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Ministry of Munitions

Politics and the Devil’s Porridge: Lloyd George

By Collections blog

Researched and written by Mohammed Binghulaita Alghfeli.

Introduction

David Lloyd George pictured in 1919. Photo credit: http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a10674/

Lloyd George is one of the most popular British Prime Ministers of the 20th century. Lloyd George is best known for planting the seeds of the modern British welfare state. Although his fondly remembered as an energetic and pragmatic Prime Minister, the government roles he had before being Prime Minister are often ignored. This article sheds more light on Lloyd George’s role in the creation of Factory Gretna. Lloyd George was appointed the first Minister of Munitions and served in that role between 1915-16.

 

As Minister of Munitions, Lloyd George was instrumental in setting up Factory Gretna, which became the largest cordite factory in Britain during World War 1. The article argues that Lloyd George’s experience obtained from the role as Chancellor of the Exchequer was instrumental in his success as Minister of Munitions. The article also argues that it is the success of Lloyd George as Minister of Munitions that set him up to ascend to the higher office of Prime Minister.

 

War Time Chancellor (1908-1915)

 

Lloyd George was appointed the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1908. His first major task was implementing the Liberal party’s 1906 election manifesto. A key promise was that the country would reduce military spending. Lloyd George supported the idea to reduce military spending by arguing that the country was not at war and hence government spending should be directed towards more social services (Pelling, 1989). However, conservatives launched a public campaign against the reduction in military spending. The campaign against a reduction in military spending was a success which forced the Cabinet to reject Lloyd George’s proposals.

 

Lloyd George’s enthusiasm to reduce military spending aligned with his core beliefs. According to Morgan (2017), Lloyd George was an opponent of warfare and was initially vehemently opposed to Britain joining the war in 1914. He only changed his opposition to the country joining the war when Belgium stated that it would refuse German requests to have her army pass through Belgian territory. As George Floyd’s anti-war stance was known, it is surprising that he was appointed as a Minister of Munitions in 1915.

 

Since Lloyd George was not a proponent of war, one can only wonder why Asquith appointed him as Minister of Munitions in 1915. Ahlstrom (2014) speculates that perhaps Lloyd George was appointed Minister of Munitions because of the good management and leadership skills he had shown as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. For Britain to win the war, it needed to have a competent person at the helm of its ammunitions department.

Photo credit PA/PA Archive/PA Images

Ministry of Munitions (1915-1916)

 

The Ministry of Munitions was created in 1915 in response to the Shell Crisis of 1915 (Greenhalgh, 2007). In addition, Miller (2021) notes that the Ministry of Munitions was also created to bring together military and business knowledge to reorganise the industry for war. Prior to Asquith creating the Ministry of Munitions, he, as Prime Minister, was in charge of the Admiralty and also ran the War Office (Quinault, 2014).

 

The lack of a dedicated munitions ministry had led to a shortage in the supply of weapons at the war front. Quinault (2014) argues that Asquith was not a good wartime Prime Minister. According to Quinault (2014), Asquith was more comfortable giving speeches and ignored the ammunition supply issues bedevilling the army. However, Asquith should be credited for accepting that the war effort could benefit from having a dedicated ammunitions ministry.

 

Minister of Munitions (1915-16)

 

David Lloyd George was the first person appointed to lead the Ministry of Munitions by Asquith. Unlike Asquith, David Lloyd George strongly believed World War 1 would be won through mechanisation. As Minister of Munitions, he said the “great war was a war of machinery” (Lloyd-Jones & Lewis, 2008). According to Lloyd-Jones and Lewis (2008), Lloyd George was not satisfied with the way ammunition for the war effort was being produced in Britain. Lloyd George strongly believed that Britain had to produce more ammunition for itself and its allies for itself to win the war. To increase the production of ammunitions, Lloyd George set up four large ammunitions factories around the country. One of the four ammunitions factories set up by Lloyd George was Factory Gretna in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

 

Munitions of War Act (1915)

 

Lloyd George was instrumental in setting up the factory by facilitating the passing of the Munitions of War Act (1915). This legislation allowed the British government to tightly monitor and control private companies who were supplying the armed forces with ammunition. Furthermore, the Munitions of War Act (1915) allowed the government to restrict employee freedoms in factories making war supplies. For instance, Factory Gretna employees were restricted to leave employment. In 1916 the law was amended to make strikes in war industries illegal, and all labour disputes were sent to a tribunal (Stevenson, 2020).

