Halifax gears up for making munitions High days and holidays
Following the government’s drive to increase the production of munitions for the army, Halifax was now about to play its part. As was reported last week, a scheme had been adopted in which shell making was to be a cooperative enterprise controlled by the Halifax Munitions Committee. This week it had its first meeting in the Halifax Town Hall under the presidency of the Mayor, W H Ingham. The real power, however, lay with a ‘Board of Management’ elected from this committee. This was responsible for dealing directly with the government contracts for munitions. At this stage Halifax was not involved in the production of explosives. This was a later development in 1917 and took place at a purpose built ‘national factory’ at Greetland which was linked to an existing chemical works in Copley (run by Sharp and Mallett) and also Brookes Ltd of Lightcliffe. There is no evidence that shell fulfilment (the adding of the explosives to the shells) ever took place in the Halifax area. eford died of his injuries on the way to hospital. He was buried in London on June 21, 1915, in a ceremony attended by thousands of mourners This was not, as you might think, due to a lack of water, but due to the disappearance of drinking cups. The chains were in place but the missing cups, according Mr Hartley the waterworks engineer, had been sent to be re-galvanised. Unfortunately, the firm could not complete the order, as war contracts were given priority. It would be a few years before the people of Halifax could partake in a thirst-quenching cup of water, unless of course, they took their own cup. his superiors and fellow workmen what has happened.” Health and safety 1915 style! The report does not say what they were mining or where - it could have been clay or coal. Mr Nobody would no doubt get a telling off after leaving the camera equipment at the other end of the tunnel. tacted us from Canada in 2013 with a copy of his diary/memoir so we already know quite a bit about his war. He was later wounded and returned to England before being posted to Ireland. In the Second World War he served as an air raid warden and received the Defence Medal. It will be interesting to see if he wrote any more letters to the Courier and one hopes he carries his humour through the coming years. Several reports of outings from local churches and firms are scattered around the pages this week. The favourite destination was Harrogate whist the Shopkeepers Association favoured the quieter town of Grassington. A wellknown lady of Halifax, Mrs Foster,(does anybody know who she was?) organised an outing to Harold Park where the entertainment included rowing, skipping, running, egg and spoon and, the highlight of the afternoon, potato races (King Edward probably took first prize)! The trip by members of Birchcliffe YMCA, Hebden Bridge, lacked the excitement of Mrs Foster’s outing as they paid a visit to the local gasworks – no skipping or egg and spoon race for them! According to a letter, a number of young girls went on a summer holiday to Arnside where they had a wonderful time. The letter from ‘The First Batch of Girls’ thanks the various organisers, including the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Co, who made their holiday so memorable. The writer expresses a feeling of innocent pleasure and describes the various places they visited with youthful enthusiasm. Oh, what happy days during this dreadful time!