Luton Munitions Workers Awarded OBEs

MBE medal, 1918 [Wikipedia]

Sunday 27th October 1918: A ceremony has been held this afternoon at Luton Town Hall, at which Order of the British Empire medals were presented to three employees of George Kent Limited by the Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Mr. Samuel Whitbread. All three were awarded for the great courage shown by the recipients during an accident which took place at the works in March. The O.B.E. Is a new award, established last year at the instigation of the King to honour all those men and women who have provided conspicuous service to the Empire as civilians or in military supporting roles. The recipients of the medals are:

• Samuel Beddall of Harris Villa, Chiltern Road, Dunstable, who at grave personal risk twice entered a burning room and rescued three workers, in spite of dense fumes and personal injuries.
• Herbert Thomas Honnor of Naseby Road, Luton,for courage and high example in rescuing two fellow workers on the occasion of a fire in a factory.
• Alexander McKay Pattison of Dordans Road, Leagrave, also for courage and high example at a factory fire. Though suffering from burns he rendered important assistance to several women who were in great danger.

Source: Luton News, 31st October 1918

Munition Worker Fined for Drunkenness

Waller Street, Luton c.1905 [Z1306/75/10/60/3]

Monday 14th October 1918: Amy Lawson, aged 25, a munition worker lodging at 63 Church Street, Luton, has pleaded guilty to having been drunk and incapable in Waller Street last night. Police Sergeant Matsell said that he had found her helplessly drunk at 11.30 p.m. He lifted her up but found she could not stand, and with the help of Inspector Janes he got her to the police station. Miss Lawson is a single woman from Rochdale working at George Kent’s, who has been lodging in Luton for eight weeks. She expressed her sorrow for being in such a position and agreed to enter into a bond to abstain, however she was a “frequenter of public houses” she was fined ten shillings and no bond was imposed, the magistrate appearing to be concerned that it would simply lead to her getting into more trouble.

Source: Luton News, 17th October 1918

Munitions Worker Charged with Stealing Firewood

Morgan’s aeroplane works, Leighton Road, Linslade 1917 [Z50/72/195]

Monday 9th September 1918: Henry John Hutton, of 27 Old Road, Linslade, has been remanded at the Linslade Police Court for stealing firewood blocks valued at five shillings from his employers, Messrs. Morgan and Company Limited. The works director stated that although the company appreciated the efficiency of the police in detecting the theft they did not wish to press the case, as Henry Hutton had been in other respects a good worker and was a discharged soldier. The wood was scrap and would sooner or later have been given away to deserving people at the works or sold as firewood.

Police Constable Matthews said that early in the morning on Thursday 5th September he had found a bag of block firewood hidden in a hedge near the Linslade Pumping Station. He had watched the bag until 11.50 a.m., when the prisoner’s ten year old son came with a perambulator and took it home. The next morning, while watching the works, he had seen Hutton come to a large heap of firewood, fill a bag, and carry it across the meadow to the same place. When challenged he admitted stealing the wood.

Hutton pleaded guilty and said he was very sorry. He had been discharged from the Army in March and his wife and children had been ill. There was a lot of wood lying about and he took some as it was difficult to get fuel. The works director said Hutton was a very good workman and of real value to the company, but as a matter of principle they could not keep him on. Taking into account that he had lost both his character and a good job, Hutton was fined ten shillings with fifteen shillings costs.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 17th September 1918

Worker Killed in Fire Extinguisher Explosion

The Avenue, Flitwick c.1920 [Z50/50/41]

Tuesday 13th August 1918: Yesterday evening an employee of the George Kent Ltd. works at Chaul End was killed in an unfortunate accident. Wilfred Joy of The Ridgway, Flitwick, was employed as a fitter at the works, and at about 5.30pm he was apparently unscrewing or doing something with a large fire extinguisher. He was holding the extinguisher between his knees, when for some reason the bottom blew out and the point of the cylinder struck him over the left eye, rebounding between thirty and forty feet. Mr. Joy was taken to the Bute Hospital, where he died at about eight o’clock. A considerable amount of gas escaped in the explosion, and it is not clear whether the cause of death was the injury or the gas. Mr. Joy’s body was identified by his brother Charles Joy, a wheelwright of Leighton Road, Toddington. He told the inquest that his brother was 36 years old, single, and lived with their sister, Mrs. Cunningham. The inquest was adjourned to allow a post-mortem examination to be carried out.