 

These stringent measures in the Munitions of War Act (1915) would have made workers at Factory Gretna sad because it limited the options to use when demanding better working conditions and pay. One would assume that at Factory Gretna, Lloyd George was not a popular politician because of the legislation he had introduced. A petition sent to Winston Churchill in 1918 by the Women Police at Factory Gretna provides primary evidence that some employees at the factory were not happy with their pay and working conditions.

 

In 1911 Lloyd George, as Chancellor, was instrumental in setting up the National Insurance Act (1911). The law laid down the basics of the welfare state by making provisions for sickness and invalidism. The National Insurance Act (1911) was pro-worker legislation, while the Munitions of War Act (1915) was restricted worker rights. The two pieces of legislation seem to show a contradictory view of Lloyd George, but a deeper analysis shows a different picture. The National Insurance Act (1911) and Munitions of War Act (1915) show a pragmatic politician who is flexible and willing to change. Lloyd George was successful in his political life because he quickly adapted to situations. For instance, in 1915, Britain needed to increase its ammunitions production, and for that to happen, the government had to restrict worker rights temporarily.

 

Secretary of State for War (1916)

 

Lloyd George did not stay long in the Minister of Munitions post as he succeeded Lord Kitchener as the Secretary of State for War in 1916. Lord Kitchener had died when HMS Hampshire was sunk on its way to Russia (Lloyd-Jones & Lewis, 2008). Lloyd George’s success in a relatively short time as Minister of Munitions made him the logical choice to replace Lord Kitchener (Greenhalgh, 2007). As Secretary of State for War, Lloyd George still had considerable influence on the goals at the Ministry of Munitions. Therefore, indirectly one can argue that his thinking as Secretary of State for War impacted the way Factory Gretna was operated.

 

Prime Minister (1916-1922)

 

Lloyd George’s tenure as Secretary of State for War did not last long as Asquith was forced to resign mainly due to his mismanagement of the war. Lloyd George became Prime Minister in 1916. He quickly began to reorganise the government so that the war could be won efficiently. The major change made by Lloyd George was the centralisation of power via a smaller war cabinet. Doing so meant that government bureaucracy was greatly reduced, which led to decisions being made quickly.

Lloyd George and Churchill pictured together in 1907. Photo in public domain.

Lloyd George also appointed Churchill as the Minister of Munitions in 1916 against the advice of many in his party. The appointment of Churchill as Minister of Munitions was greeted with hostile comments from newspapers and members of parliament (Greenhalgh, 2007). According to Pelling (1989), Lloyd George later said that his decision to appoint Churchill as the munitions minister nearly collapsed the government. However, the appointment of Churchill proved to be a good decision as production of ammunition increased at war industries such as Factory Gretna (Stevenson, 2020). To a greater extent, the increase in ammunition production is attributed to Churchill’s astute leadership.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In conclusion, the article discussed how Lloyd George played a pivotal role in the setting up of Factory Gretna. The article argued that Lloyd George’s experience obtained from the role as Chancellor of the Exchequer was instrumental in his success as Minister of Munitions. Lloyd George was appointed Minister of Munitions because of the good management and leadership skills he had shown as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. His success as Minister of Munitions and as Secretary of State for War opened the door for him to be Prime Minister.

