot find it at the moment (must have mis-filed it) but I do have details of when they found him. There was a list of his personal belongings found on him, inlcuding his steel rimmmed glasses and his identity card. I found that very touching. I cannot say until I find the paperwork, but I don't think it took six weeks to find him, but of course we are only talking about one person, not all.
 
Shortie its posts like yours that really bring this all home. which is one of the reasons why i want to pursue this further and find out once and for all what really happened, personally i think its the least that can be done. thanks for replying and as i have said before any information will be of help
thanks
 
If I can be of any help, then I shall be pleased. I shall look for my paperwork and if it's not to be found, I shall speak to the cemetery where he is buried, it was them I got the information from in the first place.

shortie
 
I have found the paperwork I wanted in my burials file, I looked in my general info before.

The bombing was 11 November 1940.
William John Hemms was recovered on 27 November 1940 at 4.45pm and he was received in the mortuary at 5.15pm
The cause of death was falling masonry and fire.

This makes me think that there may have been perhaps just one person not recovered for six weeks (if it was true at all), it took two weeks to find my great uncle Bill. Each inventory has the date and time the body was recovered, so you would have to make a list of them all and find where they are buried and check the details. A bit of a long job methinks.

Shortie
 
thanks shortie, it looks like that is going to be the only way forward to find out the truth, can you confirm that the first date was the 11th Nov and not the 19th?, if it was the 11th then that is a raid that i am not familier with.
 
Soprry Captblack, my error entirely. It was the 19th, I am getting muddled up with the day and the month. It did not take too long to find him, one week. He was buried at Brandwood End on 10 December 1940.

Shortie
 
I wish i had found this site before this ,My late husband worked there at age of 14 for a short time .But his father worked there for 51 yrs of his life and he was in Carl Chinns Brummagem Mag in 2003.Maurice Davenport was techical manager of BSA forge.
 
as for a past memorial i believe there was once one in morrisons by the blues ground but i cannont find it in there,[/QUOTE]

Hi All,

There is a memorial of some sort set in the pavement at the pedestrian entrance of the Morrisons car park on Coventry Road. I am sorry but cannot remember what it represents. The story of a number of bodies not being recovered was very strong during the war but I cannot say if it was true or not.

Old Boy
 
My Grandfather Andrew Bruce was one of the workers killed in the bombing of the BSA.My grandmother Janet was left with five daughters to bring up on her own, one ,my mother is still with us,Andrina, now living in Cornwall.
The family do not talk about the bombing and I have been unable to find what happened to my grandfather,but I too have heard that not all of the casualties were recovered.I would be grateful if anyone could help,
Eric Fellows
 
Hello Eric welcome to the forum. A friend of mine lost her uncle at the B.S.A. bombing apparently many men jumped into the canal to escape but he couldn't swim so wouldn't go. He therefore lost his life..so very sad.

This site may help I see Andrew was just 42 what a sad waste...https://www.birminghamairraids.co.uk/
 
Taken from the BARRAS site

Andrew Bruce (Civilian)
Killed at the age of 42 during an attack on B.S.A. Factory, Small Heath, 19 November 1940
Additional Notes:
Address - 78 Derron Avenue, South Yardley West Midlands Police Records Raid 43 -19th /20th November 1940 Air Raid Warning Red was received at 6.50 p.m. on Tuesday 19th November and White at 4.29 a.m. on Wednesday 20th November. During this period an intense raid was made on all districts of the City. (C District - Gerrard Street, George Street Garage, ICI Witton;, D-Division - Nechells Gas Company, GEC, Hughes, BBC, Queen Street, Aston Hall Road; E-Division - Coventry Road, Stratford Road) The areas least affected were Kingstanding, Harborne, Northfield, Kings Norton, Stechford, Kings Heath. 18 Parachute mines (4 unexploded), 677 High Explosive, including about 42 Delayed Action type, 243 Incendiary Bomb incidents have been reported. 17 of the incendiary bombs were of the oil type. The first report of a bomb being dropped was at 7.25 p.m. Extensive damage to property was caused by exploding parachute mines, High Explosive bombs and fires. About 100 factories were damaged, including 25 important places. 8 large and 50 subsidiary water mains were broken or damaged, and approximately 150 gas mains were damaged during the raid. Casualties (approximately) 400 fatal, 540 seriously wounded and 540 slightly injured. The following police stations were damaged: Lozell’s Road - Inspectors House was damaged by blast from a High Explosive bomb exploding in the carriageway. Duke Street - garage damaged by incendiary bomb. Hay Mills -damage to windows and roof by incendiaries. In addition to this the Police Social Club premises, Tally Ho, Pershore Road, were seriously damaged by fire from incendiary bombs. New Street Railway Station was damaged by High Explosive bombs and was closed for a short period owing to the presence of a Delayed Action bomb. Snow Hill Railway Station was damaged when a parachute mine exploded in Colmore Row. Other notable places damaged were: St. Phillip’s Cathedral, 3 hospitals (slight damage), a number of bank premises, large store (Grey’s, Bull Street) and other shopping and business premises. Many roads were temporarily blocked by debris and the streets in the centre of the City were covered with plate glass. Birmingham Fire Services Air Raid Action -12.00 a.m. Wednesday, November 20th 1940 Summary No. 81 Air Raid Warning - Yellow at 13.01 p.m. and 18.42 p.m. Purple at 18.46 p.m. Red at 18.51 p.m. and White at 13.19 p.m. and 04.31 a.m. Number of incidents dealt with 378; Number of fires caused by enemy action 338; Number of fires caused not by enemy action 3; Number of A.F.S. Appliances engaged 381; Number of R.B. Appliances engaged 60; Number of Jets 472. General Report: The air raid warning in Birmingham on this night was given at 1842 hours and from 1855 hours when the first fire call was received, the raid quickly developed in an intensive form and was widespread. A turntable had already been sent to West Bromwich from Birmingham where air raids fires had been caused and the Birmingham Services were soon fully engaged. The fires were spread over a large area of the City, including Bordesley Green, Small Heath, and the south side of the City, but these were all under control by dawn. This raid was probably the heaviest so far experienced in Birmingham and several Fire Stations had to be evacuated during the raid as a result of unexploded bombs or mines in the vicinity. Water conditions were not good owing to fractured mains, and water in some instances had to be relayed over long distances. Regional Report: Three stages of the Regional Scheme were operated and a total of 107 Pumps and 2 Turntable Escapes came into the City to assist. The details are as follows: Solihull 1 pump, Sutton1, Dudley 4, Leamington 2, Burton on Trent 3, Shrewsbury 2, Wolverhampton 7 and 1 turntable, Stoke on Trent 5 and 1 turntable, Nottingham 15, Manchester 10, Bristol 25, Reading 23, Coleshill 1, Walsall 4, Bromsgrove 1, Redditch 1. Injuries to personnel: Fatal: Division 4 Auxiliary H.V. Lugg B.12760; Division 6 Auxiliary E. Carless B.12454. There were 31 other injuries.
Relatives:-
Relative NameRelationshipAvailable Records
Janet BruceWifeNo Records Found
 
