The
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The Chilwell
EXPLOSION
While Beeston has many claims to fame to loudly boast about, the Chilwell Explosion is one spoken of with hushed reverence. The most devastating single explosion of the First World War didn’t happen on the killing fields of Ypres or Passchendaele, but here at what was then the National Shell Filling Factory. The factory had been set up in 1915 in response to the ‘shell crisis,’ where munitions were in short supply in the increasingly entrenched war. It would go on to produce over the half of the shells used in the war, a staggering 19 million explosives. The workforce there swiftly became known as the ‘Canary Girls’ due to the jaundicing effect of the chemicals they worked with. For many women, the experience was a liberating one, as they could earn an independent income, while learning new skills, from shell polishing to crane driving. It all went terribly wrong on July 1st 1918. For reasons that still remain a mystery, a huge explosion ripped through a shed as 8 tonnes of TNT
exploded. The blast wiped out 139, injuring twice that, and was heard well over twenty miles away. Very little of the dead was found and identified. Remarkably, the factory was back in production the very next day, and back up to peak capacity within a month. The bravery of those who continued to work, knowing what tremendous danger could befall them, is worthy of that being shown over in France and Belgium. To mark the tragedy, an ambitious art project will be put on all over Beeston by art group Excavate, headed up by Andy Barrett, who has already run some jaw-dropping live events in Bramcote Woods. Andy said, “We’re doing this because we want to tell what we think is an incredible story in a range of ways to try and engage with as many people as possible.” “Our hope is that by doing this we may also be able to generate interest in creating something even more ambitious in two years time for the centenary of the event.” A final, rather excellent fact. You’d think anyone who remembers the blast would be long dead, yes? Well no. The first memory of Professor Dan Eley, whose centenary we marked here last year, was of being blown from his high chair by the blast. He would later to come up with science that would greatly improve the safety of explosives. How wonderful is that? LB