 

 

Reference List

Ahlstrom, D., 2014. The Hidden Reason Why the First World War Matters Today: The Development and Spread of Modern Management. Brown Journal of World Affairs, XXI(1), pp. 201-220.

Greenhalgh, E., 2007. Errors and Omissions in Franco–British Co-operation over Munitions Production, 1914–1918. War in History, 14(2), pp. 179-218.

Lloyd-Jones, R. & Lewis, M. J., 2008. “A WAR OF MACHINERY”: the British Machine Tool Industry and Arming the Western Front, 1 91 4-1 91 6. Essays in Economic & Business History, XXVI(1), pp. 117-133.

Miller, C., 2021. The Clydeside Cabal: The influence of Lord Weir, Sir James Lithgow, and Sir Andrew Rae Duncan on naval and defence policy, around 1918–1940. The Mariner’s Mirror, 107(3), pp. 338-357.

Pelling, H., 1989. Munitions. In: Winston Churchill. London: Mcmillan, pp. 229-248.

Quinault, R., 2014. Asquith A Prime Minister at War. History Today, May, pp. 40-48.

Stevenson, D., 2020. Britain’s Biggest Wartime Stoppage: The Origins of the Engineering Strike of May 1917. The Journal of the Historical Association, 1(1), pp. 269-293.

 

 

 

 

Politics and the Devil’s Porridge: Winston Churchill

By Collections blog

Researched and written by Mohammed Binghulaita Alghfeli.

 

Introduction

 

Winston Churchill is famous for being the British Prime Minister during the Second World War. As a wartime Prime Minister, Churchill is credited for galvanising Britain and her allies to defeat Nazi Germany. However, some people do not know that Churchill was also heavily involved in the First World War as a Minister of Munitions. This article focuses on the role of Churchill as a Minister of Munitions from 1917 to 1919. As a Minister of Munitions, Churchill was responsible for, among other things, the oversight of Factory Gretna. Churchill enjoyed success as Minister of Munitions, which saw him being promoted to Secretary of State for Air and War at the end of the First World War in 1919. The article also examines the influences of Factory Gretna on Churchill’s views on gender equality.

 

Background: 1915-1917

 

At the beginning of World War One, Churchill served as the First Lord of the Admiralty. According to Greenhalgh (2007), in 1915, Churchill planned and orchestrated the Dardanelles naval campaign and the military landings on Gallipoli. However, the Dardanelles naval campaign and the military landings on Gallipoli were both a failure that led to the demotion of Churchill and his resignation from the government. The ministerial appointment as Minister of Munitions was Churchill’s first role on his return to government.

Churchill also saw active service during WW1. He is pictured here with the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers at Ploegsteert on the French-Belgian border. Photo is in public domain.

The appointment of Churchill as Minister of Munitions was greeted with hostile comments from newspapers and members of parliament. The Dardanelles and the Gallipoli failures had tainted Churchill’s reputation to the extent that he was viewed by several MP’s as incompetent (Pelling, 1989). Pelling (1989) notes that the Secretary of War in 1917, Lord Derby, threatened to resign when he heard that Churchill had been appointed Minister of Munitions. The Colonial Secretary, Walter Long, wrote to the Prime Minister expressing grave concerns regarding the appointment of Churchill as Minister of Munitions (Pelling, 1989). The prime minister, Lloyd George, later wrote that his decision to appoint Churchill as the munitions minister nearly collapsed the government (Pelling, 1989).

 

Churchill was shocked by the negative reaction to his appointment as Minister of Munitions. According to Pelling (1989), Churchill had not realised how unpopular he was. However, Churchill did not allow his unpopularity to affect his job performance. The Cabinet Secretary in 1917 noted that a few days after Churchill’s appointment back in government, he looked like a different man (Pelling, 1989). He used his previous failures in government in 1915 as motivation to succeed on his second attempt in government (Greenhalgh, 2007).

