Adrian Bailey MP has helped to launch a campaign to ensure that those who died in a munitions explosion in Tipton during World War I are recognised.

During World War I and in the following years, thousands of people, particularly young single women, were conscripted to work in Royal Ordinance Factories manufacturing shells and armaments for use on the front-line. To work as a ‘munitioneer’ was a highly dangerous occupation, often resulting in injuries and damage to health through handling explosives and toxic chemicals. In 1922 19 teenage girls from Tipton were killed in an explosion in Groveland Road, Dudley Port, whilst working in an unlicensed factory stripping munitions of metal to be sold as scrap.

The scandal of young girls being exploited in factories without health and safety regulations provoked a Government enquiry and new regulations. The owner of the factory was imprisoned.

The All Party Group on Munitions workers will shortly be launching a fund-raising campaign to create a national monument in the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and with the help of the Imperial War Museum will undertake a review of the historical archive material which exists throughout the country so that the work of those in Royal Ordinance Factories is never forgotten.

Meanwhile an Early Day Motion (EDM2546) supporting the campaign has been laid in Parliament, and a petition will be launched on the No 10 website early in the New Year.

The work of these brave people was important in Tipton. Local MP Adrian Bailey, a member of the All-Party Group said;

“The full horror of that fateful day in Titon must never be forgotten.

“The contribution of these brave munitioneers in Tipton has not been recognised fully on a national scale, and we intend to honour their hard work and sacrifice”

“If you worked in a munitions factory, or have memories of a relative who did, I’d love to hear from you. I want to make sure that your story is not forgotten, and your contribution to the home-front and war effort is remembered for generations to come.”