Munitions factory work for women

[Richard Dye]

My Nan Rose Preston
Worked at Kynochs capping 303s at the age of 14 she capped her finger once .

I think she was most likely not the only one, given the lack of guarding and safety precautions back then!

 

[Mark Tooze]

I notice in all the photos #22 - #24, the workers look very clean and tidy. Probably planned photo sessions to promote the work, products and morale.

Hi Viv; if you look at virtually all the IWM photos I have posted everyone is spotless and most of the photos look posed - very much for propaganda I think - most are by official photographers as well. Any photos from these establishments would have been subject to censorship I guess - particularly in WW2.

 

[Astoness]

MIlls Munitions Factory Bridge St West 1915:-
View attachment 189987
View attachment 189988

hi mark...these 2 have been posted on the forum but some years ago...i often wonder if my nan born 1891 is on any of them as she lived a few mins away in paddington st...a few years back i went down to bridge st west armed with a map to pinpoint exactly where the works once stood

lyn

 

[Mark Tooze]

hi mark...these 2 have been posted on the forum but some years ago...i often wonder if my nan born 1891 is on any of them as she lived a few mins away in paddington st...a few years back i went down to bridge st west armed with a map to pinpoint exactly where the works once stood

lyn

Hi Lyn; just round the corner from where I used to live too (but not in WW2 I will hasten to add....)
Amazing to think you could have a munitions factory smack bang in the middle of a tightly packed residential area - how many people would it have taken out if something had gone "bang"?

 

[Astoness]

Hi Lyn; just round the corner from where I used to live too (but not in WW2 I will hasten to add....)
Amazing to think you could have a munitions factory smack bang in the middle of a tightly packed residential area - how many people would it have taken out if something had gone "bang"?

dread to think mark...nan was a power press worker most of her life so working in munitions was certainly a possibility...

lyn

 

[Richard Dye]

Hi Lyn; just round the corner from where I used to live too (but not in WW2 I will hasten to add....)
Amazing to think you could have a munitions factory smack bang in the middle of a tightly packed residential area - how many people would it have taken out if something had gone "bang"?

I agree Mark, but I think there was little choice and timing was the essence. If factories had the equipment and skill levels to be converted to ammunition manufacturing, they were.

 

[NoddKD]

A graphic account of a bombing raid on BSA Small Heath.https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/32/a2116432.shtml

Very moving account.Amazing that he remained so calm.
Not all heroes were in uniform.
Lest we forget.

 

[Richard Dye]

Very moving account.Amazing that he remained so calm.
Not all heroes were in uniform.
Lest we forget.

Yes, lest we forget!

 

[Pedrocut]

Hi Lyn; just round the corner from where I used to live too (but not in WW2 I will hasten to add....)
Amazing to think you could have a munitions factory smack bang in the middle of a tightly packed residential area - how many people would it have taken out if something had gone "bang"?

In 1861 the move from Whittall Street to the hamlet of Witton.

In 1856 George Kynoch went to work for Messrs Pursall and Phillips the percussion cap manufacturer at Whiittall Street in central Birmingham. It is unclear what roll he undertook, but strangely it was in that year that Pursall acquired the company from a Mr Armstrong.

In 1859 the factory at Whittall Street was destroyed and 19 of the 70 present, mostly women and girls, were killed. The was an extensive coverage in the Press of the explosion and rescue attempts. The two Messrs Phillips were present in the building and escaped unhurt, also Mr Pursall who took part in the rescue attempts. There is no mention of George Kynoch, however there is a reference to extra staff being taken on to provide the Turkish Government with 18 million caps!

The ODNB says..."by September 1861 Pursall had acquired the lease of 4 acres of land at Witton in the parish of Handsworth, 3 miles north-west of Birmingham. The area was thinly populated and was close to the River Tame and the Grand Junction Railway, so ideally suited for this rapidly developing industry.

 

[Richard Dye]

In 1861 the move from Whittall Street to the hamlet of Witton.