Source: Luton News, 15th August 1918

Fare Dodging by Munitions Workers

Dunstable Town Railway Station, c.1928 [Z1306/36/14/2]

Wednesday 8th May 1918: Three young women have been fined for fare dodging on the London and North-Western Railway. Linslade Police Court heard that on 27th February Elizabeth Maud Vincent, of 52 Wing Road, Linslade, and Daisy Sutton of 10, Summer Street, Leighton Buzzard arrived at Leighton Buzzard Station from Dunstable. When asked for their tickets as they were leaving the station both young women said they had lost them. They claimed to have walked from Chaul End, where they work in a munitions factory, to Dunstable, and to have booked their tickets there. When inquiries showed this was not true, Vincent admitted she had used her brother’s weekly ticket while he was on night work, and had not paid the fare either way. Sutton said she went to Chaul End with her sister Mabel; when she returned  she had borrowed her sister’s weekly ticket and had also not paid the fare. Daisy Sutton and Elizabeth Vincent were fined £1 5s.6d. and £1.15s.6d. respectively for travelling without tickets, and Mabel Sutton was fined £1.0s.6d for transferring her weekly ticket to her sister. Vincent told the court “I know this sort of thing is being done by other girls”.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 14th May 1918

Explosion at Munitions Works

George Kent Ltd Munitions Workers, 1916 [Z1306/75/17/21]

Saturday 2nd March 1918: The Press Bureau has issued a statement concerning an explosion which took place in a munition works in the Home Counties, resulting in injuries to some of the girl workers. No further information has been received. [1]

Source: Luton News, 7th March 1918

[1] The explosion took place at the George Kent works at Chaul End on Friday 1st March. Four girls died of the injuries they received: May Constable, Lillian G. Harris, Kate Tomkins, and Florence Warnes. While more minor incidents were usually reported in the local press in some detail, it seems that the authorities were keen to suppress news of a tragedy on this scale.

A Quarrel Between Munitions Girls

Munitions workers at Leighton Buzzard, 1914-18 [Z1432/2/12/2/5]

Tuesday 18th December 1917: At the Leighton Buzzard Police Court today Annie Underwood, aged 22 and a munition worker from Vandyke Road, Leighton Buzzard, was summoned for assault by Kate Pratt, also of Vandyke Road. The smartly dressed Miss Pratt complained that on December 4th, as she was coming home from night work at about 7.30 am, Miss Underwood met her and knocked her across the head and face with her hands, accusing her of saying things about herself and her mother in the railway carriage. Miss Underwood had also claimed that other girls had stopped Miss Pratt calling her names out of the carriage window. Miss Pratt said both claims were a lie.

Miss Underwood said she was on her way to work when the girls told her what Miss Pratt had said. When she asked for an explanation Miss Pratt had pushed her gently off the path, saying “Don’t insult me”; she therefore claimed that Miss Pratt had struck her first. Miss Pratt told the court “I pushed her off the path and said I shouldn’t be insulted by a girl like her – nor I shan’t sir!”  Dorothy “Dolly” Short, also of Vandyke Road, was called as a witness for Miss Pratt. She said that Underwood came up to Kate Pratt accusing her of having said things in the railway carriage, which Kate did not know anything about – Miss Underwood then struck her on the face. She agreed that Miss Pratt had gently pushed her off the path.

