This photograph shows two young women who worked at HM Factory in World War One. Women were employed in all sorts of roles within the Factory (the greatest one on earth at that time) including working in the bakery, laundry, in the hostels, with chemicals, as nurses, as women police officers and so much more.
The lady who is standing is Alexina Ross Dickson, who was born in 1897. The photograph has the following written on it, “Wishing you a Merry Xmas, 1917” so she was probably 20 years old at the time.
We are very grateful to the people who recently donated this photograph to us. We do not currently have a complete list of all the workers at HM Factory Gretna (one may exist somewhere but it has not yet come to light) and so we are largely reliant on people who donate photographs and tells us the names of their family members and share their involvement.
We have an archive of this material and add any new accounts to a book called ‘Gretna Girls Memories’ on display within the Museum. It is also good to know the name of one more young women who did their war work and made their contribution here.
If you would like to know more about the Gretna Girls and their experiences, this booklet might interest you:
