The memorial to munitions workers of National Filling Factory No.6, Chilwell is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on the north side of Chetwynd Road inside

Chetwynd Barracks Chetwynd Barracks is a military installation at Chilwell in Nottinghamshire. History The Chilwell depot and barracks were built for the Royal Army Ordnance Corps shortly after the First World War on the former site of the National Shell Filling ...

, in

Chilwell Chilwell is a village and residential suburb of Nottingham, in the borough of Broxtowe of Nottinghamshire, west of Nottingham city. Until 1974 it was part of Beeston and Stapleford Urban District, having been in Stapleford Rural District until ...

, near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. It commemorates the workers who died in accidents at

National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell The National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell, was a World War I United Kingdom Government-owned explosives Filling Factory. Its formal title was National Filling Factory No. 6. It was located near Chilwell, at that time a village, in Nottinghams ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, particularly the large explosion on 1 July 1918. The large free-standing pyramidal monument, enclosed by chains carried on shell casings, was unveiled in 1919 and became a Grade II

in 1987.

Background

Munitions production in the UK expanded considerably after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, but production failed to keep pace with the demand, with shortages leading to a

Shell Scandal The Shell Crisis of 1915 was a shortage of artillery shells on the front lines in the First World War that led to a political crisis in the United Kingdom. Previous military experience led to an over-reliance on shrapnel to attack infantry in th ...

in 1915. The

Munitions of War Act 1915 The Munitions of War Act 1915 was a British Act of Parliament passed on 2 July 1915 during the First World War. It was designed to maximize munitions output and brought private companies supplying the armed forces under the tight control of the ne ...

gave the government the power to establish different types of National Factories. National Filling Factory No 6 was established in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, as a

filling factory A filling factory was a manufacturing plant that specialised in filling various munitions, such as bombs, shells, cartridges, pyrotechnics, and screening smokes. In the United Kingdom, during both world wars of the 20th century, the majority of ...

, where empty shell casings that were manufactured elsewhere could be filled with explosives. It opened in February 1916, to fill

high explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

shells of or larger calibres, with

amatol Amatol is a highly explosive material made from a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate. The British name originates from the words ammonium and toluene (the precursor of TNT). Similar mixtures (one part dinitronaphthalene and seven parts ammoniu ...

, usually made on site by mixing one part

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

to four parts

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...

. The factory was under the oversight and management of

Viscount Chetwynd Viscount Chetwynd, of Bearhaven in the County of Kerry, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1717 for Walter Chetwynd, with remainder to the issue male of his father John Chetwynd. He was made Baron Rathdowne, in the County of ...

, who introduced special features to improve efficiency and safety: by 1916 it was filling 130,000 shells with 900 tons of amatol each week. In its first two years of operations, there were several small isolated explosions at the factory that killed one or two people each. A massive explosion occurred on the evening of 1 July 1918 when 8 tons of explosives were detonated, destroyed the Mixing House, the Mixing House Extension, the TNT Mill, the TNT Stores, and other buildings. The blast affected buildings up to away. The explosion killed 134 people, accounting for more than half of the 218 fatalities at in National Filling Factories during the First World War. The dead including 25 women, and all of the workers in the Mixing House and TNT Mill, but only 32 of the bodies could be identified. Another 250 people were injured. Fires caused by the explosion were brought under control within half an hour, preventing another 15 tons of TNT exploding. Despite the widespread damage, rapid repairs allowed the factory to continue its shell filling work the next day. Mass Grave in St

The dead were buried in mass graves at the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in Attenborough. A Home Office committee published its report into the explosion on 7 August, and the police investigated suspicions of sabotage. Neither conclusively identified the cause of the explosion. For their acts of bravery during the incident, twelve workers were awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

, and the works manager Arthur Hilary Bristowe, who tipped burning TNT from conveyor belt trays in the TNT Mill, received the

Edward Medal The Edward Medal was a British civilian decoration which was instituted by royal warrant on 13 July 1907 to recognise acts of bravery of miners and quarrymen in endangering their lives to rescue their fellow workers. The medal was named in hono ...

. The site later became a

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

Depot, and it is still within the restricted area of

. File:Shell Filling Factory Chilwell 1915 IWM Q 30055.jpg, View of the Filling Factory in Chilwell in 1915 File:Munitions Production on the Home Front, 1914-1918 Q30035.jpg, Painting shells in the National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell. July 1917 File:MUNITIONS FACTORIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR HU96430.jpg, The shell store at the National Shell Filling Factory at Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, on 5 November 1918

Memorial

The memorial stands on the north side of Chetwynd Road, near where the factory's Mixing House stood, at or near the seat of the explosion. It commemorates all those killed at the factory in addition to the 134 killed in July 1918. It was built by the factory's workmen, under the supervision of the factory's construction manager, Mr SA Kay. The structure comprises a large concrete truncated square pyramid, standing on three steps and topped by a short obelisk. Around the top step are mounted shell casings joined by chains, all painted white, with an opening to the road at the front. It is surrounded on three sides by a low wall and hedge. Ashlar panels on the faces of the pyramid bear inscriptions with a dedication and names. The front panel facing the road bears Lord Chetwynd's monogram, and the main dedicatory inscription: "ERECTED / TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE / MEN AND WOMEN / WHO LOST THEIR LIVES BY EXPLOSIONS / AT THE NATIONAL SHELL FILLING FACTORY / CHILWELL / 1916 TO 1918" and then statistical details of the factory's output "PRINCIPAL HISTORICAL FACTS / OF THE FACTORY / FIRST SOD TURNED 13TH SEPTEMBER 1915 / FIRST SHELL FILLED 8TH JANUARY 1916 / NUMBER OF SHELLS FILLED / WITHIN ONE YEAR OF / CUTTING THE FIRST SOD / 1,200,000 / TOTAL SHELLS FILLED / 19,359,000 / REPRESENTING 50.8% OF THE TOTAL / OUTPUT OF HIGH EXPLOSIVE SHELL / BOTH LYDDITE AND AMATOL 60PD TO 15INCH / PRODUCED IN GREAT BRITAIN DURING THE WAR / TOTAL TONNAGE OF EXPLOSIVE USED / 121,360 TONS / TOTAL WEIGHT OF FILLED SHELL / 1,100,000 TONS". The memorial was unveiled on 13 March 1919 by

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland William John Arthur Charles James Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland, (28 December 1857 – 26 April 1943), known as William Cavendish-Bentinck until 1879, was a British landowner, courtier, and Conservative politician. He notably ser ...

. A later bronze plaque with a military badge was added after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, which bears the further dedication "TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND / IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE / THEIR LIVES IN TWO WORLD WARS / AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN / AND IN THE MORNING / WE WILL REMEMBER THEM / THEIR NAME LIVETH / FOR EVERMORE". The memorial was re-dedicated on 30 June 1968, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the 1918 explosion. A further bronze plaque records the unveiling of the restored monument by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence

James Boyden Harold James Boyden (19 October 1910 – 26 September 1993) was a British Labour Party politician. Boyden was educated at Tiffin Boys' School, Kingston upon Thames, and King's College London.

References

Memorial to workers of National Filling Factory No.6, Chilwell
National Heritage List for England, Historic England
National Shell Filling Factory Explosion
War Memorials Register, Imperial War Museums
National Shell Filling Factory Explosion
War Memorials Online Monuments and memorials in Nottinghamshire Grade II listed buildings in Nottinghamshire