A lady ammunition
worker 1915 - sketch by Jamie. See Original image at
http://woolwichasenal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/shell-and-fuses-agreement-1915.html
i
Not far from the
River Thames
In Woolwich, South
East London,
Once stood a
Tudor House
Of Tower Place - whose
grounds
Had been a
domestic warren,
For animal
Husbandry - with
The need of war
expansionism,
The Board of
Ordnance took
Lands to extend
their gunnery.
After 244 years, in a war of 1914,
A site of the
Woolwich arsenal,
Expanded across
1,300 acres -
In the purpose to
supply arms,
Across a fighting
Western Front;
Then to employ 80,000
people.
The Foundry
building, with its
Elaborate grand
exterior, quietly
Enclosed the height
of boring
Machinery - high
doors allowing
Movements of new
cannons.
This Royal Gun
and Carriage
Factory and Royal
Laboratory
On a 17 March saw
their Patron,
King George with Secretary
Of State for War,
Earl Kitchener,
Vice Admiral Sir Colin
Keppel
And Major Clive
Wigram - step
Through its grand
entrance.
With increased needs, a debate
at government level, continued
Over employing women in arms.
Traditions in the
male occupation
Were recognising
that women
Might be involved
in ammunition
Manufacture - on
a simple level.
Elements could also
be taken
By young
girls - boys already
Doing such tasks had, with
Good six months
experience,
become ready to move to other
Areas of the
arsenal - opening
The way for girls
and women.
ii
Already in
Birmingham,
Women were in
control
Of automatic
machines -
To make parts of
rifles,
Machine-guns and
firing
Gear - for the big
guns.
Their talents
extended,
To be seen as
excellent
Cartridge packers -
A suggestion of
surprise
Was thought, to
learn
How women are
capable
In making
shrapnel shells.
From cold steel
women
Turned out shell
cases -
From three
pounders
To all twelve
pounders.
With their hands turn
Out outer cases,
with small
Fingers to insert
bullets.
Their attention made
all
The percussion
and time
Fuses, to make
the shell
That fits in the
gun -
Types of work, perhaps like
Embroidery, with dexterous
delicacy in threading thread,
and skilled use of needles.
The belief being women
as
Touch sensitive, might handle
Bullets and
shrapnel well -
In place of
cotton bobs.
In a task of fuse
filling,
Women were able to sit
For long hours on a bench.
For long hours on a bench.
Such jobs had good
wages
And an hour for
eating.
They would work easily in
Shifts of eight
to five -
Yet trade union
actions,
Meant not all
employers
Were capable to
take
On such women
workers.
There was the
reassurance
That working in ammunitions
Operations was quite safe -
Women could sit and
watch
The automatic
machinery,
With absolutely
no danger.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. War
Munitions - what Woman Can Do. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 18 Mar. P.9. Col.7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11475681/Daily-Telegraph-March-18-1915.html[Accessed:
18 March 2015].
Source: File: Royal
Arsenal. From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. [online]
Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Arsenal> [Accessed: 18 March
2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 18 March 2015).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1London
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