workers.html

Drakelow
Who worked at Rover's No1D Shadow Factory ?

This is a list of the people who have contacted us who used to work at Drakelow in the 1940's. There are also other names that these people have given us. If you used to work there, or know someone who did, we would be very pleased to hear from you. If you knew any of the people below and would like to be in touch, just contact us. Click here for a list of Construction Workers
Right : Staff enjoy a bit of sun outside the tunnels. Left to Right: Doris Shields, Joan Griffiths, Charlie Dumper and Dorothy L'estrange.

Name	Position	Notes/Comments
Albert Smith	Possibly Welfare	Remembers Mr Jones was over the clerical staff. Mr McKella was head. Mr McMaster was No2 and Mr BondNo3. (Mr McMaster is the man on the left of the photo on page 13 of Drakelow Unearthed - Revised Edition).*
Wilfred Weston	Offices	Info from his daughter. He worked with a Mr Bromley, Mr Clayton and Mr Ross
John Scott	Aeronautical Inspector	Worked at Drakelow around 1942.
Gladys Witts	Milling Machine	She stayed at the hostel and went home occasionally at weekends. Gladys has donated some small workpieces she made to our collection of artifacts. (P36 Drakelow Unearthed)
Ken Walton	Tool Room
Mary Izon	Technical Records	She remembers several famous people visited the hostel to perform. Also remembers Mr Nightingale, Mr Harbach, Joyce Shutt, Mr Brookes, Mr Wade, Mr Woodward and Mr Bramley.
Charlie Ravenhall (Known as 'Mick')		Recalled that Mr McMaster (Assistant chief draftsman) had a 1/3rd scale working model of a car made for the tool room foreman. The car was made by Fred Hemmings, Albert Bowles and Charlie Ravenhall. (Mr McMaster is the man on the left of the photo on page 13 of Drakelow Unearthed - Revised Edition). Photos
William (Bill) Osbourne	Reduction Gear Casing	In the photo on page 13 of Drakelow Unearthed (Page 11 of original version), to the right behind, part hidden is my father William (Bill) Osborne. Who Worked at No1 shadow factory at Acocks Green and then at No1D shadow factory at Drakelow. He often took us there in I think the 60s to see what was left of the site. He stayed at the Hostel during the week and came home some weekends, he also mentioned trips some weekends too The Nautical William public house which I think is on the A442 towards Bridgnorth. He worked for the Rover until 1966 finishing at Foremans Road. (From Mick Osbourne - Son)
Albert Fowler	Polishing Shop Foreman	Albert's family have sent us his detailed memoirs of his time at Drakelow. He was one of the first staff to arrive and one of the last to leave. His family have kindly given us permission to reproduce his memoirs.They can be found here.
Don Harwood	Offices, messenger and duplication
John Seaburn	Standards Room	Worked at Drakelow from 24th April 1944 to 14th December 1945.
Charles (Charlie) Dumper	Welfare	After leaving Drakelow Charlie went to work as a photographer at the Summerfield rocket research station. He appears in the 1946 Drakelow Works Council photo elsewhere on this website.
Doris Price	No Further info.
Dorothy L'estrange	Labour Bureax	She was better known as 'Madge'.Remembers working with Joan Griffiths. She remembers working for Mr S.R.Jones and Mr Booth. She also remembers Mr F.R.Jones, Mr Harper, and Mr C.Dumper. She later Married George Gilbert. Dorothy died in September 2010.
George Gilbert	Accounts	Came to Drakelow from Solihull (No2 Shadow Factory) around 1942.Lived at the hostel during the week, returning home at the weekends. George was an accomplished pianist and used to play the piano during lunchtimes and for the concerts at the hostel.
Eileen Bevan	Nurse	Eileen worked in the surgery with her sister, Haymes, from around 1943 -1945. In the photo she returned to the surgery in 2002.
Doris Shield	Purchasing	Doris lived at the hostel and remembers working with Mr Gilmore, Mr Weston, Mr Small and Mr Sid Gibbons (engineer). She also remembers Miss Wiltshire in welfare and the security officer Sergeant Mulligan.
Jessie Irene Hartshorne	Final View	Horace Webb, who was to become her husband also worked in Final View.
Bill Chapman	Raw Materials View	Bill had extensive memories of his time at Drakelow. He was one of the first workers to arrive in 1942/3. Aged around 21.When he arrived the construction work was being completed and plant was still being installed. Bill believes that the two men working at machine tools in the photo of tunnel 3 on page 9 of Drakelow Unearthed (Revised edition), could be Charlie and Sam Wright. He remembers celebrities John Clements and Googie Withers visiting the hostel to entertain them. He used to clock in at Tunnel 1.
Jean Cole	Tool Store	Worked around 1943-44 but left to have a baby.
Mrs D.J.Giles		Worked at Drakelow for a short time only checking components with a micrometer.Remembers Harry Depper was killed during the construction.
Mrs Spatham	Machinist	Remembers that they produced crankshafts,pistons and tappets and there was a completed engine on display for the workforce to look at.
James Terry	Drawing Office	Mr Terry was also one of the first workers to arrive when the factory was completed.
Margarie Brookes	Wages Office	Margarie remembers being picked up by bus from Stourbridge. She worked a comptometer in the wages office around 1944. Her father William and sister Dorothy also worked at Drakelow. She later married Frank Ludlow (below).
William Brookes	Head of clerical staff
Dorothy Brookes	Lathe operator
Frank Ludlow	"In charge of keys"	Frank remembers driving one of the electric trucks and crashing it into an engine! He used to cycle to work.
*Mr Edward Bond	Exact position not known but certainly Managerial. May have been 3rd in charge overall.	Mr Bond Relaxes in the sunshine. Looking at the stone structure behind him, this must be the wall of the old Blakeshall Common school building.	This Hercules piston section was presented to Mr Bond when he left the No1D factory. The inscription states "Hercules Engines Rover No1D Shadow Factory 1940-1945".