The defendant claimed she had asked Miss Pratt civilly why she had been “telling girls my character” but that she refused to answer. “It isn’t the first time she has insulted people; you can’t go out without they’re poking fun at girls”, she told the Chairman. She simply pushed Miss Pratt back after she pushed her off the path. Another witness, Dorothy Kempster, said that as she was going to meet her friend Annie Underwood she saw her talking to Kate Pratt, who pushed Annie off the path. Asked what happened she replied “Of course, Annie struck her back”. The Chairman told Miss Underwood she really must not smack other people’s faces, and ordered her to pay a fine and costs of fifteen shillings and sixpence.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 25th December 1917

King George V Visits Luton

Women munitions workers at George Kent Ltd, 1916 [Z1306/75/17/20]

(Caption reads: "We are helping those who are helping us")

Tuesday 13th November 1917: The King has today honoured the town of Luton with an unexpected visit. The news that he would be making an informal visit was announced on Monday afternoon. He was met by the Mayor and the Town Clerk and paid a visit to various works including those of Messrs. George Kent Ltd. The King arrived shortly before 11.00 a.m. in the Royal car and left between 12.30 and 1.00 p.m. He is reported to be looking alert and fit, with no signs of his age except a little grey in his beard. He wore the uniform of a field marshal, with a black crepe band on his left sleeve as a symbol of mourning. The processes carried out in the first works visited so interested the King that he stayed for twice the expected time.[1]

At George Kent’s works the King was greeted with enthusiastic cheers. Again, he showed a keen interest in the work of the various departments. A number of discharged soldiers now working at Kent’s were drawn up in two ranks at the foot of the stairs, where they stood to attention when the King approached. He was also saluted by the officers of the Kent’s Corps of Girl Guides. Violet Golding, a young munitions worker who recently received the Order of the British Empire for her bravery in returning to work after she lost two fingers in an explosion, was also presented to the King. In one of the workshops he asked a young girl “How many of those can you do in the course of a day?” She answered, “I don’t know, Sir. We don’t count. We just carry on.” The King replied, “Capital. What is required of us is that we should carry on to the best of our ability.”

The King thanked the Mayor for his trouble, asked him about the hat industry in the town, and was pleased to hear that it was busy with both straw and felt hats. As the Royal car left for London the route was lined with sightseers.

Source: Luton News 15th November 1917

[1] The works was not named, but it is thought likely that it was the National Fuse Filling Factory at Chaul End. 

Luton Brothers Wounded

Saturday 10th November 1917: Two Luton brothers who were wounded in a recent battle in the Ypres area have both written to their parents at 132 North Street describing their experiences. Private Albert Anderson told them:

“We went up on the 20th, and went ‘over the top’ on the 21st, and I think we can say we have been in one of the biggest battles of this war. We had to go through a wood to get to our objective, and the wood was simply swarming with Germans. They were all round us, sniping us, and what with bullets and shells and things, it was a perfect hell. We took our objective, though, and took a lot of prisoners, too. I think the Germans had a lot more casualties than we, although we had a great lot. I got slightly wounded in the shoulder with a bullet, but it is nothing serious. I didn’t trouble to go to the dressing station with it, and it’s getting on very well.”

The British soldiers dug themselves in and cleaned their muddy rifles, but when attacked by the Germans they were forced to retire under a barrage of fire. Private Anderson “gave up hope of ever getting out of that lot alive”, but now feels it is “certain this old war cannot last much longer by the way things are going on – the Germans can’t stand it, I’m sure”.

Signaller Horace Anderson, who was more seriously wounded than his brother, has sent a letter from the Royal Victoria Infirmary at Newcastle:

“I am in good old ‘Blighty’ once more, and, by jove! It is a perfect treat to be out of that lot for a while, and I thank God that I came out with my life. The day before I got hit was the hottest time I have had in my life, but I came through all right, and then the next day was not so bad. I was just returning to the battery after being forward, and I had got within about two yards of shelter when over came this big one, and, of course, I was ‘napoo’ for a while. But it gave me a nice little ‘Blighty’ one. I have a gunshot wound in the right leg just below the knee.”

Before the war Signaller Anderson worked for Messrs Kilby and Sons, but moved to Davis Gas Stove Company to work on munitions before joining up in April 1916.

