View source for National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell

{{Short description|United Kingdom explosives filling factory}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Ministry of Information First World War Official Collection Q30049.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Stacks of shells in the National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell during World War I.]]

The '''National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell''', was a [[World War I]] [[United Kingdom]] Government-owned [[Filling Factories|explosives filling factory]]. Its formal title was '''National Filling Factory No. 6'''. It was located near [[Chilwell]], at that time a [[village]], in [[Nottinghamshire]] on the main road from [[Nottingham]] to [[Ashby de la Zouch]]. During the Great War it filled some 19 million [[Shell (projectile)|shells]] with high explosives.

==Foundation of the Shell Filling Factory==
[[File:Women workers with shells in Chilwell filling factory 1917 IWM Q 30040.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Women workers with [[BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer|6-inch howitzer]] shells at Chilwell, July 1917]]
The factory was created as a result of the [[Shell Crisis of 1915]]. At the beginning of World War I shells were filled with [[Picric acid|Lyddite]], but this needed imported raw materials, and so [[trinitrotoluene]] (TNT) was adopted. TNT was expensive to make and was in short supply, so [[Amatol]], a mixture of various proportions of TNT and [[Ammonium nitrate]], was adopted instead.<ref name=haslam/>

On 20 August 1915 [[Godfrey Chetwynd, 8th Viscount Chetwynd]], was given the task of designing, building and superintending the running of a factory to fill large-[[caliber|calibre]] shells with Amatol.<ref name=haslam/> He requisitioned the services of [[Albert  Hall (engineer)|Albert Hall]] of [[Ferranti]], who served as his chief engineer. The Chilwell site was apparently selected as it was close to a railway line from which a siding connection could be constructed, and sheltered from surrounding areas by hills.

From the start, women were employed. This may have been another reason for the choice of location, as there was a tradition of women working in local [[textile]] factories in the nearby towns. Owing to their exposure to the explosives, many women's skin turned yellow, and they were known as the "Chilwell Canaries" or "Canary Girls".<ref name="Rushton2008">{{cite book|author=Maureen Rushton|title=The canary girls of Chilwell: the story of No. 6 Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell, Nottinghamshire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzvPSAAACAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Beeston & District Local History Society|isbn=978-0-9541485-1-5}}</ref>

==The 1918 explosion==
[[File:Mass Grave in St. Mary's Church, Attenborough.jpg|thumb|upright|Mass Grave in St. Mary's Church, Attenborough]]

A substantial part of the National Shell Filling Factory was destroyed in an [[explosion]] of eight [[ton]]s of TNT on 1 July 1918. In all 134 people were killed, of whom only 32 could be positively identified, and a further 250 were injured. The unidentified bodies are in a [[mass grave]] in [[St. Mary's Church, Attenborough]]. The blast was reportedly heard {{convert|20|mi|km|spell=in}} away.

The factory returned to work for the war effort the next day, and within one month of the disaster reportedly achieved its highest weekly production. [[Winston Churchill]], then [[Minister of Munitions]], sent a telegram:<ref name=haslam-45-46>{{harvnb|Haslam|1982|pages=45–46}}</ref>

<blockquote>
"Please accept my sincere sympathy with you all in the misfortune that has overtaken your fine Factory and in the loss of valuable lives, those who have perished have died at their stations on the field of duty and those who have lost their dear ones should fortify themselves with this thought, the courage and spirit shown by all concerned both men and women command our admiration, and the decision to which you have all come to carry on without a break is worthy of the spirit which animates our soldiers in the field. I&nbsp;trust the injured are receiving every care." [sic]
</blockquote>

A telegram was also sent from [[Buckingham Palace]], on behalf of the King.<ref name=haslam-45-46/>

In a speech reported in ''[[The Times]]'', on 9 July 1918, Mr [[F. G. Kellaway, MP]], [[Parliamentary Secretary]] to the Ministry of Munitions speculated that, as the French had apparently given an honour to the Citadel of Verdun, perhaps the factory should be awarded the [[Victoria Cross]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=V.C. For A Factory. Honour Suggested For Heroism at Explosion. |department=News |date= 9 July 1918|page=3 |issue=41837 |column=E }}</ref><ref name=haslam-49>{{harvnb|Haslam|1982|page=49}}</ref> Whilst this award does not appear to have been made, the site was subsequently known as "The V.C. Factory".<ref name=haslam-49/> The works manager, Lieutenant Arthur Hilary Bristowe, was subsequently awarded the [[Edward Medal]] on 21 January 1919 for his heroism following the explosion. (When the Edward Medal was discontinued in 1971, living recipients of the award were invited to return the medal, and were issued with the [[George Cross]] in exchange.)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gc-database.co.uk/decoration.htm |title=The Decoration, Facts and Statistics and Information about the Exchanges |work=The George Cross Database |author=Marion Hebblethwaite |publisher=Chameleon HH Publishing Ltd |year=2005–2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514183218/http://www.gc-database.co.uk/decoration.htm |archive-date=14 May 2011 }}</ref><ref name=haslam-49/><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31136|page=1072|date=21 January 1919}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Edward Medal For Works Manager. |department=Official Appointments and Notices|date= 22 January 1919|page=5|issue=42004|column=C}}</ref>

[[Scotland Yard]] was called in to investigate. Lord Chetwynd is alleged to have told them he was convinced it was [[sabotage]] and to have gone as far as naming the culprit. However, the more likely explanation is lax safety standards as the workforce competed to meet increasingly challenging production targets, coupled with the instability of the TNT compound on an unseasonably warm day.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments/a-history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments-when-corpses-fell-from-the-nottinghamshire-sky-9582884.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments/a-history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments-when-corpses-fell-from-the-nottinghamshire-sky-9582884.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=When corpses fell from the Nottinghamshire sky in WWI|date=3 July 2014|work=The Independent|access-date=28 May 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>

At the time it was only reported in the wartime newspapers as – "60 feared dead in Midlands factory explosion."

