Drakelow
Who worked at Rover's No1D Shadow Factory

These are 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.

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 Bond*No3. (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		Recalled that Mr McMaster 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
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 are quite substantial and it will take some time, but we plan to upload them as soon as we can.
Don Harwood	Offices, messenger and duplication
John Seaburn	Standards Room	Worked at Drakelow from 24th April 1944 to 14th December 1945.
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.
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!
*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

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

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