In 1856 George Kynoch went to work for Messrs Pursall and Phillips the percussion cap manufacturer at Whiittall Street in central Birmingham. It is unclear what roll he undertook, but strangely it was in that year that Pursall acquired the company from a Mr Armstrong.

In 1859 the factory at Whittall Street was destroyed and 19 of the 70 present, mostly women and girls, were killed. The was an extensive coverage in the Press of the explosion and rescue attempts. The two Messrs Phillips were present in the building and escaped unhurt, also Mr Pursall who took part in the rescue attempts. There is no mention of George Kynoch, however there is a reference to extra staff being taken on to provide the Turkish Government with 18 million caps!

The ODNB says..."by September 1861 Pursall had acquired the lease of 4 acres of land at Witton in the parish of Handsworth, 3 miles north-west of Birmingham. The area was thinly populated and was close to the River Tame and the Grand Junction Railway, so ideally suited for this rapidly developing industry.

Very interesting article

 

[debhh]

Good luck in tracking your nan down, Deb. My post # 2 gives some of the main places. Do you have any names or addresses or descriptions of her work. The promised database of munitions workers seems not to be on line yet. Some of the factories like Kynoch's in Perry Barr were vast and employed thousands of workers. How did you discover your nan worked with munitions? This might give a clue of where to look. Derek

Hey Derek. I visited my grand aunty during a visit to Shropshire. Shes 92 now and recalls nanna (her sister) living away over Birmingham way. The info was in the occupation section of 1929 census. She's down as a as a factory labourer working as a cleaner & finisher with ammunitions. That's all I have and it was a bit of a surprise to my father who had no idea.

 

[debhh]

https://www.munitionsworkersassociation.com
Samantha Webb is their historian
There's also a Facebook group. With pictures of the recent installation of the Rotherwas Angel in Herefordshire. https://www.rotherwas.com/news/2024/3/9/the-rotherwas-angel-has-landed


As opposed to Rotherwas which was a ROF filling station, I think the work done in Birmingham may have been engineering? Lots of firms made bases for hand grenades but the filling of bombs and shells and manufacture of explosives was done mainly away from the centres of population. However there were exceptions, Kynoch manufactured a wide range of detonators, ammunition and quick firing shells. Early work on the atomic bomb was done there under the code name of Tube Alloys Project before the Manhattan Project began.

Such interesting info. Derek. Thank you.

 

[debhh]

In 1861 the move from Whittall Street to the hamlet of Witton.

In 1856 George Kynoch went to work for Messrs Pursall and Phillips the percussion cap manufacturer at Whiittall Street in central Birmingham. It is unclear what roll he undertook, but strangely it was in that year that Pursall acquired the company from a Mr Armstrong.

In 1859 the factory at Whittall Street was destroyed and 19 of the 70 present, mostly women and girls, were killed. The was an extensive coverage in the Press of the explosion and rescue attempts. The two Messrs Phillips were present in the building and escaped unhurt, also Mr Pursall who took part in the rescue attempts. There is no mention of George Kynoch, however there is a reference to extra staff being taken on to provide the Turkish Government with 18 million caps!

The ODNB says..."by September 1861 Pursall had acquired the lease of 4 acres of land at Witton in the parish of Handsworth, 3 miles north-west of Birmingham. The area was thinly populated and was close to the River Tame and the Grand Junction Railway, so ideally suited for this rapidly developing industry.

Very interesting. Thank you.

 

[Stokkie]

Hey Derek. I visited my grand aunty during a visit to Shropshire. Shes 92 now and recalls nanna (her sister) living away over Birmingham way. The info was in the occupation section of 1929 census. She's down as a as a factory labourer working as a cleaner & finisher with ammunitions. That's all I have and it was a bit of a surprise to my father who had no idea.

Thanks Deb,
That's actually the 1939 National Register. The government knew there would be no census in 1941. Does it say where she was living? Eg Walsall might indicate she worked at Walsall ROF - but North Birmingham could be any number of factories. Derek