WOOLWICH ARSENAL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 670, 24 October 1933, Page 7

WOOLWICH ARSENAL

EXCITING DAYS - GISBORNE MAN'S INTERESTING EXPERIEN OES DURING THE WAR. HOW BIG GUNS ARE MADE. A most interesting address on Woolwich Arsenal, where he worked for three and a half years during the war, was given at the Gisborne Rotary Club recently by Mr. H. G. Somervell, a son of the late Mr. John Somervell, of Gisborne. The chair was oecupied by Rotaraan Tyeignan. In thej course of his remarks, Mr. Somervell staited: — Woolwich Arsenal is a town within a town, and covers an1 area of about five miles square. In tbe piping times of peace it employed 5000 people. During the tremendous activitiies induced by the grcat struggle to prevent German domination, 70,000 menj and 30,000 girls were employed throughout the whole 24 hours, in 12hour shifts. The larsenal is bounded by the River Thaanes on one sida and a high brick wall| on the other. Its reticulation of railways, huge hydraulic hammers capable of exerting a pressure of 20001b to the square inch, and bustling loeomotives hauling huge loiads to and- fro in different parts of the arsenal, supply a faint picture of what was then the gxeatest bive of dndustry dn the world, reputed to excel even the celebrated German arsenal at Essen. Big PayroIL The payroll approximated £500,000 a week, whidh' kept a staff constanfcly moving from factory to factory paying the employees. Naturally, with 25,000 persdns streaming in and out of the four entrance gates- at about the sa.me time, a system of knock-off and starting time was necessary to prevent the stream going in blocking the stream coming out. This was overcome by making various times' for eommencing and cessation of work, which were 6, 7 land 8 o'cloek morning and evening. Each worker was relievcd by another at the end of 12

hours, so that a worker on the 6 -o'clock shift, for dnstance, was coming in the gate at 5.45 and the one just relieved would be going out at 6.15. The 7 o'clock shift would com-"-ence straggiing in at 6.30 and those finishing would be going out at 7.15. Similarly the 8 o'clock shift would have a clear course dn and out of the gates. Strict Control. Admission to the arsenal during these hours was fairly easy. Exit was ia bit difficult. The outgoing multitude was compelled to pass through a line of police standing about two paces apart. TI13 policeman proandscuously touched departing workers on >the shoulder, which meant that the person touched was required ■to suhmit to a police seaxch at the end of the line, which usually occupied about 10 seconds, the poli'ceman running his hands over the workman as he would a pickpocket or a man suspected of concealing a firearm. No umbrage was taken and the seareh was submitted to as a matter of course. No distinction was made by the policemen in selecting the class of employee to be searchea; a high official was just as likely to be "touched" as the lowliest workman. Anyone entering what is known as the "danger building" was called upon to | tsuxrender pipes, matches and cigarettes, and df a soldier was wearing spurs they had to he removed. Members of the Royal family visiting the arsenal were not excepted from the latter regulations. Dominion Recruits. During the whole period of the war there was a great dearth of skilled rnen to man the lathesand boring machines, so much so that the Mimstry of Munitions ha.d to go further afield for skilled labour. The resources of - Australia, Canada and South Africa were tapped for skilled engineers, with the result that 5000 Australians, 9000 Canadians and 2000 South Africans were recruited and shipped to England. The dependants of these men left at home were paid upon the same scale as that of the sergeants of their respective countries on active service. These men were distributed over the munition factories of Briitain. It was commonly said that the war was won in the workshops. This ■statement may have been true of the British workshops during the latter end of the war, hut it was far from being so during the earlier years. However, we will leave that aspect in the meantime and turn to the rnanufacture of naval and field guns. Work on Big Cannon. The construction of a 15-inch naval gun commences With' a huge round billet of steel 12 feet long and five feet in diameter. A hole 12 inches in diameter is bored right through the centre. This openation is called "trepanning," the effect of which is that a eore 10 inches in diameter the full length of the billet comes out of the eentre. The billet with the 12inch hole through it is made red hot and under the. hydraulic"' hammer is pressed to a length of ahout 60 feet and 18 inches dn diameter. The inside bore still remaining at the original diameter of 12 inches at the eompletion of the operation. This is the inner tube in dts rough state, and is ready for machining in one of the leviathan lathes. Few would credit the f act that there are 90 miles of steel wire ribbon beneath the burnished surface of a 15inch gun. This steel wire ribbon is slightly under a quiarter of an inch wide and 3-64-in thick, and is wound on the inner tubes from a huge drum at a| tension strain of 40 tons. So tightly is the wire wound' that the j bore of the gun actually contracts to a smaller size after the wirdng process is complefced. This difference in size is called "eompression," a certain amount of which is essential to safety, and proves tthe workmanship of the job. Wire inefficiently wound would be one cause of a gun bursting, and meticulous care is therefore taken to obtain the highest eflficiency in workmanship. It might also surprdse many to know thiait very few inner tubes or barrels o f long naval or field guns can be bored exactly straight. There is usually a bend in the bore. The gun sighter possesses instruments for de-

