Title:DAILY LIFE IN NATIONAL SHELL FILLING FACTORY No.6 AT CHILWELL DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR [Allocated Title]
Film Number:IWM 1223
Other titles:
Summary: Incomplete edited film with intertitles, filmed by cameramen operating for the War Office Cinematograph Committee, featuring daily life in National Shell Filling Factory No6 at Chilwell in Nottingham, during 1917.
Description: Opens with male workers with rows of 60 pounder shells. The workers are cleaning, marking and moving the shells. Chalk marks on the shell cases are visible, presumably to indicate shell type.
"Dignity and impudence - Fifteen inch shell and 60 pounder shells arriving in store to be marked" - Two very different sized shells on the factory floor.
Shell cases arrive by wagon and are unloaded by female workers wearing overalls.
"Marking tables" - Female workers mark the shells using stencils and paint to designate the shell type and format, ready for filling. The painted shell cases are then lined up in rows.
"Empty shells on left leaving store for filling shops: filled shells returning on right" - Shells are moved by trolley using a pulley system, one ramp going up, one ramp going down. Shells are lifted by crane onto wagons.
"Loaded shells entering store from filling shops" – Shells arrive in the store on the wagons.
"Filling and finishing shells" – Shells are filled, not all the workers are wearing masks at this point. Filled shells are moved by wagon.
"Preparing plugs for closing shells" – Female workers with a male supervisor prepare plugs for sealing the filled shells, dusting and oiling the plugs ready for a fuse to be inserted.
"Putting slings on smaller sized shells" – Filled shells are placed into wooden slings and moved by crane. Larger shells are rolled across the floor ready for packing. In some of the wider shots of the shell store the sheer size of the factory is quite evident. The cranes are operated by female workers, and it was in this role that the first women at the factory were employed.
"Loading a convoy of shells for our army at the front" – Shells are loaded by crane into railway trucks.
"Sheeting the convoy railway trucks" – The trucks are covered by tarpaulin ready for the journey.
"Girls leaving travelling cranes at close of work" – The female crane operators climb down from their cranes at the end of their shift.
"Operatives washing after work" – Male workers are seen washing their hands after their shift, the sheer range of ages of the workers is quite evident here. Film ends abruptly with no end titles.
Alternative Title:
Colour:B&W
Digitised:Yes
Object_Number:IWM 1223
Sound:Silent
Access Conditions:IWM
Featured Period:
Production Date:1917
Production Country: GB
Production Details: WAR OFFICE CINEMATOGRAPH COMMITTEE (Production sponsor)
