Image Bank
Hartlepool
Munitions Factory
This photograph shows women workers at the Munitions Factory in Aycliffe during World War II. The factory made and tested ammunition and explosives. The work was done mostly by women as the men were away in the armed forces. The cordite in the explosives left a fine yellow dust everywhere, leading to the women’s nickname of the ‘Yellow Canaries’. The work was so dangerous that they were also known as the ‘Suicide Squad’.
Workers were brought in to the factory from all over the region by trains. The factory was an enormous complex, at least eight miles long, with eight railway stations inside. It was hidden from the view of enemy planes by mounds of earth covered in grass. This was so successful that the factory was never bombed.
Activity: What's the story?
Look at the picture and read, listen to, or print the story.