tecting the side ihe hend in on and the gun sight is fitted to cause the shot to do high, not round the corner, or downwards. Limited Li'fe of Big Guns. Large guns are made in pieces and are not the solid hillets of steel they at first sight appear. The reductions in outside diameters, from breech to muzzle, are merely what are known as jaokets whfch are first heated and then shrunk on to the next smaller diameter, which usually h'as heen previously w7ired. The last operation on ihe gun is the rifiing. Grooves iare cut spirally in the barrel to give the projactile a spinning motion when travelling through space, ensuring great•er accuracy in shoobng. A 15-inch gun is required to fire a comparatively small number of shots, when the inner tube requires renewing,, although' our ships bombarding the Dardaniellss exceedcd the limit many liimes over. When a large gun requires a new inner tube or barrel, it is placed in a vcrtical position inside a huge furnace, unshrunk and taken to pieces, a new inner tube is fitted, the gun re-wound and re-rifled, all jackets re-shrunk, and it is once more ready for action. German Raids." Attc mpts to raid the arsenal WAre a frequent occurrence, hut were usually beaten off by tho arsenal batteries. The German airmen brd great difficulty in locating Woolwich at night, as the whole works and neighbourh'ood vrere plunged into pitch darkness long before the raiders could get within sight of them. In the course of time, crv Ti ari *Khp airp.ra.ff. rlp.fp.llF.RS

of the arsenal become that it was difficult for ia,n enemy to fly over it and live. On one oceasion during th'e bright midsummer's day a swarm of German aeroplanes attempted to get over th'e arsenal but were prevented by a curtain of fire from the arsenal hatt(erie!s. One battery commander told me afterwards that had they succeeded in getbing over the arsenal area it would have been even more difficult for them to escape as a curtain of fire could be placed on four sides, thus surrounding the raiders. During the early part of the war notices were posted in all factories giving- directions as to conduct in case of aircraft attack. The notices directed everyone to stand where they were and take pot-luck. These orders were soon countermainded when a number of men were killed on account of oheying th'e order and not seeking the shelter they could have taken. Dangerous Zeppelins. In the early part of thie war the arsenal was almost defenceless against aircraft attack. The first raid it was my experience to be in demonstrated to me the impotence of the defenders. Why the Germans did not keep up a constant bombardment day after day with relays of Zeppelins puzzled many. The Zeppelin was •ahout 600 feet long and attained SO' great an altitude that it looked like a silver oigar and only an extremely luclcy shot had a chance of finding it; dn fact, locating a needle in a. haystack might have heen more simple. In later years our aeroplanes attacked, hut their machdne-guns succeeded ■only in puncturing a few small compartments of the, Zeppelin envelope. . An explosive bullet, invented by a,n Invercargill man named Pomeroy, put an end to the cocksureness of the German airmen and quickly ended the Zeppelin menace to the arsenal and elsewhjere. Only the defenceless noncombatants of England know whiat a load of anxiety this bullet relieved. Scuttle for Shelter. Increased efficiency in th'e aircraft defences included wireless warnings of impending raids from the Navy patrolling the North Sea. The result was that the arsenal authorities sometimes had an hour's warning' of the coming attack. Work would proceed until the arsenal a-ir raid siren sounded the alarm. All lights would then be extinguished immiediately. This huge siren, hy the way, could be hcard from a distance of eaght miles. The arsenal population would seuttlie to whatever shelter was handy to stay half the night, whiling the hourS with community singing, shells zooming

overhead until the siren sounded the "All clear,'' when work would recomrnence. After an air raid on London the raiders in endeavouring to give a good account of themselves, usually reported a bombardment of th'e Woolwich arsenal, although probably they had not got within miles of it. The speaker eoneluded, with refer•ences to. labour troubles of the war period s0 far as they concerncd the arsenal.