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Canary Girls
Posted by John White on 20/7/2025, 11:33 am
They were dubbed Chilwell canaries Because of their yellow hue But they served their country faithfully So give the girls their due
They served not in the trenches Yet faced dangers many ways One spark could bring disaster And mean the end of days
Concocting and encasing A devils brew of death Being poisoned and enfeebled With each polluted breath
With patriotic fervour They served their country’s cause Creating means of mass destruction For the war to end all wars
Each gruelling twelve hour workday Was a daily dance with death And one day when the music stopped They took their final breath
In the final year of World War One On the first day of July It was a lovely summers evening And hopes were riding high
One shift had not long ended And another took its place Not knowing on that fatal day The carnage they would face
In the blink of an eye Or r the sound of a sigh A tremendous explosion Condemned many to die
Heroes and heroines abounded Throughout that summers night In a desperate search and rescue Until the morning light
A harrowing procession Choked the roads into the city Carrying burnt and broken bodies That brought forth onlookers pity
The cranes no longer clatter There labours now are oe’r But it was there selfless sacrifice That helped to win the war
United in Attenborough churchyard In tranquil peace they rest Chilwell girls and Derby men The V.C. factory’s best
Re: Canary Girls (and an explanation who they were)
Posted by Norman on 20/7/2025, 11:43 am, in reply to "Canary Girls"
You certainly have great talent John. Incase people are wondering about 'Canary Girls' below is a brief explanation. During World War one, Chilwell, a suburban area near Nottingham, was the site of the National Shell Filling Factory No. 6, a crucial factory for the war effort. It was one of the largest of its kind in Britain, responsible for filling a significant percentage of the shells used on the Western Front. Tragically, on July 1, 1918, a massive explosion at the factory resulted in the deaths of 134 workers and injured 250 more, marking it as the single largest accidental explosion during the war. PS A lot of those shells for the MOD were produced at ROF Birtley in Co Durham.
Re: Canary Girls
Posted by John White on 20/7/2025, 12:08 pm, in reply to "Canary Girls"
This was my tribute to all those who died As many remains could not be identified they are buried in a mass grave in Attenborough churchyard,over 130 The phrase Derby men was a scheme simillar to Bevin Boys in WW2 organised by Lord Derby.The estate where I live was built on part of the M.O.D. site where the shell factory was based
