Crane's Fireworks

[Charlie]

[h=2]Does anyone have any examples or information on Crane’s Fireworks Factory that went into grenade production?

Warmley’s principle contribution to the war effort came from Crane’s Fireworks Factory, which switched production from fireworks to hand grenades, or Mills Bombs as they were called. In this period the workforce increased to nearly 100, mostly young women, who when filling the boxes of grenades to be shipped to the Front, would often slip a little note for the Tommies to find, and frequently they would receive a reply, sometimes in a foreign language.
Ten million grenades passed through Warmley Station during the war which shows what a tremendous effort the firm made throughout the duration of the war.

The factory shut in 1938.

Cheers, Charlie
[/h]

 

[roller63]

That's interesting, I drive through Warmley about twice a month en route to Bristol. I have just been reading about the railway online. I didn't know about the Fireworks factory until now.

 

[Stephen Crane]

Hi Charlie,

Your post and my google search was very timely. I recently decided to dig into some of my family history which involves a bunch of google searches. Two days ago I started scanning documents I discovered. I guess I should introduce myself first. I am the last known male Crane in the line of Cranes that started the Crane's fireworks factory. Isaac Crane would have been my great great grandfather. Only only became interested in doing some family research after reconnecting with my aunt that lives in Durban (a long way from Canada). Skype is a marvel. Anyway, there are a bunch of documents that my dad had squirreled away in some boxes. He has been gone for a long time and I did not get the opportunity to learn much about our family history from him. (Too young and stupid to pay attention to my parents when I was young). Is the attached something that you are looking for or do you have something specific in mind that if I find I can provide?

Cheers,
Stephen

 

[Nismosonic]

Absolutely great letter you have there, a priceless family artifact. I feel honoured to have read it. Thank you.

 

[Millsman]

Interesting thread.

Welcome to the forum Stephen.

Crane & Co Ltd appear in the 1918 list of factories and manufacturers complied by the government.

However the location is the Crane Foundry, Wolverhampton. No mention of Warmley or Bristol area at all.

They are listed as makers of cast iron Mills grenade bodies and egg grenade (no 34) bodies. It may be that the bodies were cast in Wolverhampton and sent elsewhere (possibly Warmley) for finishing, however the absence of a Crane base plug raises questions about how much of the grenades they made.

A fairly small company of 80 male employees and 25 Female.

As always the official records don't always match up with what may have happened.

John

 

[Millsman]

Just checked that there is no mention of Crane's (either location) in the 1916 Ministry of Munitions Factory listing.

John

 

[Stephen Crane]

Hi John,

My gut tells me that because it was a fireworks factory it might not have been listed. They would probably only have been filling them. I am attaching the last of the documents that I have since going through all of my boxes. It is a letter with different filling instructions. Maybe it would provide more clues? I just think it is really cool to see the documents. Their way of writing is probably the most fascinating. So formal.

Sorry for the one document being in two scans. The paper is longer than my scanner.

Cheers,
Stephen

 

[millsbomber]

Thank you Steven for sharing these documents I can assume from these the firework factory was used as a filling station hence John not finding it listed as a manufacturer

 

[Bonnex]

Stephen,

The 'formal document' is effectively part of the contract for filling. It would have had a drawing attached. Original specifications are hard to find. Original Specifications issued showing the No 5 Mark II are exceptionally unusual.

 

[Millsman]

I've been through the lists of filling factories for 1916 and 1918 but Crane's don't appear but then again neither do other grenade makers who supplied filled grenades so I think the smaller factories were excluded from the lists and the lists mainly relate to Shells and seemingly boxes for shells.

The nearest filling factory to Bristol appears to be Chittening National Filling Factory, Henbury, Nr Bristol. This has 1400 employees so again I think smaller locations were left out of the list.

It was common for factories to make Mills and other cast grenade bodies for others, and it looks like the Wolverhampton Foundry was one of them. What is unusual is that if Crane's did the filling at Warmley then you really have enough of the job done to be a named Mills manufacturer. So a bit of a mystery there.

John

 

[Stephen Crane]

Thanks for the historical information. I know there is a BBC radio report http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ltryp that talks about the grenades and the how the women would put letters in the boxes before they were shipped out for the boys on the line. I wish I had more to share. What a crazy time that must have been.

 

[Snufkin]

Thanks for the historical information. I know there is a BBC radio report http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ltryp that talks about the grenades and the how the women would put letters in the boxes before they were shipped out for the boys on the line. I wish I had more to share. What a crazy time that must have been.

Crane and Co., Warmley, was one of a number of pre-war firework manufacturers engaged by the Ministry of Munitions to fill TW stores, mostly grenades.

The first contract for Crane & Co., in November 1915, was for the Ammonal filling of 1,000,000 No.5 grenades at the rate of 25k-100k per week. In July 1916, this was extended indefinitely for the filling of 30k per week. In time, the company regularly exceeded the figures to the tune of 55k-100k per week, and the contract was amended to 50k/week minimum.

In October 1917, Crane & Co. became one of the few small Filling Stations to fill "M" specified grenades for hot/tropical climates. An initial spot demand for 500,000 "M" grenades (mostly No.23 and a small number of No.36), was met by Crane & Co. - and others - and stored locally in the Feeder Road, Bristol, grenade store. (Ships were loaded at nearby Avonmouth, the preferred port for shipping stores to Egypt and Salonica.) A second demand for a further 500,000 was placed totally with Crane & Co. to be met at the rate of 15k per week.

In December 1917, the increasing demands for "M" spec. grenades (both No.23III M and No.36 M) for Mesopotamia led to the cancellation of the original filling contract, and a new one put in place at a reduction in price of 10/- per 1,000, or a saving of £350 on the contract total of 700,000. A new filling system for 100% crystalline Trotyl (TNT) was installed at Warmley, and so Crane & Co. became one of a few Filling Stations with specialised TNT capability outside the big TW Filling Factories.

The attachments show part of a TW factories and stores return, with some details for Crane & Co. on the bottom line; and also a label for Ammonal filled No.5 from the company (this photo courtesy the late Tony E).


Tom.

 

[AE501]

When I started my Ammunition Examiners course in the mid 1950s we were taught that the 'M' stood for Mesopotamia, but eventually this was changed to mean 'Modified'.

 

[Stephen Crane]

Thanks for that Tom. So neat to learn about my families company involvement during this period in history.