Munitions workers posing with a "Flying Dustbin" landmine at the SCWS Sheet Metal Factory, Shieldhall, during the Second World War. The "Flying Dustbin" was a shell fired from mortars mounted on tanks or landing craft, specifically designed to destroy pillboxes and other fortified positions.
Output of bombs and shells at the Sheet Metal Factory increased considerably from 1943 in preparation for D-Day. One contract successfully undertaken was for 4,000 high-explosive 500-pound bombs. Boxes and canisters were also made for the Ministry of Aircraft Production, with production switched to a part of the Cabinet Factory after the Sheet Metal Factory ran out of space.
The factory staff were predominantly women, who passed with ease the stringent skills tests that were required before contracts were awarded. The factory acquired a reputation for fast delivery of high quality products, on one occasion completing an order for 2-inch rockets ahead of a rival firm which had started production six months earlier.
Reference: P9091/18
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
bombs, Cabinet Factory, canisters, D-Day, flying dustbins, landmines, Ministry of Aircraft Production, mortar shells, munitions workers, rockets, Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, SCWS, Second World War, Sheet Metal Factory, women workers
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