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Workers and their families waiting for the King to arrive at Kynochs Ltd Witton 1915
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Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
The King in the cartridge packing room
The King in the cartridge packing room
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
The next photo I had to cut in half as it was to long
Photo shows the King on walkabouts at Kynochs
The next photo I had to cut in half as it was to long
Photo shows the King on walkabouts at Kynochs
Di.Poppitt
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Wonderful photos', Cromwell.
My Aunt started work in 1912 at Kynochs. She was 12 years old, and worked in tracer bullet all of her working life. She could well be in on of the photo's.
Wonderful photos', Cromwell.
My Aunt started work in 1912 at Kynochs. She was 12 years old, and worked in tracer bullet all of her working life. She could well be in on of the photo's.
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Women who were willing to work in the Munitions factories in Birmingham who had children were prevented from doing so because they had no one the care for their young children and babies so the Munitions factories provided them with creches for the women that came to work for them.
The charge was sixpence a day and the children were bathed dressed in uniform overalls and provided with good food and toys and the babies with cots
The matron was Nurse Reynolds
These Newspaper Photos were in pretty bad condition for the age (1915) so I had to do a bit of work on them to bring the image back
Women who were willing to work in the Munitions factories in Birmingham who had children were prevented from doing so because they had no one the care for their young children and babies so the Munitions factories provided them with creches for the women that came to work for them.
The charge was sixpence a day and the children were bathed dressed in uniform overalls and provided with good food and toys and the babies with cots
The matron was Nurse Reynolds
These Newspaper Photos were in pretty bad condition for the age (1915) so I had to do a bit of work on them to bring the image back
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Dinner Time
Dinner Time
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O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
During the time of the Great War the chassis test shop at the Wolseley Motor Works at Adderley Park was transformed into a shell factory working round the clock making shells, fuses and motor transport for the War Office. In the manufacture of shrapnel shell cases it is standard practice to make them from a very tough material in the form of hollow forgings, it must withstand roughly the pressure of 14 tons a square inch from the explosion that drives it out of the gun.
Then as the shell travels through the air the timer is bought into action at a set amount of seconds detonating a second charge which bursts the head (Timer) off the shell exerting pressure of about 10 tons per square inch sending the shrapnel balls onto their target.
That is why the case is made out of high tensile steel
During the time of the Great War the chassis test shop at the Wolseley Motor Works at Adderley Park was transformed into a shell factory working round the clock making shells, fuses and motor transport for the War Office. In the manufacture of shrapnel shell cases it is standard practice to make them from a very tough material in the form of hollow forgings, it must withstand roughly the pressure of 14 tons a square inch from the explosion that drives it out of the gun.
Then as the shell travels through the air the timer is bought into action at a set amount of seconds detonating a second charge which bursts the head (Timer) off the shell exerting pressure of about 10 tons per square inch sending the shrapnel balls onto their target.
That is why the case is made out of high tensile steel
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
The BSA factory at Armoury Road Small Heath played a large part in the war effort producing the Lee Enfield Rifle, Lewis Guns, Military Bicycles and Military motorbikes
Photo’s show the Kings visit to the BSA, men of the Lancashire Cyclist Corps with a BSA folding bicycle, Private S. Haylett of the Royal Naval Brigade on his BSA Motorbike at Antwerp
The BSA factory at Armoury Road Small Heath played a large part in the war effort producing the Lee Enfield Rifle, Lewis Guns, Military Bicycles and Military motorbikes
Photo’s show the Kings visit to the BSA, men of the Lancashire Cyclist Corps with a BSA folding bicycle, Private S. Haylett of the Royal Naval Brigade on his BSA Motorbike at Antwerp
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Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Great War Munitions Poster
Great War Munitions Poster
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O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
The Cordite sheds look as though they were built so that if an explosion occured the roof would blow off
so I guess it was quiet dangerous at the time hence the ventilation with the doors open
Second photo shows the women packing and cutting the cordite
The Cordite sheds look as though they were built so that if an explosion occured the roof would blow off
so I guess it was quiet dangerous at the time hence the ventilation with the doors open
Second photo shows the women packing and cutting the cordite
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Scarcely any part of England could boast of a longer line of steel than that which run from Small Heath, Adderley, Saltley, Aston and Witton making munitions for our armed forces for the Great War.
