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World War One Workers

ChrisM said:
Great image!

It would be nice to think that these were indeed Kynoch workers ("Kynoch's Agels") and indeed most industrial images of females from those times were indeed of munition workers.

But I have some doubt as to whether this is the case. There must be other pictures of percussion cap workers/packers surviving and if they do, my gut feeling would suggest that these devices would have been handled with a bit more care and respect than appears the case in this image. Would the women have all been crammed together - not working with a bit more space between them for safety reasons - and working on a fairly cramped little table like that? Would the things even have been packed in that way?

Have to say that to me it looks much more like nice, safe, decorative items being packed. Jewellery? Enamelled badges?

Chris

PS Do we even know whether percussion caps, long since superseded by the modern cartridge case, were even being produced at that time? I don't think they were.
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I don’t think that Kynoch manufactured percussion caps much after 1882, as opposed to caps that were used in the production of their cartridges. These could be a different kind? The percussion cap seems then to be in the hands of Richard Walker of Graham Street until about 1898.
 
I wonder if the photo on the wall gives us any clues behind the first lady standing ? It's a large photo so would have been printed for a special reason. Not a family snap.

It seems to show a seated woman with a very young child on her lap and a man seems to be showing her something (e.g fabric ?) It doesn't look like a domestic setting to me. So would it be a clue to the business of these ladies ? Was it an advertising photo ? Viv.
 
Looking at the two left pics in post#25, Kynochs seem to have liked wooden planks similar to the partition behind the ladies in the original pic. The lady in the LH pic (#25) appears to be standing in a half wall enclosure built from planks. I thought at first the face behind her was on a wall poster but I now think it could be someone sitting down outside the enclosure. On a shelf behind the first lady are some small boxes which look just like the boxes in the original pic.
 
I keep coming back to the original photo thinking its badges they're packaging. Developing Chris M's idea about handling ammo, if it was ammunition surely the individual items would be better contained on the worktop.

I also wonder if they're really boxes. Maybe they're bundles of envelopes tied with string. I doubt indivdual boxes would have string around them. If they are envelopes, maybe they were bundled ready for posting. Perhaps they were badges sent out to individuals attached to a card (like buttons are) and placed in an envelope ?
Just a thought.

Viv
 
I was thinking about the triangular badge at least one woman is wearing - I also found other Kynoch's photos with it on. Apparently an "on war work" badge was issued in 1916 which was triangular.
 
I thought it may be buttons they are packing and dispatching, could it possibly be fattorinies......
 
If it is Fattorinis in Bimingham, they weren't in Birmingham until around 1915/16. At that time they had a small works in Hockley Street. (It was originally a Yorkshire (Skipton) business). Fattorini's also acquired a works in Barr Street - later to become Bradford Works (doubtless reflecting the northern connection).

So if it's Fattorini's in Birmingham, the photo can be be dated between 1915 and 1918. Viv.
 
Vivienne14 said:
If it is Fattorinis in Bimingham, they weren't in Birmingham until around 1915/16. At that time they had a small workshop in Hockley Street. (It was originally a Yorkshire (Skipton) business).

So if it's Fattorini's in Birmingham, the photo can be be dated between 1915 and 1918. Viv.
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I would assume that Fattorini coming to Birmingham would give the earliest date possible, but are they not still in Birmingham?
 
A few more things I've noticed about the original photo. The items they're packing seem to been scattered onto flat trays (like cafeteria trays). Does this suggest a temporary setup ?

Also why are there two large pipes overhead ? If for heating it suggests a large hut. They must have been in place before the wooden partition was installed as the partition works around the pipes. Alternatively, are the pipes are for another purpose ?

In the foreground there's a three-legged, tall wooden stool. Is this peculiar to a specific type of workshop ? There's also a velvet (?) cushion on another stool next to it. This doesn't suggest to me that this is a dirty workshop. Viv.
 
Women assembling fuses at Woolwich Arsenal. Notice some small white objects (ref photo in #1) in front of the 1st and 3rd ladies sitting at the table.
fuseassembly.jpg
 
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In October's BBC History Revealed Magazine there is an article by Lou Kuenzler about his research for the book "Our Beautiful Game" concerning women's football set during the First World War, and munition factories. He comments that he was surprised how young some of the workers were.

One of the workers, Peggy Hamilton, wrote a memoir of her experiences "Three Years or the Duration." She describes the conditions in the Birmingham factory as frightful. Dark, airless buildings without heating during the bitterly cold winters. She described one boy, although unsure of his age, estimates to be no more than eight and working at great pace, winding endless strips of shim brass, hour after hour and never slackened. Peggy worked seven till seven, six days a week, and the boy was there before she arrived and there after she left. She was worried by this but was told not to worry. The Foreman told her that with his father away at war and other mouths to feed he would be happy to bring as much money back to his mother as he could.

He adds that the “munitionettes" were often held to strict standards and could be called before tribunals. One of the assessors described how young girls appeared before the court "tongue-tied with terror." A 14 year old Birmingham girl so distressed threw herself into the canal two days before the tribunal. She was rescued, but remained uncontious when the case was called.

I have found a couple of mentions in the Press. On Tuesday 12th December 1916 the Birmingham Daily Mail reports that the girl had jumped into the canal on Sunday last. On Friday the 15th the Birmingham Post also reports the incident to have taken place on Sunday.

Do they both refer to the same girl ? If they do it appears that the Tribunal was to take place on Tuesday the 12th, but as the girl was unconcious her father attended. Her case was dismissed. However the report from the 15th may indicate that she was charged with attempted suicide and placed on Probation.

The Good Old Days.


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The wall notice which mentions SHUTTERS may not directly relate to what these girls are doing in the photo but does relate to shell fuses. All you need to know is that Shutters were not wooden window covers they were sliding brass safety plates in artillery shells.
Read no further if you do not like technical things.
I only learned what shutters were about a month ago when I was researching Munitionette work.
Here is my plain language Explanation of what shutters did.
After some shells had exploded prematurely newer type fuses (The brass nose) were fitted with a Shutter; basically a safety catch.
Behind the Fuse detonator on the nose of a shell is a hole leading to the GAINE (a tube of explosive) which then ignites the main charge. For safety reasons this access hole was covered by a sliding plate called a Shutter.
If the detonator is accidentally struck a small explosion is restricted to the fuse which has an exhaust and the whole shell does not explode; either in the factory or the gun barrel
When the shell is fired it spins at 1000+ RPM and centrifugal force operates the shutter, which slides to one side, exposing the hole giving access to the Gaine. The shell is now "armed". Shells could not explode before they left the rifled gun barrel. The shutter operated exactly like a vintage camera shutter.
If the shutter failed to open the shell was a dud, so shutters were rigorously tested and inspected by the munitions girls before they were fitted to the fuse.
Wasn't that fun
 
I've just come across this very interesting topic. I think the first photograph on page 1 (posted by Laurence Breakwell) was most likely was taken at Kynoch's. The lady at the top right of three, looks very much like my grandmother's cousin Nell Griffiths, who along with her two sisters (Ame & Florence) worked at Kynoch for many years (as did my grandmother during WW1). I regularly visited Aunt Nell & Ame) as a young lad, with my grandmother at their home in George Road, which overlooked Brookvale Park in the 60s & early 70s.
 
On the occasion on the Prince of Wales’ visit to Birmingham in March 1918 he saw evidence of the significant contribution to the war effort. These drawings capture some of the work. A worrying image of women carrying TNT.
Viv

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