 

Ministry of Munitions: 1917-19

The Minister of Munitions Winston Churchill meets women workers at Georgetown’s filling works near Glasgow during a visit in October 1918. Photo credit: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205022351

Greenhalgh (2007) notes that the Ministry of Munitions was created in 1915 in response to the Shell Crisis of that same year. In 1915 there was a strong newspaper criticism of the government because the army was experiencing a shortage of artillery shells at the war front. On 2 July 1915, the Liberal government passed the Munitions of War Act (1915) to ensure an adequate supply of artillery munitions (Greenhalgh, 2007). The Munitions of War Act (1915) paved the way for creating the Ministry of Munitions, with David Lloyd George being the first person to lead the ministry.

 

Although Churchill was Minister of Munitions in the closing stages of World War One, he played a huge role in ensuring that Britain and her allies had enough ammunition to win the war (Maurer, 2012). One can argue that the experience that Churchill amassed as the Minister of Munitions helped him in his later role as a wartime Prime Minister. As Minister of Munitions, Churchill had seen the importance of having local ammunitions manufacturing capacity and how that could be used to win a war. When the Second World War started, Churchill quickly ramped up local production of ammunition and other equipment for the war effort using the experience acquired as Minister of Munitions at the tail end of World War One.

 

Factory Gretna and Gender Inequality

 

Churchill became the Minister of Munitions on 17 July 1917 (Dockter, 2011). As a Minister of Munitions, Churchill was responsible for overseeing and coordinating the production and distribution of munitions for the successful execution of the war effort. One of the ammunitions factories set up during World War II was Factory Gretna. Therefore, as Minister of Munitions, Churchill was responsible for ensuring that Factory Gretna was operating as planned. Churchill was also responsible for managing labour issues at Factory Gretna, as evidenced by a letter written on 14 November 1918 by the Women Police Service asking for a salary raise. The Women Police Service requested Churchill increase their salaries by at least 10 shillings per week in the letter.

 

The Women Police Service at Factory Gretna argued that they deserved a salary increase because men doing the same job had been given a wage increase. In addition, those men were also paid more than the women. Therefore, the Women Police argued that it was unfair that men were being paid more than women. Moreover, the women pointed out that men were given equipment for free while women had to pay for it, which further reduced their wages.

A photo of the women’s police unit at HM Factory Gretna during WW1. Photo held in The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s archive collection.

The letter by the Women Police Service should be seen in the context of the early 20th century when women were expected by society to stay at home or if they chose to work to accept the conditions as offered. On the other hand, the women suffragette movement in Britain was getting strong and challenging gender inequality in all spheres of life. Therefore, when Churchill received the letter from the Women Police Service asking for a salary increase and similar conditions of service with that of men, that will have challenged Churchill’s beliefs.

 

According to Roberts (2012), Churchill is often portrayed as a male chauvinist because of his opposition to women’s right to vote when he was the Home Secretary between 1910-1911. As a result, Churchill was a frequent target of protest by suffragettes (Roberts, 2012). Churchill did vote for female enfranchisement in 1917, but that did not change how suffragettes viewed him. However, that did not stop the Women Police at Factory Gretna from petitioning him to solve gender inequality issues. Perhaps the Women Police at Factory Gretna saw Churchill’s vote for female enfranchisement as a sign that he might have some sympathy towards gender equality. However, it is also possible that Women Police at Factory Gretna petitioned Churchill not because of his expressed views on gender inequality but because he was the government minister responsible.

 

However, what is without question is that Churchill’s views on gender equality softened when he became a wartime Prime Minister. Lee and Strong (2018) note that Churchill’s views on gender equality had changed significantly by the time the Second World War began. Perhaps the petition by the Women Police at Factory Gretna in 1918 played a part in changing Churchill’s views on gender equality.

Photo credit: Yousuf Karsh. Library and Archives Canada, e010751643. 1941 portrait taken by Yousuf Karsh.