Kynochs got the largest contract on record for making cordite purchasing its sites by the 1000-acre as Birmingham was to precious to be blown up, so as you can imagine the cordite sheds were well away from the factories churning out the munitions
Factories worth a mention are Taylor and Challen who was the inventor of the famous Orsini Bomb. In1857 Joseph Taylor who was a Birmingham Gunsmith was approached by an Italian Felice Orsini and asked to make six copies of a bomb of Orsini's own design; it would explode on impact and used fulminate of mercury as an explosive. Unknown to Taylor the bomb was going to be used on the assassination of Napoleon III. (Which Failed)
Because the bombs had been made and tested in England, it caused a brief anti-British furor in France because of suspicion of British involvement, but after a few weeks all the fuss died down (and things went back to normal with our traditional dislike and distrust of each other)
Kings Norton Metal Company were the makers of the first six pounder shell cases for the Nordenfeldt Gun and first “private” manufacturer of the 4.7 cartridge
John Delley of Westley Richards &Co made guns previously making martini henry rifles.
Wilkes famous for their wire made the 332.000miles of wire that went into the first Atlantic cable.
Greener’s produced the first air guns.
Dunlop was another one of our great assetts making anything made of rubber
Vicker employed over 11.000 people making munitions and “aero”parts
And it would be safe to say that you could equip an army without going ten miles from Birmingham Town Hall. Bombs, buttons, bedsteads, shells, stew pans,sapping tools all rolling out of the little back street factories worked by the people of Brum
Earning between 25 shilling and £3 a week
Not bad for a town where in the days of the civil war churned out 15000 swords blades for Parliament to fight the King and before that was credited for turning out all Boadicea’s war chariots to fight the Romans
Scarcely any part of England could boast of a longer line of steel than that which run from Small Heath, Adderley, Saltley, Aston and Witton making munitions for our armed forces for the Great War.
Kynochs got the largest contract on record for making cordite purchasing its sites by the 1000-acre as Birmingham was to precious to be blown up, so as you can imagine the cordite sheds were well away from the factories churning out the munitions
Factories worth a mention are Taylor and Challen who was the inventor of the famous Orsini Bomb. In1857 Joseph Taylor who was a Birmingham Gunsmith was approached by an Italian Felice Orsini and asked to make six copies of a bomb of Orsini's own design; it would explode on impact and used fulminate of mercury as an explosive. Unknown to Taylor the bomb was going to be used on the assassination of Napoleon III. (Which Failed)
Because the bombs had been made and tested in England, it caused a brief anti-British furor in France because of suspicion of British involvement, but after a few weeks all the fuss died down (and things went back to normal with our traditional dislike and distrust of each other)
Kings Norton Metal Company were the makers of the first six pounder shell cases for the Nordenfeldt Gun and first “private” manufacturer of the 4.7 cartridge
John Delley of Westley Richards &Co made guns previously making martini henry rifles.
Wilkes famous for their wire made the 332.000miles of wire that went into the first Atlantic cable.
Greener’s produced the first air guns.
Dunlop was another one of our great assetts making anything made of rubber
Vicker employed over 11.000 people making munitions and “aero”parts
And it would be safe to say that you could equip an army without going ten miles from Birmingham Town Hall. Bombs, buttons, bedsteads, shells, stew pans,sapping tools all rolling out of the little back street factories worked by the people of Brum
Earning between 25 shilling and £3 a week
Not bad for a town where in the days of the civil war churned out 15000 swords blades for Parliament to fight the King and before that was credited for turning out all Boadicea’s war chariots to fight the Romans
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Thanks Dennis,
The Kids today need to know about the past, as I feel without the past you cannot learn in the future
The Chinese tried to wipe their past out by burning all the books but failed in the end.
