0:00:06 > 0:00:10These lethal shells are being filled with high explosives
0:00:10 > 0:00:13at a critical point in World War I.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16They were definitely working flat out
0:00:16 > 0:00:19to produce as many shells as they could.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23To halt production would have spelled catastrophe for the troops.
0:00:23 > 0:00:24You can see why it happened.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26You can see the pressure on people to produce the shells.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29For reasons still unclear,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32the building where high explosives were mixed blew up.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40The whole of the place was in a state of chaos, people screaming...
0:00:40 > 0:00:43I looked towards Chilwell
0:00:43 > 0:00:47and I saw the wall of black smoke rising to the sky.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52The explosion on that hot summer's evening killed and injured
0:00:52 > 0:00:58more people than anywhere else on the Home Front in a single incident.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Vital war work was brought to a standstill
0:01:01 > 0:01:03only while they buried their dead.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07And to tell the story, we have film of the factory,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10just discovered in a garden shed.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29A mile from Chilwell, the station at Attenborough
0:01:29 > 0:01:33had its platform extended to cope with the huge munitions workforce -
0:01:33 > 0:01:38around 10,000 men and women by 1918.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41They got off the train, many of them here at Attenborough,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44and they were starting work at six o'clock.
0:01:44 > 0:01:4712 hours lay in front of them,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50handling very dangerous explosives,
0:01:50 > 0:01:52because this was the Home Front.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Modern warfare demands artillery shells.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Today, production is efficient and safe.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07It's also adaptable to cope with unpredicted demand.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12There's an extra capacity, the third shift, if you like,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15that's available to produce higher volumes.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18- Are you ready for war?- Yeah.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20I mean, the surety of supply
0:02:20 > 0:02:22is one of the most important things to the MoD,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25and having investment in facilities like this
0:02:25 > 0:02:27enhances the surety of supply.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33But at the start of the First World War the military leaders
0:02:33 > 0:02:37were expecting a mobile conflict, with cavalry charges,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40not trenches and machine guns.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43There were British officers who visited the American Civil War,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46in the 1860s, where trench warfare was around
0:02:46 > 0:02:50and machine guns were around. They considered that to be an aberration.
0:02:50 > 0:02:51We thought it would be a much more
0:02:51 > 0:02:55open war, as the Boer War was,
0:02:55 > 0:02:56where there'd be a lot more movement.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04The shell shortage led to a political crisis at home in 1915
0:03:04 > 0:03:08and David Lloyd George became head of the new Munitions Ministry.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12He grasped the scale of the crisis,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15and that the war would be lost without shells.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17The Ministry of Munitions is set up
0:03:17 > 0:03:19and one of the first things they do within a year is they create
0:03:19 > 0:03:2373 new ammunition factories that made everything from
0:03:23 > 0:03:26raw explosive to empty shells and then the national filling factories,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29which Chilwell was one - Number 6 Filling Factory -
0:03:29 > 0:03:32that married up the empty shell and the raw explosive
0:03:32 > 0:03:34to fill high explosive shells.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Brought in to help was the unlikely figure of Viscount Chetwynd.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49Godfrey John Boyle was 51, and had been a cowboy in Texas.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53A sheriff. A pioneer. But also a civil engineer.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57His granddaughter is Philippa Luard.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01They were also building bridges out there, being engineers
0:04:01 > 0:04:04as well as cooks and cowboys.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07In the early 1900s - this is 1906 -
0:04:07 > 0:04:13he was breeding Dexter cattle, Berkshire pigs.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19In the late summer of 1915,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21Lord Chetwynd set out from Nottingham
0:04:21 > 0:04:25and found a site for his shell filling factory at Chilwell.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28He sketched his design for the plant.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32It was not too close to a main rail head,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36so he couldn't blow the railway up, but he had access to it.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39There weren't too many people living there, so if it blew up
0:04:39 > 0:04:43there weren't going to be devastating casualties.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48The land was on the main Nottingham Derby road, which he had rerouted,
0:04:48 > 0:04:53and built the shell filling factory in fields below a wooded hillside.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56He was not going to be tied by red tape.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Anybody who tried to interfere with him was seen off very firmly.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02And that's how he was able to build Chilwell so quickly.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Lord Chetywnd also realised that he needed to employ women
0:05:09 > 0:05:12because so many skilled men had enlisted.