Conclusion

 

The article discussed the life of Winston Churchill as Minister of Munitions at the tail end of World War One. Churchill’s appointment back to the government in 1917 came after his dismissal after the military failures at Dardanelles and Gallipoli. The appointment of Churchill as Minister of Munitions was greeted with hostile comments from newspapers and members of parliament. However, Churchill showed great character to accept the appointment despite strong opposition and performed exceptionally well. His exceptional performance was rewarded by being appointed Secretary of State for Air and War at the end of the First World War in 1919. One can argue that Churchill’s good performance as Minister of Munitions relaunched his political career, setting him up to be the wartime Prime Minister.

 

The article also discussed the challenges Churchill faced as Minister of Munitions. Churchill was faced with addressing the gender inequality issue at Factory Gretna. Churchill’s views on gender inequality were well known when he became Munitions Minister. However, his views on gender equality greatly evolved over time. There is a possibility that the petition by the Women Police Service at Factory Gretna could have played a role in changing his views on gender equality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference List

 

Dockter, W., 2011. The Tale of Two Winstons. The Historian, Autumn, pp. 10-14.

Greenhalgh, E., 2007. Errors and Omissions in Franco–British Co-operation over Munitions Production, 1914–1918. War in History, 14(2), pp. 179-218.

 

Lee, C. & Strong, P., 2018. Women in War: From Home Front to Front Line. London: Pen and Sword.

 

Maurer, J., 2012. Winston has gone mad’: Churchill, the British Admiralty, and the Rise of Japanese Naval Power. Journal of Strategic Studies, 35(6), pp. 775-797.

 

Pelling, H., 1989. Munitions. In: Winston Churchill. London: Mcmillan, pp. 229-248.

 

Roberts, A., 2012. Churchill The Wartime Feminist. [Online]

Available at: https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/churchill-bulletin/bulletin-048-jun-2012/churchill-the-wartime-feminist/

[Accessed 1 March 2022].

 

Toye, R., 2020. This famous island is the home of freedom’: Winston Churchill and the battle for ‘European civilisation. History of European Ideas, 46(5), pp. 666-680.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women Working in Cutting Workshop. Photo from Devil’s Porridge Museum Archive

The Dangers of Working in A Munitions Factory During the First World War

By Collections blog

Researched and written by Laura Marley.

 

The First World War broke out in 1914 and as the war progressed, the demand for ammunition increased significantly. Due to this, in 1915 David Lloyd George, who was the Minister of Munitions, commissioned the building of HM Factory Gretna in order to increase the production of ammunition being sent to British troops in France. Production started in April 1916 and due to the sheer size of the factory, many workers were employed there, including over 11,000 female workers[1]. HM Factory Gretna was the largest munitions factory in operation during the First World War and due to this there was a large workforce of which many would suffer from injuries caused by the dangerous work they did. There was a works hospital on site at HM Factory Gretna which had space for 16 patients. However, a larger hospital was later built which could accommodate a further 84 patients. Between mid-1916 and late-1918, the Gretna Works Hospital had treated 273 male patients and 516 female patients, all of whom were employed in the factory[2].

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1: Gretna Work’s Hospital. Photo from Devil’s Porridge Museum Archive

During the First World War, there was not the same health and safety standards that we have in place today so it was more likely that workers would suffer from injury. In terms of injury, we also need to remember that a vast majority of the people working in munitions factories during the First World War had never worked in a factory before so were often severely undertrained for the jobs that they were doing[3]. However, there were government initiatives in place to try and allow more skilled jobs to be broken down step by step, with one worker on each step, so that they were easier to complete[4]. Despite the government’s attempts to reduce the need for skilled workers and make jobs easier for the untrained workers they so desperately needed, many munitions’ workers still suffered from severe injuries at work. These injuries could include losing limbs when using dangerous machinery or suffering from burns due to the high risk of fires and explosions caused by the chemicals and acids that were used in the factory. Working with chemicals and acids also increased the risk of workers inhaling toxic fumes. Additionally, working in a munitions factory could cause long term health problems such as lung problems and skin discolouration.