Lots of little snippets in history are never mentioned, but I find them so interesting, and so I try to dig them out.
Thanks Dennis,
The Kids today need to know about the past, as I feel without the past you cannot learn in the future
The Chinese tried to wipe their past out by burning all the books but failed in the end.
Lots of little snippets in history are never mentioned, but I find them so interesting, and so I try to dig them out.
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
The Information Below I have left as it was written in 1898 in a Rare booklet I have describes the Kynock Machine Gun
Shown also are three photographs taken at the time on the Witton Site on ease of carrying the gun to firing position, Firing the gun and transporting the gunÂÂ
Considering when it was made its hard to understand why our troops were not issued with them at the start of the war
It remains now to mention the latest development in Automatic. Machine Guns, viz: —the Kynoch (Bergmann's patent).
The chief criteria for an Automatic Machine Gun, as laid down by the Chief Inspector of-Small Arms, are Certainty of Action, Simplicity, Endurance, and Accuracy, and it. is claimed for this Gun that it possesses these criteria in a marked degree. By certainty of action is meant that the Gun should go on firing steadily without stopping through any weakness in the mechanism the speed of firing being of less importance than continuity, this Gun satisfies this condition. Its simplicity is demonstrated by the fact that it consists of only 79 parts, including 13 springs, and that it can be dismantled and put together again without the use of a tool in a. very short space of time. Its endurance has been proved by the fact that one of these Guns has fired about 20,000 rounds without any part giving way, and its accuracy has been proved by constant firing trials. But the one great advantage it possesses over other. Machine Guns is the automatic. supply of enormous quantities of fresh air cooling the barrel by convection, thus obviating the necessity of a water jacket. The general- description of the Gun is as follows: —
The Gun has only one barrel, which is screwed into the body, which carries the bolt and firing pin, extractor, and roller for actuating the whole of the mechanism of the Gun. When the Gun is discharged by the hand trigger, the barrel and body and bolt altogether recoil at the same rate, until the bullet has left the mouth of the barrel, thus obviating any possibility of the cartridge case being unsupported at the time there is pressure in the barrel, and preventing escape-of gas into the mechanism, as well as making it impossible for the cartridge case to be broken transversely, and thus removing the frequent cause of jamming.
After the bullet has left the mouth of the barrel, the movement of the barrel, is continued, but the bolt moves at a greater rate than the body in consequence of the resistance lever being stopped in its movement at its short end, giving increased movement at the long end, which acts upon a cam at a point near the fulcrum, and increases the speed of the part of the cam connected with the bolt, which is then carried to the end of its stroke by the movement of the cam, the cam at the same time carrying back the striker, which is retained in its cocked position by the detents of the sear springs. If the left-hand sear spring is raised by the hand trigger the gun is then free to fire automatically.
The cartridges are carried in clips hinged together, forming a chain carrying ordinarily the number of 200 cartridges. This feed chain is placed in position on the feed drum, which takes the whole of the feed chain through the Gun as the firing proceeds.
The feed drum is worked by a spring, which is wound up just a sufficient amount for each movement by the motion of the body. . The feed drum carries each cartridge in succession in a line with the axis of the barrel and in front of the bolt, and the bolt, actuated by the recoil spring, pushes the cartridge into the chamber of .the barrel. After the firing of the cartridge, the empty cartridge case is drawn .out of the-chamber by the extractor, which brings it into the feed drum, from which, on its next movement, it is ejected from the Gun by the ejector lever actuated by the forward movement of the body.
