Menu

Pictures show role Strand Road factory played in WWI

Posted on - 4th August, 2014 - 9:00pm | Author - | Posted in - History, Nostalgia, Photos, Riversway
Inside the production hall on Strand Road

Inside the production hall on Strand Road

As Preston prepares to honour those who fought in the First World War the lid has been lifted on how the city supplied shells to the front line.

Advertisement

The Dick, Kerr and Company factory on Strand Road, Riversway, produced up to 30,000 of the 3.3 million shells a week to be sent to Allied troops.

Advertisements
Preston Weekender advert
3.3m shells sent to the battle in Europe

3.3m shells sent to the battle in Europe

Ian Lawrenson, heritage manager for BAE Systems’ Military Air and Information (MAI) business which runs its facilities at Warton and Samlesbury, said: “At the outbreak of the First World War, the Allied Forces were unprepared for the scale of operations they were facing and needed to quickly establish manufacturing facilities.

“Dick, Kerr and Co was producing tram cars at the time, but when it placed its entire organisation at the disposal of the Ministry of Munitions, there was a lot of reorganisation required to make Strand Road ready for producing artillery.

“They used 94,000 tonnes of steel, 1,900 tonnes of copper and 15,000 tonnes of lead during conflict, so it was a significant operation to supply the forces.”

Advertisements

stand-rd2

strand-rd4

The pictures show the role Preston’s women played with many working on the production line at Strand Road.

You can see more historic pictures of Preston over on the Preston Digital Archive and also check out Blog Preston’s history and nostalgia section

Share
Advertisements
caritas fostering advert
Preston in pictures Preston Bus 207 PO56 JDX (Scania N94UB / East Lancs Esteem)24.03.24 - Penwortham [Church of St Mary] 240323JPGDSC_7658 - Bus stationDSC_7676 - Miller ArcadeDSC_7681 - former Post Office, cenotaph and Town HallDSC_7682 - Central Methodist church, Lune StreetDSC_7668 - Fish (aka Box) MarketDSC_7672 - Miller Arcade View more Advertisement Subscribe to the newsletter

Sign up below to receive Blog Preston's email newsletter. It wings its way into inboxes every Sunday and Wednesday rounding up our top stories and more.

Advertisement News by location

Find news by location, select an area of your choice to be kept up to date with the latest goings on.

The Preston Guide

Discover local businesses and services near you.

    Advertisements
Advertisement Categories

Find news by category, select an category of your choice to be kept up to date with the latest goings on.

Blog Preston email updates

Receive our digest of the biggest and best stories every Sunday to your email inbox

We respect your privacy and you can unsubscribe at any time from our emails