King George V talking to a female worker during a visit to the factory of G & J Weir in Cathcart, September 1917. To his right are Joint Managing Directors J R Richmond and C R Lang. The King visited seventeen departments at the factory.
Weir employed 6,000 workers at the time, a third of whom were women. At the time of the visit they were invvolved in producing machinery, armaments and munitions for the British Army and the Royal Navy, as well as howitzers for the French.
Company chairman Sir William Weir sent a telegram of apology for his absence, as he was otherwise engaged in his capacity of Controller of Aeronautical Supplies. His firm built over 1,000 airplanes during the war, the highest number of any company on Clydeside.
Reference: Mitchell Library, GC f923.1 GEO/ANN
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
airplanes, armaments, British Army, First World War, G & J Weir Ltd, howitzers, munitions, pumps, Royal Navy, royal visits, women workers