[guide.chat] war roses bullets and blackouts
- From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:47:15 -0000
Roses on Gun Turrets
During WW2, my father, George Edson, worked at Rose's Trentside Albion Works,
in Gainsborough. The company played a major role in supplying the Admiralty and
Air Ministry.
Gun turret components were made throughout the workshops of Roses - each
workshop dealing with a different component.
My father worked in Jasper's Workshop where the unit the gun pivoted on was
made and also the valve chest which was a device to alter the flow of oil
instantly to allow for a quick change of the gun's direction - if an enemy
fighter was zooming in on you, you didn't have the time to wait for the
ordinary hydraulic system to adjust to a closing target. Wherever the gun sight
went, the gun was lined up instantly.
These gun turrets were tested at Roses - Dad remembers hearing the test firings
of the guns so there would have been no secrecy as to what they making at this
time. Some of the men who worked on these guns also installed them in the
aircraft. There was a used gun turret, with the interior covered in blood, in
one of Roses yards.
Roses also manufactured naval guns and had a rocking platform which was used to
test whether the guns could remain on target when the ships were taking evasive
action. A barrage balloon was positioned approx. 6 miles away (over Haxey ?)
for the radar sight to focus on and this was so accurate that it even took into
account the movement of the balloon in the wind.
The working hours at Roses during the war were very long. There were 3 8-hour
shifts in the Moulding and Turning shops while the Fitting shop staff started
work at 7.30 am. They never really knew when work would finish for the day.
They had one Sunday off per month and usually found that a Home Guard exercise
was scheduled for this day - anyone who was over age for the forces or who were
in a reserved occupation had to do something extra such as serving as an Air
Raid Warden or in the Home Guard.
Here they are all assembled on the steps of the cricket pavilion at Rose Bros.
cricket ground (incidentally, the Australian cricket team played some matches
there after the war). My father is the second from the left in the back row,
between a man with glasses and a much taller man.
At least two men were rostered on duty in all Rose's workshops every night for
a 6pm to 6am shift so the firm was in operation 24 hours a day.
They also had plane spotters and each plane sighted had to be identified and
reported, which, as there were so many airfields around Gainsborough, kept them
very busy. There was a competition running at the time in which all who entered
had to pay 6d. to guess how many aircraft would be sighted in the following
week - the person who was closest to this number received the cash.
It was the aircraft spotters who alerted the workshops when the Dam Busters
flew over the town at rooftop height and while my father was lucky enough to
see the 22 Lancasters and was close enough to see the crews in them, the
majority of the workers would only have heard those 88 engines flying over
them. After the raid, Bomber Harris, Guy Gibson and a number of the aircrew
toured Roses and all could see the brand new medals they were wearing.
My father has many stories about Roses and the Home Guard - the tv series Dad's
Army was so true to life !
Of Blackouts,The Home Guard and Swans
My grandmother wanted to make sure that her blackout curtains were doing their
job properly so she walked across the road to see if there were any chinks of
light showing through them. When she got back inside the house again she
boasted that they were perfect.
No wonder, she was told - the lights hadn't been turned back on after she had
closed the door behind her.
My father was in the home guard during the war and he used to tell me many
tales of the things that had happened.... Such as the time when they were
receiving instruction on how to use a bayonet if the enemy attacked you. One
big hefty fellow, who you would think would be capable of anything, fainted
when the sergeant flashed the blade before his eyes. They also had to practice
using makeshift weapons like the one made by welding a bayonet blade to a metal
pipe, similar to the old time lance.
In the photo of the men on parade you will notice that not every one is in
uniform and I am sure that some of the 'weapons' are pieces of wood. My father
is on the extreme right.
At last, the local home guard were issued with a radio set and they couldn't
wait to get out into the fields to try it out, so as soon as work was over,
they got together without bothering to change into their uniforms - then
wondered why they were rounded up as the enemy by the local police.
The air raid warden one very foggy morning saw big white shapes floating down
and yelled out 'PARACHUTES'. 'Parachutes you dozy B******, they're swans !' he
was told.
Submitted to this site by George Edson's daughter, Hazel Slater
from
Vanessa The Google Girl.
my skype name is rainbowstar123
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