}
Munitions and Mustard Gas
4.1.1.3 Munitions and mustard gas
‘Ventilation arrangements were absent. The result was, that after a few shifts work, the entire personnel became casualties’
Lieutenant Colonel A D Bacon, Managing Director of the gas-filling factory at Chittening, in a report to the Ministry of Munitions, August 1918
Over 60 firms in Bristol produced shells and ammunition for the Armed Forces, and 82% of the workforce were women. A large factory at St Phillips Marsh collected and finished the shells. Over the course of the war, over 3 million large shells were made in Bristol, with 45,000 produced per week in 1918. In 1918, a factory was built at Chittening near Henbury to fill shells with poison gas. The gas was made at a large factory at Avonmouth, and elsewhere in Britain. That October, the factory at Chittening produced nearly 60,000 gas shells, mostly too late for use in the conflict. Mustard gas was first used by the British against the Germans in September 1918. It caused horrendous injuries, including blindness, burns and damage to the lungs. Making the gas and filling shells was very dangerous for the workers; 1,300 women were injured at the Chittening factory, including 140 on a single morning.
Over 60 firms in Bristol produced shells and ammunition for the Armed Forces, and 82% of the workforce were women. A large factory at St Phillips Marsh collected and finished the shells. Over the course of the war, over 3 million large shells were made in Bristol, with 45,000 produced per week in 1918. In 1918, a factory was built at Chittening near Henbury to fill shells with poison gas. The gas was made at a large factory at Avonmouth, and elsewhere in Britain. That October, the factory at Chittening produced nearly 60,000 gas shells, mostly too late for use in the conflict. Mustard gas was first used by the British against the Germans in September 1918. It caused horrendous injuries, including blindness, burns and damage to the lungs. Making the gas and filling shells was very dangerous for the workers; 1,300 women were injured at the Chittening factory, including 140 on a single morning.