0:05:14 > 0:05:188th of January they filled the first shell. It's not long.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27In this vast space, the filled shell store,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30the ammunition was ready and waiting to go to the front.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Women worked here and were filmed for propaganda
0:05:33 > 0:05:36to emphasise their importance in the process.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Something never seen before World War I -
0:05:41 > 0:05:44a woman in a boiler suit. Because it was practical -
0:05:44 > 0:05:47the long skirts got caught in all the equipment
0:05:47 > 0:05:49and they're putting on rubber boots
0:05:49 > 0:05:54because people were terrified there would be a spark of any sort.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02You got out a wooden mallet. You just bashed it.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07This was a shell heading for the front that...was going to explode.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14They were being patriotic, they were doing their bit for the country.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Huge incentive to these girls
0:06:17 > 0:06:21who've never, ever been asked to do anything before like this.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25They felt they were part of the whole effort
0:06:25 > 0:06:26to keep the men at the front
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and keep them supplied with weapons and ammunition.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37The long shifts caused problems. Many women were reported to pass out
0:06:37 > 0:06:41after 12 hours continuous work without eating.
0:06:41 > 0:06:47Lord Chetwynd, mindful of efficient production, came up with a solution.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51His staff occasionally fainted, which was very dangerous.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55He sacked them on day one and on day two he took them on again
0:06:55 > 0:06:57at a reduced wage.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00But he gave them a free breakfast
0:07:00 > 0:07:02and they eat as much as they liked.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Chilwell also had its own band, which gave lunchtime concerts and,
0:07:10 > 0:07:15like other factories, had its own ladies football team.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20They had sports fields, they had a band, they had amusements
0:07:20 > 0:07:24as well as work. He knew that was essential.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31In the north-east of England, shell casings were made at Birtley,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35another munitions community which grew up for a different reason.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Only recently was the original factory reduced to rubble.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45But when it stood in 1916 it was uniquely staffed by Belgians.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Most were injured soldiers,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52brought across the Channel to help the war effort.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56Their homes were purpose built on a self contained estate.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00It was a very strange situation.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Nobody could actually define what it was.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07One writer said it was "Not quite a part of Belgium,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10"but certainly not a total part of Britain."
0:08:10 > 0:08:12And it was referred to as a "colony"?
0:08:12 > 0:08:16Yes, the Belgians called it their colony.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19It was a garden city.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24It was neatly laid out with rows of houses - they were called the "huts"
0:08:24 > 0:08:28by the locals - all with gas,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31water, electric light
0:08:31 > 0:08:33and indoor loos.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37They had their own shop and it still stands.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44One of only two buildings left of what was called Elisabethville.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46These men, though,
0:08:46 > 0:08:5085% of them were wounded,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53therefore somehow incapacitated,
0:08:53 > 0:08:58produced over 2.5 million shells
0:08:58 > 0:09:03at a rate far better than any other munitions factory in the land.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08The shells casings were sent by rail from Birtley to be filled with TNT
0:09:08 > 0:09:11made in the mixing house at Chilwell.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13Bob Foster was its foreman.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17You've got the TNT coming up from one place
0:09:17 > 0:09:21and the nitrate of ammonia coming up from another.
0:09:21 > 0:09:22Onto the conveyer vans.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25When your machines were full, you'd drop them into your mixer,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28which was the floor below.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33Lord Chetwynd's Chilwell was by far the biggest mixing operation
0:09:33 > 0:09:38in the country. He ensured that TNT was produced on a massive scale.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Chetwynd's technique fascinates even today's experts.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Taking basic machinery that was used for crushing coal or milling flour
0:09:52 > 0:09:56and putting together a slightly Heath Robinson construction
0:09:56 > 0:09:59to create two separate milling plants -
0:09:59 > 0:10:02one that milled TNT, one that milled ammonium nitrate -
0:10:02 > 0:10:05ladle the dry mix into a shell
0:10:05 > 0:10:10and then a hydraulic press would then press it down.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13I've seen in some instances women with wooden mallets
0:10:13 > 0:10:16actually doing this to get the powder down.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19They'd knock it down and it created that pocket, which is where
0:10:19 > 0:10:22the explosive is going to sit and where the fuse'll sit eventually
0:10:22 > 0:10:24when it gets ready to fit with its fuse.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30The Nottingham plant produced most of the high explosive shells
0:10:30 > 0:10:33fired at the commencement of the Battle of the Somme.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Despite the huge barrage, there were many duds,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41landing in the mud among the barbed wire and failing to destroy it.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48The Germans were able to dig in and resist the attack
0:10:48 > 0:10:53at a cost on both sides of tens of thousands of lives.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58There's evidence the government knew about the fuse problem
0:10:58 > 0:11:01in the months before the Somme.
