War Activities

When war broke out in August, 1914, the manufacturing community, having had no experience of a great war for one hundred years, was without landmarks, or guide posts, to give any indication of the probable course of events and the best method of procedure. Moreover, no previous war in the history of the world gave any suggestion of the industrial requirements of a modern war on a big scale.

As it was rightly expected that orders for safes and locks would fall off, and that it would be a matter of some difficulty to keep the works going, Messrs. Chubb reduced working hours in order to carry on as long as possible. The catch phrase "Business as usual" was the expression of a patriotic endeavour to minimize unemployment and maintain the credit of the country.

Soon came Kitchener's call for the first 100,000 men, quickly increased to 300,000. All Army Reserve men had already left, and manufacturers generally encouraged enlistment, not only because the Army needed men, but because factories did not. It is interesting to recall this phase in the light of subsequent events, when every man who could be spared from the Army was competed for by various works to such an extent that a system of Leaving Certificates and Tribunals had to be set up in every town to check the competition for, and movement of, labour; and a new working population of women and girls had to be created to fill the extraordinary demand.

The Directors of Chubb and Sons, like many other employers, encouraged the enlistment of their younger men, and whilst promising reinstatement after the war, as far as possible, undertook to pay to each soldier the difference between his Army pay and peace time earnings. A large number joined the Army at that period.

A few months elapsed and the country was roused by the official declaration of shortage of shells, and the Ministry of Munitions was set up to organise supplies; from one end of the land to the other the engineering industry was organised with a view to their production. In June, 1915, Chubb and Sons ordered a complete set of machines, to form a unit for the manufacture of 4.5 inch H.E. shell, which was at that time, and indeed all through the war, one of the shells most in demand. These machines were installed in a part of Chubb's Safe Works, at Wednesfield Road, Wolverhampton, and men skilled as safe makers and door makers, but novices at lathe work, were trained to their use, and continued working day and night in double shifts till the end of 1916. Then the demand for men, both for the Army and for industry, had become so acute that it was found necessary to disband these now trained shell workers and to replace them at the machines by women and girls, nearly all of them hitherto strangers to machinery and factory life. A number of the men who were thus displaced were promoted to the position of charge hands, tool setters and tool makers.

The introduction of women in large numbers made it necessary to effect certain alterations in the factory buildings. A canteen was provided, with excellent kitchen, dining room, cloakroom, lavatory with hot and cold water, first aid accommodation, rest room, etc., this department being presided over by Mrs. Kidson, a Lady Welfare Supervisor, with her own staff. At first the women worked day and night in three shifts of eight hours each, but after several months' trial it was considered advisable to change to two shifts of ten hours each, which continued till the end of the war.

Towards the end of 1916, in response to the imperative call for shells and still more shells, the directors determined to double the plant engaged on 4 inch H.E. shells, and at the same time to open a separate unit for 18 pounder shrapnel. This additional machinery was duly installed, and staffed by previously untrained women.

Early in 1915 there was a demand for motor cars carrying light armour, and for some time work proceeded continuously, at furnace and anvil, on the provision of armour for this purpose. At a later date, when tanks made their appearance on the battlefield, similar work was undertaken on the somewhat heavier armour which they carried. All through the war the demand for linch pins of various kinds, for gun limbers, etc., was continuous and almost insatiable. More women and girls were brought in as machine operators to produce these.

Wolverhampton Safe Works, showing some of the munitions machines in 1918.

After the events which occurred at the Italian front in the summer of 1917, the resources of this country were further drawn upon, and increased methods of manufacture were improvised. To make it possible to use ordinary planing machines in the formation of guns from the rough forgings, a form copying device was introduced, and a large number of form bars, all exactly alike, were required for distribution over the country. Chubb and Sons undertook the production of these heavy form bars, and afterwards made use of some of them on their own planing machines to fashion the guns themselves from the solid forgings. Again women were installed as machine tenders on the heavy planing machines.

The longer the war proceeded, the greater the demand grew for tanks of various sizes and designs. Some slight indication of the number being needed was shown by the fact that during the last few months of the war Chubb and Sons manufactured not less than 24,000 revolving peephole covers, the somewhat peculiar little mechanism for protecting the eyes of the observers and gunners inside the tank.

At the time when the armistice was declared, extensive preparations had been made and plant laid down to enable the firm to carry out large contracts in connection with tank construction, but with the cessation of hostilities this work was immediately closed down.

By the end of 1918 all shell contracts had been concluded, and machines were immediately taken out and collected for disposal, and the works generally restored to the lines of its pre war activities.

As regards Chubb's Lock Works, many of the younger men volunteered and joined the army, which necessitated looking round for others to take their places, and this meant the first introduction of female labour in making Chubb locks and keys. A number of young girls were selected, out of which some were sent to the Staffordshire County Metallurgical and Engineering Institute at Wednesbury, for instruction in the art of filing, lathe work, etc. Some of the girls made rapid progress and soon became proficient at their work, and it was not long before galvanised iron padlocks, keys, etc., were made throughout by women.

One of the early Government orders received at the lock works was for very signal pistols, which necessitated changing men and youths from their several occupations to the then more important work of munitions; the progress made at first was rather slow, but the work when completed was up to the very best standard, being considered by experts in the firearms trade to be equal to any they had seen. Other Government contracts followed, including swivel pilings, extractor springs, etc., for rifles, quite a new line of business, calling for much thought and care, and also for further alteration in the premises and the installation of a special plant of lathes, profiling machines, hardening appliances, etc., and the training of men, boys, and girls. Expense was not spared by the firm, their sole object being to turn out the work to the satisfaction of the Ministry.

In addition many kinds of locks and locking apparatus were made for various government departments. Perhaps the most important and precise work made by locksmiths in our shops was that of gauge making, which necessitates absolutely exact filing and grinding, and this was successfully undertaken by our leading men. From these brief particulars it will be seen that the Chubb firm, when one hundred years old, was indicating its vitality by new and quite unaccustomed activities in the service of the country.