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Worker of the Week: Thefts at the Factory

By October 18th, 2025No Comments
Potatoes, some corn beef, a box of matches and a replica munitions workers uniform from H.M. Factory Gretna.

Worker of the Week is a series of blog posts which highlights the workers at H.M. Factory Gretna that our volunteers researched for The Miracle Workers Project. This project aimed to centralise all of the 30,000 people who worked at Gretna during World War One and, although it may be over, our amazing research volunteers are continuing to uncover more stories about H.M. Factory Gretna workers to be added to this database. We are always looking to learn more about H.M. Factory Gretna workers. If you know anything about a H.M. Factory Gretna worker please feel free to get in touch with us by contacting info@devilsporridge.org.uk  A huge thank you goes to our amazing research volunteers, as always!

First, we must admit that this week’s Worker of the Week blog is a wee bit different to usual, because instead of focusing on one person connected to the H.M. Factory Gretna we are sharing a compilation of stories we’ve uncovered about thefts at the factory.  Naturally, this compilation is far from conclusive, but it will feature hats, corn beef and potatoes stolen by people who worked at H.M. Factory Gretna! Notably, they all faced consequences for their actions, so read on to find out more!

 

1. The Gretna “Fried Fish” Shop Heist.

  • One Winter Sunday evening, a local shop in Springfield, Gretna was busy with girls who worked at the factory.
  • This wasn’t unusual, but this time something was different.
  • Suddenly, the lamp was blown out leaving the shop in darkness.
  • After this, the next morning in fact, Baldi Toni, the owner of the shop, found some of his stock had disappeared!
  • The items which had vanished were:
  1.   9 cheese plates;
  2.    2 cans of corned beef;
  3.    6 boxes honey;
  4.    and 3 bottles of Worcester sauce

 

Graphic of Worcester sauce, corned beef, honey and cheese.

  • Fast forward, “five or six weeks” and we come to a court case in Dumfries.
  • Five munitions workers from the nearby factory, Lily Brown (20), Ellen Doran (19), Christina Langan (19) Minnie Turnbull (18) and Isabella Kennedy (19) were accused of theft.
  • As a result they all admitted to their part in what we have titled here ‘The Gretna “Fried Fish” Shop Heist and were charged with the crime.
  • Notably, solicitor Mr I. F. Edgar made a statement on their behalf. (Look out for him popping up a few times in this blog!)[1]

(Recently, someone has suggested that the food they stole could have been ingredients for Welsh Rarebit. What do you think?)

2. Disappearing Potatoes.

  • For some time food had been mysteriously disappearing from the factory central kitchen.
  • To find the reason for this unexplained mystery, a keen watch was started.

 

  • Then, one morning, just as all the people in the kitchen were tucking in to breakfast, a bag of around 10 stones of potatoes was taken from the kitchen.
  • Suspiciously, Bertha and George Bradly were seen to be entering the stable after just being in the kitchen at around this time…
  • After this, John Irving found a mysterious bag of around 10 stones of potatoes in a lorry and took it to the stable.
  • Seemingly, John claimed he thought it contained carrots and had no intention of taking the potatoes for his own use. Could John have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

 

Lots of potatoes. This photo is from Canva.

  • Resultingly, George, Bertha and John all ended up in court accused of pinching:
  1. Approximately 10 stones of potatoes;
  2. About 3 stones of carrots;
  3. Around 3 lbs of beetroot;
  4. 3 leeks;
  5. and the small straw bag.
  • We know that George and John “pleaded guilty to taking ten stones of potatoes, but the female accused pleased not guilty.” “The Fiscal accepted this plea, and deserted the diet against the female accused.” Bertha Bradly was innocent.
  • Meanwhile, George and John, who both worked as carters at the factory, were charged with “each pay[ing] a fine with the alternative of fourteen days imprisonment.”

 

3. The Hostel Heist.

  • Munitions worker Annie Nailas (referred to as Annie Nailes in The Dumfries and Galloway Standard) was found to have stolen items from  at “Hostel N, East 2, Gretna”.
  • Between the 9pm on the 4th January and 4pm on 5th January 1917, Annie was alleged to have stolen:
  1.  A leather purse with 8s in from Agnes Wright’s coat pocket;
  2. A blue serge skirt, a lady’s tweed coat, a leather lunch case, another leather purse with 10s 8d, belonging to Isabelle Alexander from a locked cupboard;
  3. A camisole, an underskirt, a silk blouse and a lady’s hat from Ina Scoon’s locked cupboard;
  4. And a white silk scarf belonging to Emma Holman from another locked cupboard.