 

Serious injuries: 

There were various types of serious injury that factory workers could sustain. We can see from Workmen’s Compensation Claims, that at HM Factory Gretna in 1917 there were a number of serious injuries sustained at work. These consist of 11 workers losing limbs such as fingers or even their arms. 30 suffering from less serious injuries such as bruising, sprains, breaks, or fractures of the hip, knee, or ribs. 15 workers suffered from burns and poisoning due to the acid they worked with and 5 suffered from eye, face, or head injuries[5]

One young woman, Victoria May McIver, lost the lower part of her left arm whilst working with machinery in the cordite section of HM Factory Gretna. This accident happened when she was only 17 and she was one of the youngest patients to stay in the factory’s hospital in 1917[6]. This accident highlights the dangerous nature of the work that many young women took on during the First World War in order to aid the war effort and do what they saw as the right thing to do.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2: Women Working in Cutting Workshop. Photo from Devil’s Porridge Museum Archive

In total, there were 145 recorded fatalities in the factory area, with 115 being male workers and 30 being female workers[7]. This demonstrates the dangerous nature of work in munitions factories and shows that not just those actively involved in combat during the war were willing to put their lives at risk in order to ensure that Britain won the war.

Fire and acid injuries:

Due to the large amounts of chemicals and acids in use at HM Factory Gretna, there was an increased chance of explosions and fires breaking out. Due to this, HM Factory Gretna had their own fire brigade so that they would be able to get to the fire and put it out quickly[8]. HM Factory Gretna had its fair share of both fires and explosions. On November 15th, 1916, there was an explosion at the factory. Witnesses all reported hearing a gunshot like noise before they saw a fire start. Seven workers were injured in this incident. On December 8th, 1916, one worker was killed instantly due to an explosion, six other workers suffered from bad burns, and some later passed away because of their injuries. Michael Taylor had been working in the acid plant when an explosion happened, he was burned and also fractured his leg. Thankfully he survived but his leg did need to be shortened by 2 inches[9].

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 3: HM Factory Gretna Fire Brigade. Photo from Devil’s Porridge Museum Archive

Working with chemicals and acid also meant that there was a high risk of workers sustaining injuries from them. These injuries ranged from being sprayed with acid from burst pipes, which could cause burns and even the loss of eyes, to inhaling the toxic fumes given off by the acid which could cause death[10].

 

Long-term impact on health:

There is evidence that the extended exposure to chemicals through working in a munitions factory had long term impacts on the worker’s health. Many of the women who worked at HM Factory Gretna suffered from long term health impacts due to the work that they carried out in the factory. Alice Morton was left with a yellow tint to her skin and as she got older, the yellowness became more noticeable. It could be seen mostly around and in the whites of her eyes. Ellen Stamper suffered from lung problems and sadly died of emphysema in 1955. Margaret Jane Sutherland sadly passed away due to the inhalation of poisonous fumes during her work at HM Factory Gretna[11]. This shows that the work being carried out in munitions factories during the First World War was not just dangerous at the time, but also left many with long term health impacts which were the cause of death in many cases.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 4: Medical Card Given to Workers on Leaving the Factory. Photo from Devil’s Porridge Museum Archive

A medical card (pictured above) was given to HM Factory Gretna workers upon leaving the factory ‘for more than 3 months’[12]. The card tells people to choose a doctor as soon as possible after leaving the factory and not to wait until they fall ill. This is essentially warning them that they may experience long term ill health as a side effect of working in a munitions factory. It instructs the ex-worker to present the card to the doctors they are registering with in order to let them know that they have previously worked in a munitions factory. This is significant as it shows that the factory owners were fully aware that the workers were likely to suffer from long term illnesses which were caused by their work in the factory. However, it is unknown how many munitions workers suffered long term illnesses caused by the work they did during the war but there have been a number of reports of people across Britain suffering similar fates to the Gretna workers above, so one has to believe that this was a common after effect of munitions work.

