The Gretna Girls was a collective nickname given to women munition workers at HM Factory Gretna in World War One. Women came from all over the United Kingdom to work at the factory, but many were drawn from the surrounding areas of Scotland and Northern England. [1]
The Gretna Girls were a small part of the one million women who worked in munitions during World War One. [2] The makeup of The Gretna Girls reflected the countrywide trends for munitions workers: the majority were working class young women. [3] However, as Chris Brader points out, unusually for Government factories, munition workers at Gretna came from an even younger demographic—a large proportion was under eighteen years of age. [4] There were no creche facilities at Gretna, unlike other munition factories. [3] The highest number of women employed at the factory was 11,576 in 1917, but this figure dropped to 6,285 by October 1918. [4]
The influx of workers to the factory led to the building of two townships, Eastriggs and Gretna. Many of the Gretna Girls lived in group hostels which were staffed by matrons. [1] These temporary buildings were bitterly cold in the winter and the women living there had little to no privacy—with only curtains separating sleeping areas. The huge scale of the buildings of these townships and accommodation had an impact on the local area. In 1916, the State Management Scheme was introduced in Carlisle and Gretna. This scheme involved the nationalisation of the brewing and selling of alcohol, bringing both under state control. The rationalisation for this introduction was the protection of morals of the munition workers. [5] In addition to this, the factory was patrolled by the newly formed Women's Police Service. The women police's duties involved the searching of munitions workers for contraband items, and the maintaining of their morals. [4]
Some Gretna Girls were exposed to dangerous chemicals and fumes in the course of their work at the factory. [1] Many women reported feeling dizzy, and some lost their hair, teeth, and their skin turned a shade of yellow. [4] Many attributed later health problems to their war work. [4]
There were also accidents and explosions at the factory. Victoria May McIver was working in the Cotton Preparation Department when she had an accident that led to her losing part of her left arm. [6] She presented Queen Mary and King George V with a bouquet of flowers on their royal visit to the factory in 1917. [6]
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance. These produce a subsonic deflagration wave rather than the supersonic detonation wave produced by brisants, or high explosives. The hot gases produced by burning gunpowder or cordite generate sufficient pressure to propel a bullet or shell to its target, but not so quickly as to routinely destroy the barrel of the gun.
Gretna is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, originally part of the historic county of Dumfriesshire. It is located close to the A74(M) on the border of Scotland and England and near the mouth of the River Esk. It is the most southeasterly settlement in Scotland.
Longtown is a market town in Cumbria, England, just south of the Scottish Border. It has a sheep market which was at the centre of the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis. Just south-west of Longtown is Arthuret Church, dedicated to Saint Michael and All Angels.
A filling factory was a manufacturing plant that specialised in filling various munitions, such as bombs, shells, cartridges, pyrotechnics, and screening smokes. In the United Kingdom, during both world wars of the 20th century, the majority of the employees were women.
H. M. Factory, Gretna was Britain's largest cordite factory in World War I. The government-owned facility was adjacent to the Solway Firth, near Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway. It was built by the Ministry of Munitions in response to the Shell Crisis of 1915. The capital cost was £9,184,000 and it covered 9,000 acres (3,600 ha). The cost of working it from September 1916 to September 1918 was £12,769,000, during which time it produced cordite valued at £15,000,000, though it was claimed that without it the cordite would have had to be imported from the USA at a cost of £23,600,000.
Eastriggs is a small village located in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland, the village is located around 2 mi (3.2 km) north of the mud and sandbanks of the channel of the River Eden, which extends west into the Solway Firth.
Women in World War I were mobilized in unprecedented numbers on all sides. The vast majority of these women were drafted into the civilian work force to replace conscripted men or to work in greatly expanded munitions factories. Thousands served in the military in support roles, and in some countries many saw combat as well.
Cyril Percy Callister was an Australian chemist and food technologist who developed the Vegemite yeast spread. As well as Vegemite, he is known for his contributions towards processed cheese.
Barnbow was a small settlement situated near the city of Leeds in the township and parish of Barwick in Elmet. The site is noted as the location of a munitions factory founded during the First World War. It was officially known as National Filling Factory No. 1. In 1916 a massive explosion killed 35 of the women who worked there.
Dorothée Aurélie Marianne Pullinger, MBE was a pioneering automobile engineer and businesswoman.
Munitionettes were British women employed in munitions factories during the time of the First World War.
Gretna Margaret Weste was a leading scientist noted for her work in plant pathology and mycology, specifically with Phytophthora cinnamomi.
Herbert Womersley (1889–1962) was an entomologist whose works were especially concerned with mites and ticks, silverfish and flies. His research into the diversity of Australian resulted in descriptions of new insect taxa.
Albert Marsden was an Australian cricketer. He played in five first-class matches for Queensland between 1919 and 1921. During World War I he had worked at the munitions plant, HM Factory Gretna.
Maud Ellen Bruce was a forewoman and a member of the fire brigade at H.M. Factory Gretna during World War I. She was also the recipient of an O.B.E. for her actions at the factory. In World War Two she worked at ROF Aycliffe, where during an accident with some ammunition, she was severely burnt. She lived to be 100 years old and was one of the first women in Britain to receive plastic surgery.
Euphemia Culbert Cunningham OBE BEM was a World War One munitions worker at HM Factory, Gretna, who was the first person from Edinburgh to be awarded a Medal of the Order of the British Empire for her bravery in rescuing injured workers, during an explosion in the cordite factory.
Agnes Marshall Cowan MRCOG was a Scottish physician who was one of the first fully qualified female physicians in the UK, and a medical missionary in Manchuria during the Manchurian plague. She oversaw medical issues in the "Devil's Porridge" explosive factory at Gretna serving the demand for explosives during the First World War.
Helga Gill (1885-1928) was a Norwegian-British suffragette. She was an organiser for the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and campaigned on behalf of Women's Suffrage across the UK.
Agnes Barr Auchencloss was a Scottish medical officer. She is best known for her work at the World War I munitions factory H.M. Factory Gretna. She is included in the University of Glasgow Roll of Honour.
Mabel Farrer was one of the first female police officers in the United Kingdom and Cumbria's first female Special Constable.