Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) were
Origin
Prior to the 1930s, Britain's ordnance manufacturing capability had been concentrated within the
Development
The majority of the ROFs were built during the
The Royal Arsenal designed many of the ROFs and was also the agent for the construction of all of the Rifles ROFs, the Medium Machine ROF and the Small Arms Ammunition ROFs. The Ministry of Supply, the Ministry of Works, and two other private companies were agents for the construction of the remaining ROFs.[1]
Other Second World War explosive factories
A number of Second World War
Agency factories
Some of the ROF filling factories built later, during the Second World War, were government-owned, but managed, as agency factories, by private companies unconnected with the explosives industry. For example,
Location of the ROFs
The new ROFs were to be built in areas regarded as "relatively safe". Until 1940, this meant from
Siting of the individual ROFs north and west of this line was of vital importance. ROFs involved with explosive manufacture or filling needed, on safety grounds, to be located away from centres of population. They needed access to good transport links, such as railways, the availability of adequate workers within reasonable travelling distance, and a plentiful guaranteed supply of clean process water. To avoid the danger of frozen explosives, they tended to be located at or just above sea level. Some ROFs located in Wales and Scotland were the result of political lobbying as these areas had high unemployment rates in the 1930s. The ROFs were guarded by what was to become the Ministry of Defence Police.
Responsibilities and functions
The Royal Ordnance Factories were set up with six generic types of factories:
- Engineering ROFs
- Explosive ROFs
- small armsammunition (SAA) filling factories
- Medium Machine Shops, specifically ROF Patricroft
- Rifles ROFs, specifically ROF Fazakerley and ROF Maltby
- Small arms ammunition (SAA) factories
The three main types were: engineering, filling and explosives.
The largest ROFs tended to be the explosive ROFs and the filling factories, as these needed an explosives safeguarding zone around the perimeter of the factory, as well as separation, or reduced separation and traverses between buildings. ROF Bishopton occupied over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) and ROF Chorley was 900 acres (3.6 km2).
Management of the ROFs
Each ROF tended to be self-contained, apart from its
The UK's ROFs were set up and operated as production factories. The design of
Workforce
In 1942, Sir Andrew Duncan reported to the House of Commons that 300,000 people were employed in the 42 Royal Ordnance factories (24 engineering, 8 explosives, and 10 filling factories), of whom 60% were women. Many were girls with secondary school education. MPs voiced concerns about large numbers of workers occupying factories and workers' hostels designed with a lower capacity, and also stated the need to retain open spaces in the hostels in case workers' homes were destroyed in a blitz.[4]
Post-war history
Closures of temporary ROFs
A number of the ROFs were designated temporary, for use during the war's duration only. They closed shortly after the end of the Second World War. Other ROFs were designated permanent and they remained open into more recent times. In 1957, a Defence white paper led to a reorganisation of the aircraft industry, a restructuring of the British Army and a concentration on missile systems. A number of the permanent ROFs closed in the late 1950s, after the end of the Korean War. Others closed in the 1970s. The largest of these, based at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, closed in March 1967.[5]
The temporary ROFs, or ROFs which closed in the 1950s and 1970s, tended to be taken over by other government departments. Some closed ROFs and
Part of
Trading fund
In July 1974, the Royal Ordnance Factories were set up as a
Privatisation of the remaining ROFs
As part of its
On 2 January 1985 the majority of the Royal Ordnance Factories were vested in the UK government-owned company Royal Ordnance plc. It was bought by British Aerospace in 1987.[7] The Ministry of Defence Police left most of the ROFs on or within a few years of privatisation.
The small number of ROFs involved in
See also
- Filling factories
- List of prisons in the United Kingdom
- List of Royal Ordnance Factories
- Royal Arsenal
- Royal Small Arms Factory
- Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills
- Ruddington Depot
References
References
- ^ Kohan (1952).
- ^ Bates (n/d).
- ^ Hornby (1958) Chapter IX.
- ^ "Commons Debate: Royal Ordnance Factories (1942-08-05)". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ISBN 978-0-300-18722-9. p. 184.
- ^ Nevell, Roberts and Smith (1999), Chapter 5: "From Royal Ordnance Factory to Plc, 1957–1984".
- ISBN 0-262-22033-4, page 173.
Bibliography
- Bates, H. E.(n/d). The Tinkers of Elstow: The story of the Royal Ordnance Factory managed by J. Lyons & Company Limited for the Ministry of Supply during the World War of 1939–1945. London: n/p.
- Bowditch, M.R. & Hayward, L. (1996). A Pictorial Record of the Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Health. Warham: Finial Publishing. ISBN 1-900467-01-1.
- Hay, Ian. (1949). R.O.F.: The Story of the Royal Ordnance Factories: 1939 – 48. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Hornby, William. (1958). Factories and Plant: (Her Majesty's Stationery Officeand Longmans, Green and Co.
- Kohan, C.M. (1952). Works and Buildings: (Her Majesty's Stationery Officeand Longmans, Green and Co.
- Nevell, Mike, Roberts, John & Smith, Jack. (1999). A History of Royal Ordnance Factory, Chorley. Trowbridge: Carnegie Publishing. ISBN 1-85936-063-7.