 

Conclusion:

Overall, this article should help you to understand just some of the dangers people faced working in HM Factory Gretna during the First World War. They were willing to work in dangerous conditions with unsafe machinery and chemicals in order to aid in the war effort and do their bit in ensuring that Britain and the Allies were successful in winning the war. Munitions work was a highly important job and without it the war would have been much more difficult.

[1] E. Ritchie, The Gretna Girls. Devil’s Porridge Museum Google Drive

[2] Medical Provisions at HMF Gretna, Devil’s Porridge Museum Google Drive

[3] G. Braybon, and P. Summerfield, Out of the Cage: Women’s Experiences in Two World Wars. (London: Taylor & Francis Group, 2012.)

[4] Ibid.

[5] Accidents at Work Panel’s, Devil’s Porridge Museum Google Drive

[6] G. L. Routledge, Gretna’s Secret War, (Carlisle: Bookcase, 1999)

[7] Medical Provisions at HMF Gretna, Google Drive

[8] Accidents at Work Panel’s, Devil’s Porridge Museum Google Drive

[9] Accidents at Work Panel’s, Devil’s Porridge Museum Google Drive

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Medical Card given to workers on leaving the factory, Devil’s Porridge Museum Google Drive

Illustration of a child dressed as a police women on a postcard.

Women’s Police Service at HM Factory Gretna

By Collections blog

Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to be focusing on one interesting aspect of HM Factory Gretna – the Women’s Police Service.

This first post provides introductory information, then we’re going to take a look in more detail at some of the documents and accounts in the Museum collection.

During World War One, 12,000 women worked at HM Factory Gretna.  They were mainly young, unmarried women and the Ministry of Munitions felt responsible for them, taking several actions which they saw as being for the girl’s own protection. We might now view curfews, searches and the largest women’s police service in Britain as restrictive, but at the time there was a War on and the measures were seen as necessary.

All work at HM Factory Gretna came under the Official Secrets Act. There was large police presence, this building in Gretna was once the police HQ, it still stands and is now converted into flats.

The Devil’s Porridge Museum has several items in its collection and archive which relate to the Women’s Police Service.  There were over 150 members of this unit and they were, on the whole older, better educated middle class women who policed the younger, less educated, working class women who made up the majority of the Factory employees.  These young women were known as the ‘Gretna Girls’ although they came from all over Britain and worked in a Factory which stretched as far as Longtown.  For example, we know one female police officer was born in Braithwaite, Cumbria.

Members of the WPS outside the Women’s Police Barracks, Gretna in World War One.

The Museum archive includes documents about the training of the female police force and their uniforms, photographs of them and the buildings associated with them (one of which, the Police HQ in Gretna, still stands and is now flats).  An interesting document is a petition to Winston Churchill for improved pay.  This dates from 1918 when Churchill was Minister of Munitions and includes the signatures of lots of women employed in this role.  We are also fortunate to have a women’s police truncheon and WPS badge on display in the Museum.

Ministry of Munitions WPS badge from the Museum collection.

What did the women police do?  We know they inspected the girls as they entered and exited the Factory (for example one young woman tried to sneak in her knitting, another some cigarettes, one tried to steal some cordite).  They also policed the morals of the girls (breaking up a kissing couple on the railway platform, maintaining the 10pm curfew and inspecting the back rows of the two factory cinemas).  At the end of the War, some women remained in police service while others returned to their families or other employment.

That’s the end of Part One, Part Two coming soon.

If you’d like to know more about HM Factory Gretna and women in World War One, the following items from our online shop might interest you:

Gretna’s Secret War

Lives of Ten Gretna Girls booklet

https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/product/munition-workers-poems

The Devil’s Porridge Museum Guidebook

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