Thank you very much for the information,I saw my mother at the weekend and she told me that their house was also damaged that night while they were in the shelter,and they were sent to Church Rd school until the windows were boarded up.She was then temporarily evacuated to family in Glasgow.Apparently Andrew was buried in Yardley Cemetary,but she said she only went once,as a child,but was so upset that she never went again-the search goes on,Eric.
 
19 November 1940 - My mum wasn’t working at the BSA during this time due to her age - she started working there as soon as she was 15 in January 1941, but her mother and elder sister were working there. She has told me many times of the day after the bombing when her mom and sister went to work at the BSA. She said her mum described the building before the raid as floor after floor of heavy machinery used in the manufacture of munitions. She says that when the building was hit the building collapsed and floors gave way under the weight of the machinery, which contributed to the difficulties when trying to recover bodies.

She was told of an awful smell of gas around the site a short while later, which could have come from broken gas mains – but she says the rumour was that the decision had been made to put gas into the ruins to gas anyone who was still alive because of the inability to rescue them, this is what mum still says, but obviously it would be difficult to confirm this.

When she started working at the BSA she was working in B section on motorbikes, but soon after she was moved to C section where they manufactured guns for aeroplanes, sometime after she started working at the BSA she cut her finger on the machinery and was sent to the nurse to have her cut dressed and when she was running along the yard (running because the machines weren’t to be left idle) she heard a plane which she didn’t recognize the sound of and when she looked up she saw it was a German plane flying very low over the BSA taking photographs. She says it was flying so low that she saw the pilot and he looked at her and saluted her (she thought he would shoot her, but it was her lucky day and he was only interesting in shooting photos) “I gave him the victory salute” she said and ran on to the nurse.

She recalls going to work one morning and being told to go on a different machine and when she said to the man in charge, “I can’t go on that machine it’s Winnies” he said to her “never mind that just come and learn how it works” later that day she heard that Winnie had been killed in the blitz during the night, but that was the way they dealt with things – carry on regardless.

Mum said they worked from 7am until 7pm and at the end of the shift there were hundreds of people hurrying to catch the buses waiting outside to take them home, (mum lived at Winson Green) she says that they just wanted the bus to get them as far away as possible from the BSA before the sirens went.
 
Hi

I beleive that my Father Leslie Hyde and my Mother Kathleen Harris worked at the small heath BSA factory from late 1939 to mid 1940, can someone tell me if there are any staff records to confirm this ? all I have is a record stating that my Father was working as a machine operator in a Armaments factory in Feb 1940 and family talk that my Mother worked there also

Thank in anticipation

Geoff
 
Hi, I worked at the B.S.A. 1963-1970 firstly on the "Beagle cylinder heads then on the A50/A65 crankcases.
I saved this cutting a few years back & thought you might find it interesting.
Also, while I was "exploring the factory around 1964, I came across a room stacked up with Group News Magazines from 1961.
I still have the one I took that day. Can't believe it was 50 years ago!B.S.A.jpgB.S.A. MAG.jpg
 
00000BSA PLAQUE TO WARCASUALTIES.jpgFound this memorial on my hard drive but no info with it does anyone know if this was in the BSA factory
 
Fourth column from the left, sixth name down is Marklew. This is one of my ancestors who died when the BSA took some direct hits during a particularly heavy bombing raid. I understand he and many of his co-workers were in an air raid shelter beneath one of the main buildings when the building was hit and the heavy machinery and the concrete floors above collapsed on top of them. There were many casualties from this particular raid. This memorial might be in recognition of that raid but it might also from the wording include others who gave their lives while on active service. Regards, Peter J Frankcom - Sydney Australia.
 
Snowball said:
Fourth column from the left, sixth name down is Marklew. This is one of my ancestors who died when the BSA took some direct hits during a particularly heavy bombing raid. I understand he and many of his co-workers were in an air raid shelter beneath one of the main buildings when the building was hit and the heavy machinery and the concrete floors above collapsed on top of them. There were many casualties from this particular raid. This memorial might be in recognition of that raid but it might also from the wording include others who gave their lives while on active service. Regards, Peter J Frankcom - Sydney Australia.
Click to expand...
You have your facts right, The building was not restored until my time c1953.
 
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