There are two sights, a front and rear sight, and the Gun can be sighted up to any range that the barrel can carry and the mechanism is such that it can be adapted to any rifle barrel, English or Foreign, so that any country adopting this Gun can use the same ammunition with it as in use for their small arms. The Gun can be fired in three ways: either by sighting each shot, if extreme accuracy is required, and firing by pulling the trigger; or (2), by turning. the handle and firing without sighting each shot, as in the hand-worked Guns; or (3), automatically. Other Guns can only be fired in two ways, viz., by single shots, or automatically.
The Gun is fitted with an elevating screw which is very easy to manipulate, and by its means the elevation can be altered while the Gun is delivering a sweeping fire. The Gun can be worked by one man, but it is an advantage to have another man preparing cartridge chains, 40 Ibs.
The weight of the Gun is 38 Ibs, and of the mounting
This Gun has already passed through a preliminary trial at Enfield very satisfactorily, and it is confidently thought that when a few alterations, suggested by the War Office Authorities are introduced, it will meet all the requirements of the War Office.
Nothing has been said about the mountings of the Automatic Machine Guns, because the question of the mounting is quite independent of that of the Gun itself, as a Gun can be adapted to fit any mounting or carriage that may be devised or desired. But a hew form of tripod mounting has been devised for the Kynoch Machine Gun, which is extremely simple and easy of transport; the legs are telescopic, and being hinged to a flat table at the top, fold up into a very compact space.
Having now touched very briefly on the different systems of rifle calibre Machine Guns which have been brought to the notice, of the British - Government, it only remains to offer a few remarks on the subject of Machine Guns generally, and, first. it should be pointed out how immeasurably superior an Automatic Gun must be to one worked by hand. A Gun worked by hand, either by a handle with a rotary motion, or by a lever with a backward and forward motion, must be unsteady; whereas a Gun which loads, cocks, fires, and ejects the empty cartridge case automatically, is infinitely steadier. Again, an Automatic Gun is much safer. Take the case .of a hang fire; in an Automatic Gun no harm can be done, because, till the cartridge actually fires, the recoil motion and the motion of ejecting the fired case does not begin, so that there is no possibility of a cartridge firing when not properly supported, or when in the act of extraction. Whereas, in a handworked Gun, it is extremely difficult for the man working the Gun to detect a hang fire, and the faulty cartridge is probably being extracted when it fires, and when this occurs, it is extremely dangerous for the man firing the Gun, as well as in all probability injuring the mechanism. Again, in a hand-worked Gun, if a cartridge is torn in half as sometimes happens, leaving the front part in the chamber of the Gun, the firer does not notice this and goes on turning the handle or working the lever, and so fires another cartridge into the barrel, but it cannot be forced home on account of a part of the defective cartridge case being in the chamber. This is a most serious case of jamming and puts the Gun out of action for a considerable time. Should the same accident occur in an Automatic Gun, the strength of the recoil] spring is not sufficient to jam the second cartridge, which could easily be removed, and the .portion of the defective cartridge previously left in the barrel could then be extracted, and the Gun could be in action again in a very short time. Another cause of jamming in hand worked Guns, is when, from some cause or another, either the handle or lever getting stiff, or the man working them getting tired, the stroke is not worked out, but the handle or lever is brought back to get a fresh purchase, the consequence being that two cartridges, are in position for being placed in the barrel, and' this at once causes a stoppage of its mechanism, and brings about a bad jam. This cannot possibly occur in an Automatic Gun, in fact, it is difficult to imagine a so-called jam in an Automatic Gun. It may stop working through some part of the mechanism bucking or giving way, in which case a new part would have to be substituted for the defective part. ' It therefore stands to reason that the Gun with few parts must be superior to the Gun with many; and in this respect, the, simplicity of the Kynoch Gun stands .out pre-eminent:
The utility of Machine Guns is now generally admitted. For defensive purposes they are much more effective than for the offensive. This was shown in a marked degree at the battle of St. Privat in the Franco-German war of 1870, when the Guards of the German Army attacked the French position in front which was well covered by the French Martini guns, and in ten minutes the Guards lost 6,000 men killed and wounded, and the attack had to be abandoned. The. same thing occurred subsequently at the battle of Mass-la-Tour when the-Germarl attack reached within ninety paces of the French line, but the fire from the Mitrailleuses was so tremendous that the five German battalions forming the attack had to retire with a loss of 72 officers and 2,542 men out of a total who advanced to the attack of 95 officers and 4,546 men..
