Does anyone know of establishments in the Croydon area which would have employed women on 'munitions' in 1942/3?
There was quite a lot of industry in Croydon, including much around the Aerodrome, the Purley Way area. My Dad worked prior to his call-up spraying oxygen cylinders somewhere there. I'll ask him if he recalls any names. Many manufacturers known for other products converted to war work including munitions. I know that Trojans (cars and three wheelers) was one of them. http://www.trojanmuseumtrust.org/war.htm
Maps of the world, country map search - powered by Multimap My nan used to work in the old Pascals sweet factory which was at figgs marsh Mitcham and also I believe that the Paynes Poppet chocolate factory in Waddon which is about 1/2 a mile from the Croydon airdrome made fuses etc...... Bit of a strange place to have lots of cordite so dont know if thats true or not! Also the was a massive Ammo and bumb dump in the chalk caves behind what is now sainsbury's home base on the Godstone road which runs from whyteleafe to Purley which runs just bellow Kenley airfield.....hope this helps click on link to multimap to see location of caves
Were there caves in the Riddlesdown Quarry ? We used to run along the railway viaduct for a dare and I can't believe that we missed the opportunity to go underground (We used to disappear into the hearthstone caves at Godstone and Merstham and the Sandstone under Reigate !) My paternal Grandfather worked in the quarries prior to WW1 (He was with Ally Sloper's Cavalry as a mule handler in Egypt and his army papers give his occupation as "Quarryman, Lime") Rich (no relation to the Poppets Paynes)
Thanks for the replies. Looks like there was quite a bit of industry around in that area so munitions factories very likely. That's removed a bit of doubt from some of my research, thank you.
Hi Everyone - When Croydon was bombed Aug. 15, 1940 by mistake as Erprobungsgruppe 210 overdid their turn south and missed Kenley, fighters from RAF Squadron 111 intercepted them and the Germans released bombs early that hit houses and the perfume factory near the airfield. I've read accounts that say Croydon smelled rather sweet for a while. My mother was a VAD in the small military hospital in the Croydon Aerodrome hotel, and it seems she was there then, having just transferred from Netherne Emergency Hospital. It is most likely she lost the hearing in one ear from an exploding bomb during this raid as there was no warning for people to take shelter. Barbara
One of my nan's did her war work in Croyden when the factory she was in switched from domestic goods to making barrels for Bren Guns and assembling the finished weapons.
