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bighit

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  1. my grand mother and her family worked in the munitions factory. i remember her telling me about the explosions. there was one when they were checking primer clearance on shells. she had been working all day and they only got one break per day. the guy working next to her heard her belly rumble. he then told her to take his break as hers was later. off she went. her and some other girls got so far when an explosion happened. it turned out the next shell my grandmother was to check had a protruding primer. when testing the clearance on primers you had a jig the shell sat in. you turned the shell tip away from you and swung the primer test tool down the rear of the shell. if it hit the tester it was rejected. the guy did not turn the shell. he tested them tip of the shell facing him. the test struck a prominent primer and the shell exploded. had he not swapped tea breaks my grand mother may have been blown up that day. another explosion was when hidden matches caused an explosion on one of the mercury fulminate machines which had not been used for a long time had been switched on. you were not allowed to smoke on the premises due to safety. girls would hide matches in bra's or any where they could. one girl had hidden matches in the area of the machine. it was switched on and the room exploded. my grand mother was left in the rubble. she felt blood on her face and murmering from inches above her. it turned out it was blood from another girl in the rubble above her and the murmering was the girl giving herself her last rites. she also said there was a straffing by a german plane as she was walking to the tea hall. my grandmother told me all the above when she was in her sixties. she had a good memory but given the horrors of war things may have got muddled. paul
  2. hi there. i was looking for information on the munitions factory in hereford and found a thread here. i have some info to add to the thread. paul
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