Their utility as a defensive weapon was subsequently shown at Alexandria in 1882, as has already been mentioned, where Capt. Fisher, R.N., with 370 men with Gatlings kept Arabi's army of 9,000 men at bay for four days. Again in the Soudan Campaign of 1884-1885 it was the Martini Guns at the corners of the squares which saved the squares from annihilation when attacked by the hordes of the Khalifa's troops. .. In the recent campaign on the Nile the Maxim Gun was used, both as a defensive and offensive weapon, and proved of the utmost value under both conditions.
The Information Below I have left as it was written in 1898 in a Rare booklet I have describes the Kynock Machine Gun
Shown also are three photographs taken at the time on the Witton Site on ease of carrying the gun to firing position, Firing the gun and transporting the gunÂÂ
Considering when it was made its hard to understand why our troops were not issued with them at the start of the war
It remains now to mention the latest development in Automatic. Machine Guns, viz: —the Kynoch (Bergmann's patent).
The chief criteria for an Automatic Machine Gun, as laid down by the Chief Inspector of-Small Arms, are Certainty of Action, Simplicity, Endurance, and Accuracy, and it. is claimed for this Gun that it possesses these criteria in a marked degree. By certainty of action is meant that the Gun should go on firing steadily without stopping through any weakness in the mechanism the speed of firing being of less importance than continuity, this Gun satisfies this condition. Its simplicity is demonstrated by the fact that it consists of only 79 parts, including 13 springs, and that it can be dismantled and put together again without the use of a tool in a. very short space of time. Its endurance has been proved by the fact that one of these Guns has fired about 20,000 rounds without any part giving way, and its accuracy has been proved by constant firing trials. But the one great advantage it possesses over other. Machine Guns is the automatic. supply of enormous quantities of fresh air cooling the barrel by convection, thus obviating the necessity of a water jacket. The general- description of the Gun is as follows: —
The Gun has only one barrel, which is screwed into the body, which carries the bolt and firing pin, extractor, and roller for actuating the whole of the mechanism of the Gun. When the Gun is discharged by the hand trigger, the barrel and body and bolt altogether recoil at the same rate, until the bullet has left the mouth of the barrel, thus obviating any possibility of the cartridge case being unsupported at the time there is pressure in the barrel, and preventing escape-of gas into the mechanism, as well as making it impossible for the cartridge case to be broken transversely, and thus removing the frequent cause of jamming.
After the bullet has left the mouth of the barrel, the movement of the barrel, is continued, but the bolt moves at a greater rate than the body in consequence of the resistance lever being stopped in its movement at its short end, giving increased movement at the long end, which acts upon a cam at a point near the fulcrum, and increases the speed of the part of the cam connected with the bolt, which is then carried to the end of its stroke by the movement of the cam, the cam at the same time carrying back the striker, which is retained in its cocked position by the detents of the sear springs. If the left-hand sear spring is raised by the hand trigger the gun is then free to fire automatically.
The cartridges are carried in clips hinged together, forming a chain carrying ordinarily the number of 200 cartridges. This feed chain is placed in position on the feed drum, which takes the whole of the feed chain through the Gun as the firing proceeds.
The feed drum is worked by a spring, which is wound up just a sufficient amount for each movement by the motion of the body. . The feed drum carries each cartridge in succession in a line with the axis of the barrel and in front of the bolt, and the bolt, actuated by the recoil spring, pushes the cartridge into the chamber of .the barrel. After the firing of the cartridge, the empty cartridge case is drawn .out of the-chamber by the extractor, which brings it into the feed drum, from which, on its next movement, it is ejected from the Gun by the ejector lever actuated by the forward movement of the body.