Source: Luton News, 8th November 1917

Conker Collection for the War Effort

Conkers (Wikimedia)

Sunday 23rd September 1917: School children across the county of Bedfordshire are being asked to help the war effort by collecting horse-chestnuts. A considerable amount of grain is being used in the production of essential war supplies and experiments have shown that conkers would be a suitable substitute.[1] It is hoped that for every ton of horse-chestnuts harvested, half a ton of grain can be saved for human consumption. Schools have been asked to form small committees to organise the collection. The nuts must be fully ripe, and should be removed from the outer green husk before they are deposited at the collecting station.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer 25th September 1917

[1] The reason for collecting conkers was kept secret at the time, but it was hoped they could be used to create acetone needed in the manufacture of cordite for munitions. The process of making acetone from starch-based foodstuffs, which made the large-scale production of cordite possible, was developed in 1915 by Chaim Weizmann, who later became the first President of Israel. 

Munitions Girls Receive Bravery Awards

Miss Lily Smith of Bedford

Saturday 8th September 1917: Two Bedfordshire girls working in munitions factories have been awarded the Medal of the Order of the British Empire for devotion to duty. The Medal is given for services of special merit rendered to the Empire by both men and women in civilian war service.

Miss Lily Smith of 35 All Hallows Lane, Bedford worked at a powder factory in Bedfordshire before responding to an invitation for volunteers to work in a filling factory near London. After working there for about a fortnight a bomb exploded, fracturing her left hand so severely that it had to be amputated. Showing the utmost bravery, she insisted on walking part of the way to the hospital. When she recovered she returned to duty, saying that all must do their bit to enable our brave troops to win the war. Her courage so impressed her colleagues and managers at the factory that they presented her with a gold wrist watch. She was also given a gold pin on which a piece of the bomb extracted from her hand had been mounted.

Miss Violet Golding of 11 Cross Street, Dunstable, lost a finger and thumb through an accident while making detonators on 27th June 1916. At the time of the accident she was just sixteen years old. She returned to work after treatment at the Bute Hospital in Luton. Both girls will receive their medals at Buckingham Palace

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 31st August 1917 and 7th September 1917

Striking Munitions Men Return to Work

Bedford munitions workers c.1916 [Z725/1]

Tuesday 29th May 1917: The munitions workers of Luton have worked through the Whitsuntide Bank Holiday weekend to make up some of the time lost due to their recent strike action. The strike had disrupted munitions work across the country until the arrest of seven strike leaders triggered the Prime Minister’s intervention and an agreement that there should be a return to work with no victimisation, and that formal negotiations should take place between the Executive Committee of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers and the Government. The Luton men returned to work last Monday following a unanimous vote.

Private A. Nicholls of the Bedfordshire Regiment, who was wounded on the Somme, has little sympathy for the strikers. He writes:

“Go among our line regiments today and you would be surprised at the number of men who have trades in their hands – men who have had one, two and three winters in the trenches. If there is going to be all this bother, why not give these men a chance, and place all the grumblers out in their places? I think the strike is a most cowardly thing. Here are men losing their lives for one shilling a day; going through the hardships of winter in the trenches, which I can assure you makes you at times wish you were dead; standing up to their hips in water for hours, getting stuck in the mud, and having to be dug out, and, as often is the case, with your stomach playing ‘Rule, Britannia’ for the want of what it won’t get. And then these men want more. Look through the line, and give our boys a chance – good workmen, who know what hardships are. Give them a rest by sending these poor, hard-done-by men out. I will bet after six months out there they would come back sadder and wiser men. I am indeed very sorry for all these men. £3 to £4 a week! Shocking! All the pounds we get are in lead.”

