Helen Forrest Martin nee McDougall - Munitions Worker

Munition Worker's Veterans badge

I was recently issued with a commemorative Munition Worker's Veterans badge for front line duty by BAE Systems Heritage Department in recognition of the valuable work of my grandparents Helen Forrest McDougall and Robert Conway Martin at ICI Ardeer in Stevenston, Ayrshire during the Second World War.  

Along with the badge, I was sent a copy of a letter from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Unfortunately the Palace has stated that the letter cannot be published, but the letter recognises "the remarkable courage and sacrifice of these individuals during a time of National Emergency".  

The letter and badge were made available as the result of a campaign by the Munitions Workers Association over many years. 

During the Second World War alone, there were over 3.5 million women who worked under the banner of Munitions, from shell production and filling to the construction of aeroplanes and tanks.

They endured gruelling shift patterns, exposure to toxins, and the threat that if they made an error during production it could cost the lives of the entire factory. Many women lost limbs, suffered with lung conditions for the duration of their lives, and lost babies who were stillborn due to the chemicals in which they worked. 

After the War, the women were largely forgotten, their stories left untold. A forgotten army of millions. Their courage, sacrifice and determination provided the Armed Forces with the materials to win the war. 

Nobel Industries Limited was founded in 1870 by Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel for the production of the new explosive dynamite in the United Kingdom. Ardeer, on the coast at Ayrshire, was chosen for the company's first factory. The business later diversified into the production of blasting gelatine, gelignite, ballistite, guncotton, and cordite. 

In 1926, the firm merged with several other companies creating a new group, Imperial Chemical Industries, then one of Britain's largest firms. Nobel Industries continued as the ICI Nobel division of the company.

Old Site Offices, Ardeer, ICI Nobel, Ayrshire
Rosser1954, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ICI Ardeer was commonly known locally as the 'factory' or the 'Dinnamite'. At the time the company generally provided higher quality employment regarding terms and conditions and pension rights than other local firms. At its peak, the site employed almost 13,000 workers in a fairly remote location. The Ardeer site was its own community with enough employees on site that a bank, a travel agency, and a dentist were located on the site.

The former Western Scottish Bus Company provided tens of buses per day to transport the workers to and from the site, and until the mid-1960s, there were even two trains per day to transport workers to a station within the factory which was used solely for workers and any special visitors with business in the ICI plant, and was never a regular passenger stop. The abandoned platform remains, hidden beneath dense undergrowth.

Our family has had a long association with the factory since the early 1900s. 

My great aunt, Caroline McDougall also worked as a munitions worker during the Second World War the following extract from a letter from her father to her sister in 1941 indicating that she was on the three to eleven shift. As Carrie lived in Glasgow, no doubt she used the private railway to travel to and from work.   

Letter from Alexander McDougall to his daughter, Helen dated 3 April 1941

My grandfather, Robert Conway Martin was also working as a Explosives Worker at the time of his marriage to Helen in 1938 as was his father, James Martin. His sister, Sarah Martin was also described as an Explosives Worker at the time of her marriage to Harry Catt in 1945. 

Marriage Certificate - Robert Conway Martin and Helen Forrest McDougall - 1938

My great grandfather, James Martin had worked at the ICI from at least 1911 when he is listed on the 1911 census with his sister, Lizzie McNeilly and her family. It is believed he and his brothers, John and William moved from Ireland to work at the factory. 

James' father-in-law, Robert Conway (my 2 x great grandfather) was also recorded as a labourer at Nobel's Factory at the time of the 1911 census. He advanced to the position of foreman before his retirement. 

Both Helen's parents, Alexander Murray McDougall and Caroline Anstey Garrett also worked as Explosive Workers at the time of their marriage in 1911. 

Marriage Certificate - Alexander Murray McDougall and Caroline Anstey Garrett - 1911

The following video was released this week by Shifting Sands and is dedicated to all who served, in whatever capacity, at Nobel Explosives / ICI, during all wars. It shows some fascinating graffiti left - in pencil - by those who worked at the former Cordite "press hooses" on the old Nobel site during the Second World War.  

Video courtesy of Shifting Sands Facebook Group 

Note  

You can click on any of the images to enlarge them.

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 Click here to Apply for a munitions worker’s veterans badge