There are two sights, a front and rear sight, and the Gun can be sighted up to any range that the barrel can carry and the mechanism is such that it can be adapted to any rifle barrel, English or Foreign, so that any country adopting this Gun can use the same ammunition with it as in use for their small arms. The Gun can be fired in three ways: either by sighting each shot, if extreme accuracy is required, and firing by pulling the trigger; or (2), by turning. the handle and firing without sighting each shot, as in the hand-worked Guns; or (3), automatically. Other Guns can only be fired in two ways, viz., by single shots, or automatically.
The Gun is fitted with an elevating screw which is very easy to manipulate, and by its means the elevation can be altered while the Gun is delivering a sweeping fire. The Gun can be worked by one man, but it is an advantage to have another man preparing cartridge chains, 40 Ibs.
The weight of the Gun is 38 Ibs, and of the mounting
This Gun has already passed through a preliminary trial at Enfield very satisfactorily, and it is confidently thought that when a few alterations, suggested by the War Office Authorities are introduced, it will meet all the requirements of the War Office.
Nothing has been said about the mountings of the Automatic Machine Guns, because the question of the mounting is quite independent of that of the Gun itself, as a Gun can be adapted to fit any mounting or carriage that may be devised or desired. But a hew form of tripod mounting has been devised for the Kynoch Machine Gun, which is extremely simple and easy of transport; the legs are telescopic, and being hinged to a flat table at the top, fold up into a very compact space.
Having now touched very briefly on the different systems of rifle calibre Machine Guns which have been brought to the notice, of the British - Government, it only remains to offer a few remarks on the subject of Machine Guns generally, and, first. it should be pointed out how immeasurably superior an Automatic Gun must be to one worked by hand. A Gun worked by hand, either by a handle with a rotary motion, or by a lever with a backward and forward motion, must be unsteady; whereas a Gun which loads, cocks, fires, and ejects the empty cartridge case automatically, is infinitely steadier. Again, an Automatic Gun is much safer. Take the case .of a hang fire; in an Automatic Gun no harm can be done, because, till the cartridge actually fires, the recoil motion and the motion of ejecting the fired case does not begin, so that there is no possibility of a cartridge firing when not properly supported, or when in the act of extraction. Whereas, in a handworked Gun, it is extremely difficult for the man working the Gun to detect a hang fire, and the faulty cartridge is probably being extracted when it fires, and when this occurs, it is extremely dangerous for the man firing the Gun, as well as in all probability injuring the mechanism. Again, in a hand-worked Gun, if a cartridge is torn in half as sometimes happens, leaving the front part in the chamber of the Gun, the firer does not notice this and goes on turning the handle or working the lever, and so fires another cartridge into the barrel, but it cannot be forced home on account of a part of the defective cartridge case being in the chamber. This is a most serious case of jamming and puts the Gun out of action for a considerable time. Should the same accident occur in an Automatic Gun, the strength of the recoil] spring is not sufficient to jam the second cartridge, which could easily be removed, and the .portion of the defective cartridge previously left in the barrel could then be extracted, and the Gun could be in action again in a very short time. Another cause of jamming in hand worked Guns, is when, from some cause or another, either the handle or lever getting stiff, or the man working them getting tired, the stroke is not worked out, but the handle or lever is brought back to get a fresh purchase, the consequence being that two cartridges, are in position for being placed in the barrel, and' this at once causes a stoppage of its mechanism, and brings about a bad jam. This cannot possibly occur in an Automatic Gun, in fact, it is difficult to imagine a so-called jam in an Automatic Gun. It may stop working through some part of the mechanism bucking or giving way, in which case a new part would have to be substituted for the defective part. ' It therefore stands to reason that the Gun with few parts must be superior to the Gun with many; and in this respect, the, simplicity of the Kynoch Gun stands .out pre-eminent:
The utility of Machine Guns is now generally admitted. For defensive purposes they are much more effective than for the offensive. This was shown in a marked degree at the battle of St. Privat in the Franco-German war of 1870, when the Guards of the German Army attacked the French position in front which was well covered by the French Martini guns, and in ten minutes the Guards lost 6,000 men killed and wounded, and the attack had to be abandoned. The. same thing occurred subsequently at the battle of Mass-la-Tour when the-Germarl attack reached within ninety paces of the French line, but the fire from the Mitrailleuses was so tremendous that the five German battalions forming the attack had to retire with a loss of 72 officers and 2,542 men out of a total who advanced to the attack of 95 officers and 4,546 men..