On 16 November 1918 the works band, founded by Lord Chetwynd, himself playing [[cornet]], played in the quadrangle of [[Buckingham Palace]].  They then marched to Downing Street and played outside [[10 Downing Street|No 10]] and were congratulated by [[David Lloyd George]], the prime minister, and they then played a further selection of items outside the Ministry of Munitions.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Thanksgiving For Victory. The King And Queen at Albert Hall., Brotherhood in Peace. |department=News|date= 18 November 1918|page=10|issue=41950|column=E}}</ref>

[[File:War Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 1061687.jpg|thumb|upright|The Grade II listed [[Chilwell Filling Factory Memorial]] ]]

A memorial to those who had died in all explosions at the site was unveiled by the [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland|Duke of Portland]] on 13 March 1919. It takes the form of a small [[obelisk]] above a massive pyramidal base. There is an inscribed stone, with a curiously statistical approach to commemorating the factory's achievements as well as the dead:

<blockquote>
Erected to the memory of those men and women who lost their lives by explosions at the National Shell Filling Factory Chilwell 1916–1918<br>
Principal historical facts of the factory <br>
First sod turned 13 September 1915 <br>
First shell filled 8 January 1916 <br>
Number of shells filled within one year of cutting the first sod 1,260,000<br>
Total shells filled 19,359,000 representing 50.8% of the total output of high-explosive shell both lyddite and amatol 60pd to 15inch produced in Great Britain during the war <br>
Total tonnage of explosive used 121,360 tons<br>
Total weight of filled shell 1,100,000 tons
</blockquote>

On the fiftieth anniversary of the explosion, the memorial was restored and plaques were added with the following text:

<blockquote>
To the glory of God and in memory of those who gave their lives in two World Wars<br>
At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them their name liveth for evermore<br>
Unveiled on 30 June 1968 by MT James Boyden MP Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for the Army on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the explosion at Chilwell the V.C. Factory in recognition of the bravery and fortitude of the employees<ref>[http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/conMemorial.26873/fromUkniwmSearch/1 National Register of War Memorials -Memorial: National Shell Filling Factory Explosion] ''www.ukniwm.org.uk'', accessed 28 August 2020</ref> </blockquote>

At the end of the war, in 1919, the site became a [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps]] (RAOC) storage depot.<ref name=haslam>{{harvnb|Haslam|1982}}</ref> It is now the location of [[Chetwynd Barracks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NCCS002197&pos=32&action=zoom&id=48547|title=Chilwell Depot|publisher=Picture the past|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref> The memorial became a [[listed building]] in 1988.<ref>[https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1263868 Historic England: Memorial to workers of National Filling Factory No.6, Chilwell] ''historicengland.org.uk'', accessed 28 August 2020</ref>

On the centenary of the explosion in 2018, the mass grave at Attenborough Church was renovated to a design by members of the Royal Engineers based at Chetwynd Barracks.  The new memorial takes the form of a simplified celtic cross in [[Weathering steel|Corten steel]] with a superimposed sword in stainless steel. This memorial echoes the original wooden cross on the grave that was lost to vandalism. The grave was rededicated by the [[Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham]] on 1 July 2018.

==See also==
* [[Munitionette]] (woman working in a filling factory) 
* [[National Filling Factory, Georgetown]] (NFF No 4, in Scotland) 
* [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book | last = Adams | first = R. J. Q. |authorlink=R.J.Q. Adams|title = Arms and the Wizard: Lloyd George and the Ministry of Munitions 1915–1916 | publisher = Cassell & Co.| location = London | year = 1978 | isbn = 0-304-29916-2 }}
*{{cite book | last = Cocroft | first = Wayne D. | title = Dangerous energy : the archaeology of gunpowder and military explosives manufacture | publisher = English Heritage | location = Swindon | year = 2000 | isbn = 1-85074-718-0 }}
*{{cite book | last = Haslam | first = M. J. (Captain, RAOC)| title = The Chilwell story, 1915-1982 : [[Victoria Cross|VC]] Factory and Ordnance Depot| publisher = The [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps|RAOC]] Corps Gazette | location = Chilwell | year = 1982 | isbn = 0-9508092-0-9}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell}}
* [http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1085832 "National Filling Factory, Chilwell"] on ''Pastscape'', [[English Heritage]].

{{Coord|52.9118|-1.2450|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

[[Category:Filling factories|Chilwell]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:Royal Ordnance Factories in England]]
[[Category:Explosions in England]]
[[Category:Explosions in 1918]]
[[Category:1918 industrial disasters|Chilwell Shell Filling Factory Explosion]]
[[Category:1918 in England|Chilwell Shell Filling Factory Explosion]]
[[Category:1918 disasters in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1910s fires in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1918 fires]]
[[Category:Industrial fires and explosions in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Disasters in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:United Kingdom home front during World War I]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:Demolished manufacturing buildings and structures]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1919]]
[[Category:1915 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1919 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:Ammunition depot fires and explosions]]
[[Category:20th century in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:Military logistics of World War I]]