0:11:01 > 0:11:02Right about 1917,
0:11:02 > 0:11:07new fuses came in and two things changed the game for the artillery.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10One was the ability to better predict
0:11:10 > 0:11:13how and where the shell would end up,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17because we had calculated how barrels had begun to wear.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20So we could time time-fused to actually have them
0:11:20 > 0:11:23function above the ground. And the direct action fuses,
0:11:23 > 0:11:27the fuses that actually required to hit something to set the fuse off,
0:11:27 > 0:11:32became much more sensitive through the incorporation of new technology.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39The Munitionettes were the poster girls of the war effort,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41frequently photographed and filmed.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50Production hit extraordinary heights but how effective were the shells?
0:11:52 > 0:11:57This is an example of a high explosive shell used to produce
0:11:57 > 0:12:00a large quantity of fragments from when it explodes.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03It was filled with high explosive, usually in this case it was
0:12:03 > 0:12:06filled with lidite, one of the earlier forms of high explosive.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09And when it functions, all that fragmentation
0:12:09 > 0:12:12is created from the actual body of the shell itself.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19That's a very nasty sight, isn't it? Just...bits.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Yes, and scattered over quite a wide area as well.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25So, as you can imagine, those smaller bits,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28which will move at very high velocity, quite high speed,
0:12:28 > 0:12:29you know, have got a lot of energy,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32when those hit you are going to cause horrible injuries.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34- And they're hot as well, aren't they?- And hot, yes.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44Shells meant danger at home as well, and not just the risk of explosion.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48They wear masks and gloves.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53At the time they thought this would prevent any problems.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58These were girls who were known to us now as "canary girls."
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Because their skin turned yellow.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03And their hair went a sort of orangey colour.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06And they were absorbing poison.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10And several of them died.
0:13:10 > 0:13:16They got sick quite often but such was the rate of work that
0:13:16 > 0:13:19they'd be back soon after a couple of days rest.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Throughout the war across the country there were huge blasts
0:13:25 > 0:13:31at munitions factories, heard for miles, the night sky like daylight.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34It was said you could read the newspaper by the light of some
0:13:34 > 0:13:37factories that burned all night.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39What was left? Very little.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Oh, goodness. There were explosions.
0:13:45 > 0:13:46There were accidents.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50And here they are in all their formal mob caps
0:13:50 > 0:13:54and little badges and... munitions dresses.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56At the funeral.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02To reinforce confidence in the factories,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06and underline their national significance, King George V
0:14:06 > 0:14:10ventured into the plant at Chilwell, a proud Lord Chetwynd at his side.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13The visit of the King to Chilwell,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15which was in the Illustrated London News.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18"The Duke of Connaught has his spurs removed
0:14:18 > 0:14:20"before entering the danger zone."
0:14:25 > 0:14:28By the summer of 1918, the tide of war was turning,
0:14:28 > 0:14:34and the British called for more shells for a final major push.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36It's increasingly more and more explosives being used,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40much more artillery being used to try and overcome the deadlock
0:14:40 > 0:14:41of trench warfare.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46At that time, 17-year-old Alec Clarke was working at Chilwell.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48He said they were working continuously,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51as there was this big push or battle going on.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55And I don't know whether they did work 24 hours, I'm not sure on that.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58But they were definitely working flat-out to produce as many shells
0:14:58 > 0:15:00as they could.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04The 1st of July 1918 was a hot summer evening.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10All of a sudden the ground fairly shuddered underneath me.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14EXPLOSION
0:15:16 > 0:15:19You couldn't see nothing to start with cos it was
0:15:19 > 0:15:22so dense with smoke and choked with powder.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24You were all as black as tinkers.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29And here are some horrifying pictures
0:15:29 > 0:15:32of the mixing house explosion.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35And what could be worse than to blow up the mixing house,
0:15:35 > 0:15:36for heaven's sake?
0:15:36 > 0:15:40I rang up Lord Chetwynd. Be about ten to quarter past seven.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44And told him what had happened, the mixing house had blown out.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47And he couldn't really believe it at the time.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49So, he said, "Are you sure?"
0:15:49 > 0:15:51I said, "Yes, milord, absolutely."
0:15:51 > 0:15:54He said, "Oh, my God, I'm on my way."
0:15:56 > 0:15:58My Aunt Eve, his daughter,
0:15:58 > 0:16:03she was about ten at the time of the explosion.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06She was in bed
0:16:06 > 0:16:11and he came into her room, stroked her hair
0:16:11 > 0:16:16and kissed her and said nothing and went out again.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19And she knew something terrible had happened.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21She'd obviously heard the blast.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29A camera captures some of the Chilwell workforce,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32many of whom would not survive the explosion.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36139 died and hundreds were injured.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42David Clarke's father was in the power station.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46The whole of the roof of the building had come in.