Their utility as a defensive weapon was subsequently shown at Alexandria in 1882, as has already been mentioned, where Capt. Fisher, R.N., with 370 men with Gatlings kept Arabi's army of 9,000 men at bay for four days. Again in the Soudan Campaign of 1884-1885 it was the Martini Guns at the corners of the squares which saved the squares from annihilation when attacked by the hordes of the Khalifa's troops. .. In the recent campaign on the Nile the Maxim Gun was used, both as a defensive and offensive weapon, and proved of the utmost value under both conditions.
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O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
The Lion Works
The Lion Works
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Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Nice one Postie,I have the handbook for the Lewis Gun which I will scan the cover and post
Nice one Postie,I have the handbook for the Lewis Gun which I will scan the cover and post
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O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Advert I found in a copy of The Times newspaper dated Tue June27th 1916
Advert speaks for itself
Advert I found in a copy of The Times newspaper dated Tue June27th 1916
Advert speaks for itself
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Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Lewis Gun handbook packed full of everything to do with the Lewis Gun so I can answer questions but I am not going to put it all on, just the Cover and the first page
Lewis Gun handbook packed full of everything to do with the Lewis Gun so I can answer questions but I am not going to put it all on, just the Cover and the first page
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Women munition workers stacking shell casings
2nd Photo Painting Ariel Bombs
Women munition workers stacking shell casings
2nd Photo Painting Ariel Bombs
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Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Three rare photo's showing the making of ammunition boxes.
Photo1,Shows fitting the wooden dovetailed boxes together
Photo 2, Sanding the boxes on a belt driven sanding machine,note the women did not wear masks and after the war a large number of them died of cancer as did my fathers first wife who was a polisher in a munitions factory and died of cancer of the throat in the 30's
Photo 3 Testing the boxes for size and fit using dummy shells made out of wood
Three rare photo's showing the making of ammunition boxes.
Photo1,Shows fitting the wooden dovetailed boxes together
Photo 2, Sanding the boxes on a belt driven sanding machine,note the women did not wear masks and after the war a large number of them died of cancer as did my fathers first wife who was a polisher in a munitions factory and died of cancer of the throat in the 30's
Photo 3 Testing the boxes for size and fit using dummy shells made out of wood
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Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Four very intresting photo's of the women munition workers
First photo, screwing the fuse socket on a shell casing
Second photo, Is something I have never seen before, a machine for filling the shrapnel casings up with bullets (Lead balls)
Third photo, Soldering the socket in
Four very intresting photo's of the women munition workers
First photo, screwing the fuse socket on a shell casing
Second photo, Is something I have never seen before, a machine for filling the shrapnel casings up with bullets (Lead balls)
Third photo, Soldering the socket in
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Turning the shell casings on belt driven lathes
Turning the shell casings on belt driven lathes
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
The next set of picture were all taken in the same munitions factory, Interesting to note the union jacks over their machines, looking at these pictures now and seeing all these women making thousands upon thousands of cartridges that are destined to take tens of thousands of men to their death.