 

Illustrations of coins, a leather purse, a blue skirt, a lady's hat and a white silk scarf with a photo of an on War Service Badge. There is some lined paper in the background,

Could Annie have stolen items similar to the ones illustrated in this photo?

  • Significantly, all the people stolen from were munition workers living at Hostel N, East 2
  • At the time of the theft in  1917 “the total value of the articles was between £3 and £4.”
  • However, Annie was found out.
  • She was defended by solicitor Mr I. F. Edgar at court, but she pled guilty and had three other convictions from prior to her time at the factory.
  • Ultimately, “The Sheriff said it seemed to be a determined case of stealing and passed sentence of thirty days imprisonment.” [3]

 

4. A Hat Trick.

  • If only we knew why munitions worker Sarah Carter stole another munitions workers hat.
  • Alas, may never know why for sure, but we do know that Sarah pled guilty to stealing the hat at court in Dumfries.
  • Consequently, she was given 10 days in prison.

 

Replica munitions workers uniform and hat on display in The Devil's Porridge Museum.

Could Sarah Carter have stolen a hat like this one?

  • The sheriff at the time reflected “they must put a stop to these thefts at Gretna if possible.” [4]

(We do not know for sure where this hat theft took place, or exactly what happened. Despite H.M. Factory Gretna’s name, it is significant to note that the nine-mile rural site of the factory stretched from Longtown in England to Dornock in Scotland. The townships of both Eastriggs and Gretna were also vital; both were built to house and facilitate all those who came to work at the factory. Often the factory location is referred to simply as “Gretna” in past newspaper articles, perhaps as they did not want to risk telling everyone publicly exactly where it was during World War One, so do you think the Sherriff’s reflection refers to the factory as a whole or just Gretna township?)

5. Matches in a Munitions Factory?!

  • Although this is technically not a theft, there were very strict rules regarding what people could bring on to the factory site.
  • According to the ‘Regulations Governing Employment:

““No person shall bring within the Factory, or have in his possession, whilst in the factory, any match or apparatus for producing light, or any lamp, light or fire of any description.”

– The Regulations Governing Employment for H.M. Factory Gretna.

  • Additionally, the Women’s Police Force used to search munitions workers on the way into the factory site.
  • If any contraband such as matches, or metal items like hairpins, buttons or knitting needles were found they would be removed (yes, that does include cutting metal buttons off clothing too!) and the culprit fined.

 

Florence Annie Tinkler in her munitions worker uniform.

Florence Tinkler. This photo is from Ancestry Public Members tree.

  • One example is Florence Tinkler, who was fined £2 for bringing matches into the factory grounds, who:

“Immediately after paying the fine the accused collapsed in her seat and had to be carried out of the courtroom by a police officer.”

  • Dumfries and Galloway Standard newspaper, 8th December 1917
  • Additionally, another factory worker found to have matches on the way into the factory was Reginald Ezra Parry.
  • Reginald worked as a chemist and he plead guilty to having a box of matches within the factory fence in, similarly in late 1917.
  • However, Reginald’s charges were dismissed with an admonition!

 

Reginald Ezra Parry M.Sc., University of Melbourne

Reginald Ezra Parry M.Sc., University of Melbourne, 1915

  • Obviously, these were far form the only two munitions workers who were found to have contraband inside the factory grounds.
  • Significantly, members of the Women’s Police Force at the factory would also search munitions workers on the way back out to check they hadn’t stolen anything from inside.

 

Sources and Further Reading

[1] Account of ‘The Gretna “Fried Fish” Shop Crime’ is based upon The Dumfries and Galloway Standard newspaper article, “THEFTS BY GRETNA GIRLS” from Wednesday 21st February 1917.

[2] Account of ‘Disappearing Potatoes’ is based upon The Dumfries and Galloway Standard newspaper article, “POTATO STEALERS FINED” from Saturday 2nd June 1917.

[3] Account of ‘The Hostel Heist’ is based upon an article from The Dumfries and Galloway Standard newspaper, Wednesday 24th January 1917.

[4] Account of ‘A Hat Trick’ is based upon The Dumfries and Galloway Standard newspaper article, “THEFTS BY GRETNA GIRLS” from Saturday 10th March 1917.

[5] ‘Matches in a Munitions Factory?!” sources follow:

 

Do you have a relative who worked at H.M. Factory Gretna? If so, we would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us by emailing info@devilsporridge.org.uk. You never know maybe your relative feature in a future Worker of the Week blog post! As well as this you can also have a look at some more H.M. Factory Gretna workers on our online database here>

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