HEROIC MUNITION WORKERS.

Taihape Daily Times, 25 November 1918, Page 5

HEROIC MUNITION WORKERS.

RESCUES AFTER EXPLOSION

A recent explosion at a Midlands munitions factory was the occasion of a display'of heroism on the part of the men and women workers which rivals that shown in any recorded disaster. The disaster .occurred at ten minutes past seven in the evening. One hundred and thirty-four workpeople were killed; over 150 injured. The building of three floors where the explosion occurred was totally destroyed. The works hospital, canteens, and many minor buildings were severely damaged. Yet almost before the echoes of the detonation had died away, certainly’ before the dust had settled, the work of succouring the wounded had begun. Hundreds of men

who had worked on the day shift returned to the factory on hearing the explosion, and laboured —as did the night shift also—through the night and the following day also. Skilled men toiled as common labourers. Within two and a-half hours the wounded were rescued, their hurts dressed, their removal to their homes or hospital completed. Production at the factory was resumed within two days, and within a week it equalled half the normal output. " Magnificent devotion to duty was shown by four men, who worked throughout the night on a heap of ruins formed by the collapse of a mill. Hearing a man’s voice they steadily made a way through the iron girders and debris till finally they found their man pinned down by a girder and a thick teak door. Work was possible for only one man at a time, so they toiled In relays, hutting their way through door and pipes till, at 9.30 the following morning, they extricated him, happily alive. Many workers—both men and women—who were injured insisted on “carrying on” until exhaustion compelled them to desist. One such man [ cut off all the steam and drew hla fires; another, without having a head wound dressed, organised rescue parties and -worked through the night. A woman canteen helper was thrown off her bicycle outside the factory, partially stunned, and received injuries to her ankles. On recovering sufficiently she reported to the Red Cross station, and worked until all the injured had received attention. A woman in the shell stores was severely cut in the back with falling glass, but she rendered first aid until she herself was removed on a stretcher. Yet another who had been blown through a close boarded fence, assisted with the injured also. The telephone operator (who lost a leg in the battle of Loos) was at his instrument when the explosion occurred. The receiver was broken. Although suffering from shock, he nevertheless called the managing director, fire brigades and doctors, and warned local hospitals to prepare fer the injured.