All are wives, sisters, mothers, aunts and daughters giving their men folk the means to harm and kill other womens men folk, and in Germany the women their were doing the same. So when you hear only men cause war, women play their part in the carnage that war brings. War is so cruel
The 1st photo shows the women inspectors inspecting the finished cartridges
2nd photo the machine workers are making steel boxes to hold the bullets
3rd photo inspecting the cartridge case before the bullet is fitted
4th photo show a woman stamping pieces of metal that hold the caps on the cartridge cases
The next set of picture were all taken in the same munitions factory, Interesting to note the union jacks over their machines, looking at these pictures now and seeing all these women making thousands upon thousands of cartridges that are destined to take tens of thousands of men to their death.
All are wives, sisters, mothers, aunts and daughters giving their men folk the means to harm and kill other womens men folk, and in Germany the women their were doing the same. So when you hear only men cause war, women play their part in the carnage that war brings. War is so cruel
The 1st photo shows the women inspectors inspecting the finished cartridges
2nd photo the machine workers are making steel boxes to hold the bullets
3rd photo inspecting the cartridge case before the bullet is fitted
4th photo show a woman stamping pieces of metal that hold the caps on the cartridge cases
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Ironic that the soldier got one shilling a day while the munition worker could earn at least two shillings and sixpence a day
Ironic that the soldier got one shilling a day while the munition worker could earn at least two shillings and sixpence a day
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Smashing Great War Munitions postcard. Seven in the set but only got this one
Smashing Great War Munitions postcard. Seven in the set but only got this one
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Youre right Cromwell...everyone in those pictures are very busy making weapons of war and as you say the German women were doing the same. With all those casualties in Europe in WW1. they must have turned out billions of rounds of ammunition in those factories. War is more than hell.
Youre right Cromwell...everyone in those pictures are very busy making weapons of war and as you say the German women were doing the same. With all those casualties in Europe in WW1. they must have turned out billions of rounds of ammunition in those factories. War is more than hell.
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Just came across this drawing done inside a Munitions factory 1917
1 Drawing rations from the canteen
2 Riveting a tank
3 Painting a bombing machine
4 Central hub in Munitions Factory
5 Forman in TNTdepartment wearing mask
6 Screwing the base plate of a shell
7 Girls carring boxes of TNT
Just came across this drawing done inside a Munitions factory 1917
1 Drawing rations from the canteen
2 Riveting a tank
3 Painting a bombing machine
4 Central hub in Munitions Factory
5 Forman in TNTdepartment wearing mask
6 Screwing the base plate of a shell
7 Girls carring boxes of TNT
F
Frantic
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Cromwell, a factory that might interest you in your research is British Pens Ltd. Used to be in Bearwood Rd Smethwick. I served my apprenticeship there as a Toolmaker and most of my work in the beginning was making tools for the production of bullet links from .30 to 50mm, I also used to make the many gauges and weight tests that the links had to go through. We used to have cases of dummy ammunition of all different sizes all over the place. I opened a case one day of .303 ammo and it was LIVE!! I only noticed because the dummy ones didn't have a percussion cap in them. Highly embarrasing for Kynochs though. They were VERY quickly returned. :-[
Cromwell, a factory that might interest you in your research is British Pens Ltd. Used to be in Bearwood Rd Smethwick. I served my apprenticeship there as a Toolmaker and most of my work in the beginning was making tools for the production of bullet links from .30 to 50mm, I also used to make the many gauges and weight tests that the links had to go through. We used to have cases of dummy ammunition of all different sizes all over the place. I opened a case one day of .303 ammo and it was LIVE!! I only noticed because the dummy ones didn't have a percussion cap in them. Highly embarrasing for Kynochs though. They were VERY quickly returned. :-[
O
O.C.
Guest
Re: Muntion Factories during the Great War
Frantic I got some great pics of the early pen making factories which I will be posting later so download them as they will be large format, the dummy ammo usualy had groves in the casing in the 303
Frantic I got some great pics of the early pen making factories which I will be posting later so download them as they will be large format, the dummy ammo usualy had groves in the casing in the 303
