Factories producing items for the war effort

[Guest Pete Wood]

This forum has produced a long list of hospitals in the UK, so I thought we might be able to do something similar for factories all over the world.

If you know of a factory that was making items for the war effort, just tell us who the company was, and what they were producing.

If you know the address of the company, or have further information, so much the better. If the company is still trading, what is it manufacturing now etc.

Factories were producing everything from munitions to lightbulbs; aeroplanes to shovels; uniforms to biscuits.

From the sublime to the rediculous, tell us what you know.....

[Guest Pete Wood]

I’ll start off the factory list with the first letter of the alphabet.

Avon Indian Rubber Company – best known today for making tyres.

The Admiralty was a particularly large user of Avon products and in 1914 called for some 40 tons of rubber sheeting and 20,000 ft of hose and tubing. Avon was also the leading manufacturer of paravane diaphragms used in minesweeping operations. Avon also produced inner tubes and tyres for military vehicles and bicycles.

The Avon company was, in 1914-1918, based in Melksham, Wiltshire. Its global headquarters is now located in Bradford Upon Avon. Avon has a website with their history in the Great War at http://www.avon-rubber.com/en/history/part2a.html

[Simon R]

Hello Racing Teapots,

I haven't forgotten about this and will provide more detail as I can wrest it out of the archives but the following preliminary may suffice:

Otley was the home of the wharfedale type printing machines which literally supplied the world with reliable printing presses from the mid C19th onwards - this considerable manufacturing capacity (I think 9 factories in Otley in 1914) certainly was utilised but I am as yet unsure as to how it was used. Munitions has been suggested (casting shell cases perhaps?). Barker's tannery did make about a million shoes for the Russian Army and I can get the reference from their account books but it is Christmas, I have to work through and it might take a bit of time.

So: tanneries, printers, printing engineers, worsted mills - high capacity industries but as yet uncertain of specifics 14-18.