1917 A DAY in the LIFE of a WORKER in a BRITISH munitions national SHELL filling FACTORY…

PART 1 - A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MUNITION WORKER
Manual work done by women at a British munitions factory (Chilwell, Nottingham) 1917.
The staggering demand for artillery shells posed a problem for a British army that was hopelessly ill-equipped at the war’s commencement. Woolwich arsenal could not match the demand, leading to such a shortfall of shells that, over a year into the war in 1915, artillery units were still having to heavily ration the number of shells they could fire in a day.
During World War One, there was a high demand for munitions, which led to an increase in the number of women working in factories. The Chilwell shell filling factory in Nottingham was no exception, where women played a vital role in the production of shells.
The day of a young woman working at the Chilwell factory started early. She would leave her home at 5 am and take the train to the factory. After changing into overalls and boots in the locker room, she would clock on and begin her work on finishing 8-inch shells. This involved pouring molten explosive into the shell cases, capping them using a wheel to clear the screw threads, adding the detonator, and stenciling them. A trolley would then take the shells away.
Other women, wearing masks against the fumes, were responsible for topping up heavier shells. The women were given a brief medical examination on-site, with blood samples taken in some suspect cases. The women wore shifts to wash, which was compulsory before meals and on leaving the factory.
PART 2 - DAILY LIFE IN NATIONAL SHELL FILLING FACTORY No.6 AT CHILWELL DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
The rare footage of the National Shell Filling Factory No6 at Chilwell in Nottingham provides a glimpse into the daily life of workers during World War One.
The video highlights the work of both male and female workers in the factory, but it is clear that women played a significant role in the process.
Female workers are seen unloading shell cases from wagons, marking them using stencils and paint, preparing plugs for sealing filled shells, and operating cranes to move shells around the factory. The video also shows women wearing masks while filling heavier shells with explosive material.
It is worth noting that the first women employed at the factory were employed as crane operators, a role traditionally reserved for men. This shows the extent to which women were willing and able to take on manual labour during the war effort.
The Kodak film, which was found in a shed in a town, was restored by staff at the Imperial War Museum in London over a period of four years.
Finding workers to address the problem of shell production was another challenge since the heart of Britain’s engineering workforce had been sent to the Western Front, and retraining older workers proved difficult. The solution was to hire women who had not previously been tapped as a workforce.
Female workers were efficient in performing delicate tasks involved in shell production and soon proved themselves more than able to produce shells. By 1916, the Chilwell factory, established by Viscount Chetwynd, had produced over a million shells, 25,000 mines, and 2,500 large bombs for the RAF, with around 40% of the workforce being women. The factory employed 4,000 women who worked 12-hour shifts, and by June 1918, it set a national record by producing 46,725 shells in a single 24-hour period. Despite the hazards and constant safety concerns involved in the work, human safety was overlooked in favour of efficient productivity.
In July 1918, just four months before the war's end, a devastating explosion tore through the factory, killing 134 people and injuring another 250, and causing the biggest explosive disaster in Britain’s history. The cause of the explosion remains a mystery to date. A small obelisk stands at the site to commemorate the victims of the disaster. The factory played an integral role in Britain's war effort, and the unexploded shells from that time are still being discovered today in Flanders Fields, with at least one fatality a year, and a dedicated Belgian army squad deals with the collection and destruction of the dormant shells.
In 1921 Royal Ordnance took over the National Filling Factories.
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