0:16:46 > 0:16:51The machines then were racing away due to the loss of load.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54When he came round he'd been thrown on the floor.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58And he was covered in bits of debris from the building and the roof.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00And he was completely uninjured
0:17:00 > 0:17:02but there was nobody else left of the staff.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04They'd all disappeared.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07Alec Clarke's subsequent actions led him to become
0:17:07 > 0:17:11the youngest person ever to be awarded the OBE,
0:17:11 > 0:17:13then a civilian award for bravery.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Basically, he shut the power station down.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20I, who appeared to be the only one available at that time,
0:17:20 > 0:17:25proceeded to close down the sets as best possible.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30And the whole of the place was in a state of chaos.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35There could have been more serious injuries to people in the wreckage,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38and more extensive damage and the plant would have been
0:17:38 > 0:17:41seriously damaged more than it was by the explosion.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48This is Lord Chetwynd's own account of that day,
0:17:48 > 0:17:50written 24 hours later.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55"The staff and employees behaved magnificently.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58"They never lost their heads and were at work recovering the wounded
0:17:58 > 0:18:01"and injured even before the dust of the explosion had settled."
0:18:07 > 0:18:11At the exact site of the explosion, which remains on MoD land,
0:18:11 > 0:18:16is the memorial to the Chilwell factory and its workers.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19They were very proud of the work that they did here.
0:18:19 > 0:18:25- The actual number of shells filled - 19,359,000.- Yes, yes.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28- That's extraordinary.- It was.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30And after the explosion happened,
0:18:30 > 0:18:35they got back to work within four days filling shells,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37because the second battle of the Somme was taking place
0:18:37 > 0:18:40and they were terribly short of ammunition.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49I think he must have felt so guilty.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54And quite apart was the effect on production,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57which was one train of thought which must have been going through his mind
0:18:57 > 0:19:02because it was so essential to have these shells filled.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06The dead, the bodies of the people who'd been killed,
0:19:06 > 0:19:11and the whole sort of negation of what he'd tried to achieve,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13must have been very hard.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Most of those who died were buried in Attenborough churchyard,
0:19:21 > 0:19:23only one of them identified.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Paula Hammond, whose father wrote his own description of the blast,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32preserves the memory of the disaster
0:19:32 > 0:19:35and has come to see the burial record.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40Can't imagine 14 coffins and seven coffins here.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43I knew that the Chilwell graves, as we call them,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45were here in the churchyard,
0:19:45 > 0:19:49but it's only when you look at details like this that it just...
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I don't know, puts it all into perspective
0:19:53 > 0:19:57and what happened in that period of time and how many families
0:19:57 > 0:19:59and how many people it affected.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04It's just awful. Awful.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12Among the dead was Gertrude Cursley, whose name is remembered on a
0:20:12 > 0:20:16housing estate which now covers much of what was the shell factory site.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Her relatives have been finding out more about her.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Hello, Kate. Pleased to meet you. Come on through.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32To have a photograph taken like that, at the time, she must have felt
0:20:32 > 0:20:35very proud of the uniform and the work she was doing.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39And even though there were thousands of women working in munitions,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43the letter rather gives away that they weren't expecting to say this
0:20:43 > 0:20:47- about a woman, doesn't it?- Yes. The papers have been altered.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51If you look closely, they're all male orientated,
0:20:51 > 0:20:56and the person that's written the relevant details for Gertrude on them
0:20:56 > 0:21:01had been altered to "her" rather than "his" in many cases.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04And her family was given compensation -
0:21:04 > 0:21:07the equivalent of four years' wages.
0:21:07 > 0:21:13They got a total of £200 and it looks, from the compensation form,
0:21:13 > 0:21:19that it's based on something like £50 per child.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Well, there are letters here, there's a photograph.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28But there's also film, isn't there? Connected to this.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33When I was a little boy, my uncle, he worked at Chilwell depot,
0:21:33 > 0:21:37and he came by some 35mm film, which wasn't the sort of thing
0:21:37 > 0:21:40which the general public would use at that time.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43And the story goes that this was found at a jumble sale
0:21:43 > 0:21:45or something like that,
0:21:45 > 0:21:50and then it was subsequently put into store in his house until he died.
0:21:50 > 0:21:56And then my auntie, his wife, put it up in the loft of the bungalow
0:21:56 > 0:22:00she moved into as an old age pensioner.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03And my cousin was then talking to me about this film.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05I said, "I think it might be nitrate film.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07"Perhaps we better be a bit careful of this."