George Palmer	Electrician	Goerge had many detailed memories of his time at Draklelow. Including that one of his many jobs was to refurbish and set to work some american roll threading machines which had been recovered from ships sunk in Liverpool bay.They had no instructions and were designed for american power supplies (60Hz) which made the task very difficult.
Vera Churchette	Telephonist	Vera worked in an office within the RAF stores area. Amongst many other jobs, she used to read a weather report to the workers over the Tannoy system. She used to travel to work by coach from Kidderminster and also remembers the concerts at the hostel. She recalled that the mining engineer was a Mr Jack Edwards.
Lillian Lane	Milling machine	Worked between 1942 and 1944 producing crankshaft sleeves for aircraft engines.
Sylvia Blake	Comptometer
Margaret LLoyd	Financial Accounts	Met, engaged to and then married Tommy Lynn who worked in Cost Accounts. Margaret remembers her boss was Mr Eric Bale and other names such as Sylvia Blake, Mr S.R.Jones, Mr Harbach and Mr Bramley. Margaret's two sisters Phyllis and Dai also worked at Drakelow and collectively they were known as 'Faith', 'Hope' and 'Charity' but she refuses to say which was which! She remembered that Sylvia Blake married a man from the Drawing Office. He had previously asked Margaret out, but she had declined as she was already engaged to Tommy.
William Chesterman		My granfather William Chesterman worked for James Archdale and Company as an engineer . He wanted to sign up as a submariner , however , an inner ear problem and the fact that he was needed in his capacity as an engineer kept him out of the forces. My aunt who was quite young at the time can remember him mention ''going to the tunnels''..... and that is as much as I know . I presume that Archdales made tooling or something for the factory. (From Anne Hatton - Grandaughter)
Eric Harold Newman	Security/ Goods Inwards and Outwards	My father Eric Harold Newman worked at Drakelow up until 14th October 1944. According to my mother (now deceased) he worked on security/goods inwards and outwards. He was killed in a road traffic accident in Kingsford Lane when returning home on his motorcycle after a shift at the factory. His motorcycle was in collision with the bus used to transport workers to and from the factory. His brother Bert Newman may have also worked at the factory. The driver of the bus was a Mr Wilkes. (From Warwick Newman - Son)

Other Known Names
Bill Overton	Chief Inspector
Percy Perks	Assistant Chief Inspetor
Mr Harbach	Cost Office clerk
H.Lionel Barber	Personnel
Cyril Welch	Chief Wages Clerk
Mr V. Dodds	Wages
Mr G. Shiddley	Wages
Mrs M. Mills	Wages
Molly Abrahams	Sunstrand (In Charge)
Kathleen Eastland	Sunstrand
Doris Amos	Hollerith (In charge)
Pam Welch	Hollerith
Shiela Smith	Hollerith
Mary Potter	Hollerith
Dorothy Bates	Hollerith
Dorothy Moore	Hollerith
Dennis Jones	Chief Draftsman
Mr Compton	Drawing office
Kenny Greenfield	Drawing office
Trevor Nightingale	Drawing office
Mr Nightingale Snr	In charge of works transport
Mr Sollars	Works accountant
Mary Fletcher	Laboratory

Construction Workers

Drakelow RSG 9 (1960's - 1970's) RGHQ 9.2

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