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Munition Workers Died


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Hi all,

I did a search but found nothing, so here goes:

I am looking for a list of Munition workers that died in Sheffield in the Great War 1914 - 18.

Is there such a thing and if not anyone got any ideas how I could trace them please ?

Regards

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Yes, that would be interesting. But I suspect there were too many unconnected firms involved in munitions of some kind (probably more than 200 in Sheffield) for any central list to have been brought together.

I’m working through the records of the Sheffield Committee of Munitions of War, seeking to identify the contracts undertaken by each firm. Sadly, I have a long way to go!

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Any such research we would be happy to host here (if that suits you).

Trefcons initial contact with me ran along the lines of :

"I've got 20,000+ names of Sheffield WWI soldiers, researched over many years would you like to provide a home for it ?"

Not='arf !

and look where that took us !

Researchers/historians of Sheffield-stuff unite and bring on more data ...

I’m working through the records of the Sheffield Committee of Munitions of War, seeking to identify the contracts undertaken by each firm. Sadly, I have a long way to go!

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I have a fairly distant relative who was invalided out of the army and sent to work at Crowley & Co, Meadowhall Iron works according to his service records.

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"I've got 20,000+ names of Sheffield WWI soldiers,

30,000 plus names on the list now, nearly 10000 of these names are consolidated and online at http://www.sheffieldsoldierww1.co.uk/

things progressing slowly at the moment

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Progress, however slow, is perfect. It is a remarkable resource.

things progressing slowly at the moment

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Progress, however slow, is perfect. It is a remarkable resource.

Somebody keeps moving house and decorating lol

and its not me

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I have quite a substantial spreadsheet with Civilian workers killed during WW1 but as above I have a long way to go. This list consists of dock workers, air raid victims, munition workers, navel bombardment etc. I don't suppose we will ever get a list like this finished as I know of some who died that on their death certificates has no reference to the way they died in munition accidents, and of course not all will have been in the papers. Is there a list of Women who were issued the triangular 'on war service' badges by the munitions of war committe as I know everyone had a unique number.

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Hi all,

I did a search but found nothing, so here goes:

I am looking for a list of Munition workers that died in Sheffield in the Great War 1914 - 18.

Is there such a thing and if not anyone got any ideas how I could trace them please ?

Regards

I came across this headstone in Burngreave last year.

It may be worth looking out Albert Jackson's book mentioned.

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I have quite a substantial spreadsheet with Civilian workers killed during WW1 but as above I have a long way to go. This list consists of dock workers, air raid victims, munition workers, navel bombardment etc. I don't suppose we will ever get a list like this finished as I know of some who died that on their death certificates has no reference to the way they died in munition accidents, and of course not all will have been in the papers. Is there a list of Women who were issued the triangular 'on war service' badges by the munitions of war committe as I know everyone had a unique number.

Thats how Dean started :)

A big list of names and memorials

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This has really quite piqued my interest. Does anyone know of any book that deals with Munitions maufacture in Sheffield? As I said, a distant relative of mine was sent to work at Crowley and Co at Meadowhall; what do people know about Crowley, do any records survive? I know that they produced mostly farm machinery in the pre WW1 era. A quick check of my relatives 1911 census return shows that before the war he was a "malleable Iron moulder" who lived at Wincobank so I'm presuming that he was already employed by Crowley's before the war started.

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(From Saw19: Does anyone know of any book that deals with Munitions manufacture in Sheffield?)

As part of my project, I’ve looked at the histories of many individual companies during the WW1 period. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is almost no mention of individuals apart from occasional references to senior managers.

(In my book-writing I’m at this moment working on the munitions chapter. It’s hard work!)

(From Saw19: As I said, a distant relative of mine was sent to work at Crowley and Co at Meadowhall; what do people know about Crowley, do any records survive?)

John Crowley and Company Ltd. at Meadowhall Iron Works had several contracts through the Sheffield Committee on Munitions of War from the Trench Warfare Supply Department of the Ministry of Munitions. The contracts covered iron body castings for fuses, castings for howitzer bombs, and other iron castings unspecified in my notes.

The original Munitions Committee papers are available in the Special Collections Section of Sheffield University Library.

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Thanks Saw119, that’s very intriguing.