Sources: Luton News, 24th May 1917; Leighton Buzzard Observer 29th May 1917

Fatal Accident at Chaul End Works

George Kent munitions workers 1916 [Z1306/75/17/21]

Tuesday 9th January 1917: A serious accident took place at George Kent Ltd.’s munitions works at Chaul End at about 11 a.m. yesterday, in which two men were killed and a third seriously injured. They were taken immediately to the works hospital and given first-aid. The doctor was telephoned for and gave the men skilled attention before they were taken to the Bute Hospital by motor ambulance. However, Herbert Andrews, aged 17, of Cold Harbour, Harpenden died on the way to hospital. The second man, 45 year old Horace Crump of 90 Ash Road, Luton, succumbed to his injuries in the evening. Mr. H. Rowe of Toddington sustained severe injuries to one of his arms, but it is believed this will not result in permanent disablement. The works manager has expressed deep sympathy for the deceased workers’ relatives on behalf of the firm’s directors, and paid tribute to the courage with which the rest of the staff kept to their work despite this unnerving experience. An inquest is to be opened tomorrow afternoon, but it is thought likely that it will be adjourned until Mr. Rower is well enough to attend.

Source: Luton News 11th January 1917

Vicar of Linslade to Take Up Munitions Work

Saint Barnabas Church, Linslade [Z1432/1]

Sunday 7th January 1917: The Vicar of Linslade, Reverend W. S. Mahony, has published the following message in this month’s parish magazine:

“For a long time I have been wondering (like a great many other people) how I could do a bit more to help to win the war. The work in this parish is peculiar: while on Sundays there is more than enough work for two priests, on week-days we have a certain amount of leisure, though not nearly as much as a great many people imagine. With the consent of the Bishop of Buckingham, and with the agreement of the Churchwardens and certain others whom I have consulted, I have resolved to try to work a few days weekly at munitions, commencing on January 8th. Mr. Liddiard has most readily undertaken the extra work which will devolve on him, and I hope that the working of the parish will not suffer, although for part of every week I shall not be able to go about among you. The demand for labour seems so great that there seems little danger of my ‘doing anybody out of a job,’ while any wages I may be able to earn I propose to send to the Red Cross Society, whose receipts I hope to fix in the Church porch as a guarantee.”

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 9th  January 1917

Train Timetables

Leighton Buzzard Railway Station c.1910 [Z50/72/174]

Saturday 4th November 1916: The Deputy Mayor of Dunstable has written to the Urban Councils of Leighton Buzzard and Linslade asking them to join him in persuading the North Western and Great Northern Railway Companies to provide a better train service for munitions girls. Many travel from Leighton Buzzard to work at the munition factory at Chaul End, but face a difficult morning journey home after working a night shift. They arrive at Dunstable from Chaul End at 7.30, but have to wait until 8.50 for a train to take them on to Leighton. If the Great Northern Company could provide an earlier train, they would reach Dunstable in time to catch the 7.05 from Leighton Buzzard. It has also been suggested that the North Western Railway Company could help soldiers from Dunstable and Luton who are at Halton Camp by holding back the 12.25 to Luton at Leighton Buzzard for a few minutes. Men on weekend leave reach Leighton at 12.33, just in time to see the 12.25 leaving the station. Instead of getting home in time for dinner, they then have to wait for the 1.55 train, followed by another hour’s wait at Dunstable before finally arriving at Luton at about 4 o’clock. For the sake of five minutes, the men lose a whole afternoon of their short leave.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 7th November 1916

Thanks for a Munitions Worker

Workers making shell cases at Robinsons Basket Factory, Leighton Buzzard, 1914-1918 

[Z1432/2]

Tuesday 10th September 1916: Many girls from Leighton Buzzard are now helping to produce munitions and it appears some of them are personalising their work by including messages with the ammunition. One girl, Miss M. Underwood of 19, Friday Street, has received the following letter after inserting her name and address into the top of a fuse:

“Dear Miss Underwood, Please excuse the liberty I am taking in writing to you, but finding your address inside a fuse, thought I would let you know that it had arrived out here. I cannot say where it is now, as it was fired into the Hun lines a few hours ago. This Battery has been out here since the war first began, so we have been through the mill a little bit, and nothing gives us greater pleasure than to send souvenirs over to Fritz with the compliments of our munition workers at home, and I can assure you that we are not giving them much rest at present. All of us out here are very proud of the way our girls at home are keeping us going, but we can still do with millions more rounds of ammunition. At present we are paying back a few debts we owe them from the days of Mons, Marne, and Aisne, and I think we are doing it fairly well. I mustn’t forget to thank you for the good wishes; next time I fire I will send a few compliments over to Fritz for you. I must finish now, wishing you the best of luck and hoping you will make thousands of more rounds, and remain, yours truly, G. Randall (Sergt.), R.F.A., B.E.F.”

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 10th October 1916

Luton Munitions Girls

Munitions girls "at play" [Luton News]

Saturday 12th August 1916: Following the recent strike by Luton munitions’ girls a conference has been held in London to consider their rate of pay, attended by the Beds Engineering Employers’ Association, three of the girls, and Mr Harry White of the Workers’ Union. An increase of a penny an hour had been under consideration, but the firm concerned has now received the agreement of the Ministry of Munitions to a new wage scale under which the bonus system has been withdrawn and the following flat rates of pay introduced: 3¼ to 4d per hour for girls under 16; 3½ to 5¼d per hour for those ages between 16 and 17; 4 to 5¼d per hour for those between 17 and 18, and 4½ to 6d for those aged over 18. However there was still dissatisfaction and the original application for a penny per hour increase was submitted to the Employers’ Association. It was argued that the girls were still earning less than girls employed at other works in the town, and that many came from a distance and had to pay for expensive lodgings, or came by train and had to pay fares out of their wages. The firm was still not prepared to make any concessions, and refused to consider paying a bonus in addition to the current rates. The Workers’ Union now intends to send the application to the Central Conference due to be held at York in September.

Some of the Luton girls are also annoyed by the reference in a recent Hatters Gazette article to “pampered munitions workers”. One writes:

“If more girls turned round and went to munition work the boys in the trenches would not have to wait for shots … Where would any of us be if there were no munition workers? They have certainly done their bit, so from my point of view they ought to have a holiday more than the straw work girls, for many of the latter don’t think of turning out of bed before nine o’clock, while the shell girls are up and at it a long time before that. And they enjoy themselves too. Look at the small photo and see them enjoying half-an-hour’s recreation before working. As for being overpaid the girls have to earn it before they get it, but I think some of the girls have a jolly sight more pluck that some of the men. Anyway they don’t mind waiting until the war is over before they think of taking a holiday, although they well deserve a rest.”

 Source: Luton News, 10th and 17th August 1916

The First Women’s “Police” Patrols

Margaret Damer Dawson and Mary Allen, founders of Women's Police Service 

[Imperial War Museum Q108495, under IWM Non-Commercial Licence]

Wednesday 5th April 1916: At the annual meeting of the Bedfordshire Branch of the National Union of Women Workers held at Bedford yesterday a speech was given by the national president of the Union, Mrs Creighton. She told the meeting that what she had heard from Bedford had originated the “grand work” of women patrols. The Bedford ladies had noticed a need before anyone else had thought of it, and had started a voluntary scheme which had indicated there was a need for something on a much larger scale. There were now 2000 women’s patrols at work all over the country, safeguarding girls and supporting special clubs for girls and soldiers, with the sanction of both civil and military authorities [1].

Mrs Creighton also pointed out the importance of caring for the thousands of girls now working in the munitions factories, and making sure that their health and character did not suffer. Mrs Trustram Eve had visited the Luton to enquire into the housing situation of munitions workers. , She had found that the girls working in the factories were well provided for. The works all held lists of suitable lodgings; the rooms used for the girls were “clean and respectable”; and the landladies were asked to “mother” the girls as far as possible. In her opinion a matter of greater concern was the long hours the girls were expected to work.

Source: Bedfordshire Times, 7th April 1916; Luton News, 6th April 1916

---

[1] These women’s patrols worked alongside the privately founded Women’s Police Service. In 1918 the women’s patrols were disbanded and the first women were appointed as police officers.

