A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MUNITION WORKER [Main Title]

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  • Title: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MUNITION WORKER [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 510
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Manual work done by women at a British munitions factory (Chilwell, Nottingham), spring 1917.
  • Description: The young woman leaves her terraced house (section tinted blue) at 5am and takes the train to the factory (tinting ends). In the locker room she and the others change into overalls and boots, and clock on. She works on finishing 8-inch shells, pouring molten explosive in to top the cases up, capping them using a wheel to clear the screw threads, adding the detonator and stencilling them. A trolley takes another batch away. Other women, wearing masks against the fumes, top up heavier shells. The women are given a brief medical examination on site, lasting no more than a few seconds. In one suspect case a blood sample is taken. The women wear shifts to wash, which is compulsory before meals and on leaving the factory. A final close-up of the young woman, pretty without her mask and almost coy, "working for victory".
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (IWM 510)
  • Featured Period: 1914-1918
  • Production Date: 1917-07
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: War Office Cinema Committee (Production sponsor)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords: propaganda, British - inspirational (object name) industry, British - munitions (object name) medical, British civilian - preventative: examination (object name) society, British - domestic (object name) 31/3(41) (event) GB, England (geography) (concept)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W (part Tinted) Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: English Subtitle language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 701 ft; Running time: 12 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: According to an article in the Nottingham Evening Post, Saturday 8 February 2003, the factory shown is the National Shell-Filling Factory at Chilwell, Nottingham. It was destroyed in an explosion July 1 1918, with great loss of life. The railway station shown at the beginning is Attenborough station, according to the same source.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 510

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    IWM 1223 (DAILY LIFE IN THE NATIONAL SHELL FILLING FACTORY AT CHILWELL, NOTTINGHAM, DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR [Allocated Title])
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