I’d like to try and learn more about your relative. Could you provide a bit more information, please?

1. What was his name and approximate date of birth?

2. What was his regiment and when was he invalided out? Do you know what his injury was, please? (Presumably it was not too serious for him to take a job that might have involved manual activity.)

3. Do you know what “sent to” (Crowleys) meant? I’ll try to work out what official body might have done the sending; these varied continuously during the war. (That’s why the date is important.) (The 1917 Hansard item you cited refers to the “substitution scheme” then in operation, but there were other schemes.)

Many thanks for anything you can provide. I’ll of course post whatever I learn.

Peter

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I’ve now looked further into the continuing conflicts throughout WW1 between the needs of the army for men and the production requirements of armament manufacturers. More men in the army meant fewer men to produce weapons and ammunition, but both were required if the country was to achieve success in battle. How to achieve the right balance?

Here are some details about two of the procedures that emerged.

1. Release from the Colours

In the spring of 1915 a “shell crisis” received much publicity in the national press and elsewhere, when lack of sufficient ammunition was blamed for failure on the Western Front. Recruiting had received all the publicity, and volunteering as a soldier was generally viewed as the “proper” course of action. So employers soon lacked men, and could not deliver all the needed materials. It was now clear that more men were needed as armament producers, rather than only as military recruits.

Various changes followed the “crisis”, such as the formation of a coalition government and (in June 1915) creation of the Ministry of Munitions.

In that summer, an invitation was sent to around 10,000 employers across the country, asking for the names of workers essential to the war who an employer would like to retain or have returned from the army. Men already in the army were also asked if they would like to go back to essential jobs. In practice, many on the resulting list were later found to be unsuitable or chose not to leave the army, but it’s thought that overall some 100,000 men were obtained for munitions work in this way. They were defined as members of the Army Reserve.

In Sheffield, employers had to submit requests for Release from the Colours through the Sheffield Committee on Munitions of War (based in the University), and the Committee’s records indicate that around 2,000 submitted applications were successful. Few details are available about individuals (DOES ANYONE HAVE INFORMATION, PLEASE?), but in many cases men had previously discussed possible release with their employer before the list was submitted.

2. Substitution Schemes

By 1916 the need for more troops was again urgent, and procedures were being developed to locate “substitutes” who could take the place of less essential munition workers (who would then be conscripted into service). Munition workers could be released for military service if a suitable replacement was provided. Substitutes were mainly to be men over military age or medically unsuitable men who were not to be called up but were still able to work. Disabled ex-soldiers were also considered as possible substitutes if they were able to cope with a job. Later, women became acceptable as substitute workers in certain cases.

Trade unions and many employers were earlier in the period reluctant to accept substitutes in place of experienced men, but by the summer of 1916 the national mood was more recognising the national need for armaments as well as troops, and unions agreed with the government that substitution was acceptable if properly conducted. Substitution Committees were established throughout the country (probably including Sheffield) and union-management substitution agreements were signed in many companies. The local Recruiting Office and the local Ministry of Labour were heavily involved in this process, identifying potential conscripts and substitutes, and administering the combined transfer.

We know that John Crowley and Company Ltd. (Meadow Hall Iron Works) received some men under this scheme (e.g., via Saw119, 11 May 2012: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1917/apr/02/substitution-scheme-pay), and there were undoubtedly many others in Sheffield. (DOES ANYONE HAVE INFORMATION, PLEASE?)

The Substitution Scheme was developed into a fully-fledged administrative programme later in 1916 and into 1917 and 1918. By then women workers were becoming established in several kinds of work, but many men were also transferred from non-munition jobs..

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There appears to be a heck of a lot of relevant information available from the National Archives (see query result link below). I have downloaded a little and it seems to be mainly free of charge.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search/search_results.aspx?Page=1&ExactPhrase=substitution+scheme&DateFrom=1915&DateTo=1918&SelectedDatabases=A2A|ARCHON|BOOKSHOP|CABPAPERS|DOCUMENTSONLINE|EROL3|MOVINGHERE|NRA|NRALISTS|PREM19|RESEARCHGUIDES|E179|CATALOGUE|WEBSITE|TRAFALGAR&SearchType=Advanced

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