Boys at Leighton Buzzard Munitions Works Strike

Gas works at Grovebury Rd, Leighton Buzzard c.1930 [Z50/72/172]

Wednesday 19th January 1916: A scuffle which took place on 31st December landed a group of Leighton Buzzard boys in court yesterday. William George Lake, Archibald Palmer, Fred Gotzheirm and Harry Tearle, all aged between 15 and 17, pleaded not guilty to obstructing 15 year old Charles Weeks of Canal Bridge, Linslade. All the boys were employees at the wire works of Messrs. Bullivant and Company in Grovebury Road, a “controlled establishment” under the Minister of Munitions. It appears that the boys, with Weeks as one of the ringleaders, had demanded a 50 percent rise in their wages; when this demand was refused they had all gone on strike except Weeks and one other. As Weeks returned to work after his dinner break he was obstructed and molested by the defendants, causing him to arrive fifteen minutes late. He had first met thirty boys at the gate to the Recreation Ground near the Church, who asked if he intended to return at the old rate of pay; he said that he did. They had let him pass, as had three other boys he met nearer the works. When he met Lake and Palmer, Lake pushed him into the hedge and struck him.

The Company had previously experience similar cases of intimidation and as a result had notified the police who kept watch on the boys. Police Sergeant Dennis stated that he had seen five boys make a rush for Weeks after one called out “Here comes Weeks”, with Lake hitting him and knocking him into the hedge. Weeks had then called out and Police Constable Cheshire ran after the other boys. To prevent any further incidents Lake and Palmer were arrested and detained overnight. The boys all pleaded not guilty. Lake claimed he had not struck Weeks; Palmer and Tearle denied touching him; and Gotzheim said they had only stopped to ask Weeks if he intended going to work.

While the Company did not wish to press charges the military authorities had instructed the action to be taken to ensure there was no repetition of this behaviour. The boys had since returned to work and the firm was of the view that the publicity given to the case would be sufficient deterrent. The boys were told that interfering with the work of producing munitions was a very serious thing and that the maximum penalty for this offence was £100 fine or six months imprisonment. As it was a first offence they were fined only ten shillings, but were warned that if they came before the magistrates again they would be very seriously dealt with.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 25th January 1916

Munitions Girls at Work and Play

George Kent munitions workers, November 1915 [Luton Times]

Sunday 16th January 1916: Anyone accustomed to the politics of shared kitchens and tea-rooms at their place of work will not be surprised by the instructions posted this week in the girls’ mess rooms at George Kent Ltd:

(1) Girls arriving early at the tea-tables should not empty the tea-pots; cups should be half filled, and then the tea-pots replenished.

(2) Girls are requested to put their chairs back to the table on rising from meals.

(3) Crockery must not be taken from the Mess Rooms without permission. Infringements of this rule will be regarded very seriously.

(4) Broken crockery must be reported, and handed to the Mess Room Staff.

(5) Paper and orange peel should not be thrown about the floor – rubbish baskets are provided.

(6) It is not allowed to feed animals in the Mess Room.

(7) Complaints as to seating accommodation, service or cooking, will at once be dealt with. Mrs. Nicholas is always in either Mess Room at mealtime.

The life of a munitions girl is not all work and no play. A very successful social was held last night at the Winter Assembly Hall, Waller Street, for George Kent employees. Five hundred attended the event and enjoyed a varied programme of entertainment. At the Waller Street end of the hall tables were set out for a whist drive, with space for 84 players; prizes of an umbrella, a jewel case and a scent pump were given to the three winning ladies and an inkstand, an antimony cigarette box and a tobacco pouch went to their male counterparts. Other games were played into which the participants threw themselves with great enthusiasm. After the whist drive and during other intervals a concert was given, Mr. Spratley’s band provided music for dancing, and food was supplied by Slater’s.

Source: George Kent archive; Luton Times, 14th January 1916