0:22:07 > 0:22:10So, he took possession of it and put it in his shed.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18This is it. Hold it up to the light and you can see men in flat caps
0:22:18 > 0:22:22in the shell store, differing from the official government film,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24much less formal, more workaday.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33The thought of seeing even Gertrude on this film,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36cos it would be showing the people working there, no doubt.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39It would be wonderful to actually see her walking about.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41We've got a still photograph of her
0:22:41 > 0:22:44but to actually to be able to see her and other people like her
0:22:44 > 0:22:48working in these conditions would be a wonderful thing.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54What was the precise reason for the deaths
0:22:54 > 0:22:57of Gertrude and 138 others?
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Lord Chetwynd said he knew.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06It shows the devastation of the huge metal...
0:23:06 > 0:23:11huge bits of metal absolutely twisted and blasted.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16"The causes of the explosion are obscure.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18"I cannot think of anything but sabotage."
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Lord Chetwynd's views, though,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24conflicted with the evidence at the official inquiry.
0:23:24 > 0:23:281907, the powder manager comes through
0:23:28 > 0:23:33and he sees three people stood around one of the mixing buckets.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36And one of the guys is the conveyer operator from the very top floor
0:23:36 > 0:23:38of the mixing shed. It's a three-storey building.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41And he says, "What's happening?" And the conveyer operator says,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44"I'm missing a piece of metal from the conveyer belt.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47"And we think it might have fallen into the mixing tub."
0:23:47 > 0:23:50The mixing tub isn't stopped, it's still grinding,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53mixing the amatol mixture.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56The powder manager leaves the building
0:23:56 > 0:23:59and five minutes later there's a big explosion.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04- A bit of metal? - Bit of metal.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Lord Chetwynd disputed this evidence and tried to discredit the witness
0:24:11 > 0:24:14in a flurry of correspondence with the government.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19He was deeply upset by it
0:24:19 > 0:24:24and he was convinced that it was sabotage.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27And he named the person concerned.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30But they were never able to prove it.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Just four months after the blast
0:24:34 > 0:24:38the factory closed when victory was declared in November.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Survivors like young Alec Clarke
0:24:40 > 0:24:42found it difficult to live with their memories.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45It did slightly affect him afterwards. There were...
0:24:45 > 0:24:48He did help in getting people out the wreckage.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51There were people with terrible injuries and others that
0:24:51 > 0:24:55hadn't survived, with limbs missing and things like that.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58But he only spoke about that once.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06For Peter Cursley this is a first chance to see
0:25:06 > 0:25:09the rescued film footage.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Never thought anything would ever come of it. It's such a mess.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Film...normally nitrate would last 60-80 years.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21It's sticky cos it might be deteriorating.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23If we don't copy it we lose it.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25It would deteriorate and there would be nothing left.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34The find also includes the original negatives of 1916 film stock.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38It's planned to restore the film - it was damaged by water -
0:25:38 > 0:25:41by combining the best of the original and the negatives.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47But by using 1930s technology
0:25:47 > 0:25:50a copy of it can be seen for the first time.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01This is a really exciting discovery for us.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05Very rarely do we have discoveries like this these days.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Thing is, it could so easily have got thrown away,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10cos it looked like so much rubbish, didn't it?
0:26:10 > 0:26:14A piece of history in a box nearly lost.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22This is one of the most important films I have seen in many years.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26It is a major find for the museum.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Perhaps Gertrude Cursley may eventually be found
0:26:30 > 0:26:31on the restored film.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Hopefully if we scrutinise the film carefully, we may find her.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40She's very distinctive, dark hair.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42- She could be in there somewhere.- Mm.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48Smiling faces doing their bit for the war.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Perhaps they too might be recognised from family photographs.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57Their reward - a royal telegram sent from Buckingham Palace
0:26:57 > 0:27:00to Lord Chetwynd from the King.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03"His Majesty asks you to thank them
0:27:03 > 0:27:09"and tell them how he appreciates the splendid work that they have done,
0:27:09 > 0:27:15"by which this glorious victory has been attained."
0:27:15 > 0:27:19At Chilwell, they knew they had produced more than half of all
0:27:19 > 0:27:25the high explosive shells fired by the British during World War I.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29How many hundreds of folks it affected and how brave
0:27:29 > 0:27:32they all were. And they were all back at work the next day
0:27:32 > 0:27:35after this explosion happened.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38You can't even imagine that today.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41But they were very brave people hence it was called
0:27:41 > 0:27:45the VC Factory because of the brave people who were working there.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52Across the country, over a million people
0:27:52 > 0:27:54worked in the making of munitions.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58There were frequent accidents and explosions but it's the individual
0:27:58 > 0:28:02stories which bring home to us that there was both danger
0:28:02 > 0:28:04and courage on the Home Front.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10MUSIC: TAPS