ROF Elstow facts for kids
The Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Elstow was a special factory in the United Kingdom during World War II. It was one of 16 "Filling Factories" built by the Ministry of Supply. These factories had an important job: they filled and packed munitions, which are things like bombs and shells, ready for use.
ROF Elstow was a medium-sized factory, known as Filling Factory No. 16. It was located south of the town of Bedford, between the villages of Elstow and Wilstead in Bedfordshire. It was bordered by the A6 road on one side and a railway line on the other. Many workers, mostly women, lived in special hostels built nearby.
Building the factory started in November 1940 and finished by August 1941. The Ministry of Works helped with the construction. Once built, the factory was managed by a company called J. Lyons. They ran it for the Ministry of Supply because the Ministry had too many factories to manage all by themselves.
The factory site had 250 buildings. It was kept very secret, so you won't find it on maps made during the war or even right after.
Getting Around: The Factory's Railway
The ROF Elstow factory had its own railway system, which was about 15 miles long. These tracks connected to a main railway line that ran between London and Bedford. This main line was part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway network.
A special signal box, called Wilshamstead Junction, controlled the railway connection. Inside the factory site, there was a small platform named "Wilshamstead." This platform was used by trains carrying workers to and from the factory. These worker trains ran from Bedford starting in August 1941, and from Luton starting in October 1941, until May 1946.
What Was Made: Wartime Production
ROF Elstow began filling munitions in February 1942. The factory was split into different areas called Groups. Each Group focused on filling different types of munitions.
- Some Groups filled cartridges.
- Others filled high-explosive (HE) bombs and shells.
- They started with 4,000-pound bombs, but later filled even bigger ones, including 8,000-pound, 12,000-pound, and huge 22,000-pound bombs!
There was a special "Cordite Group" that opened in June 1942. Cordite is a type of explosive. This group closed in May 1943 and was then used to fix and prepare shells again. Another area, the "Pellet Group," also closed in 1943. After 1943, ROF Elstow was mainly used to store extra ammunition parts and machinery.
The Factory Closes Down
ROF Elstow closed its doors in 1946, after the war ended.
Years later, in 1969, a company called the CEGB took over the site. They planned to build a power station there, but this plan never happened.
In the early 1980s, there was a suggestion to use the Elstow site as a place to store nuclear waste for the UK, but this also didn't go ahead.
More recently, in 2007, work began to build a new town called Wixams on the site of the old factory. Before building started, a survey of the site was done. This included talking to people who used to work at the factory. A report with maps and photos was published in 2009, sharing the history of this important wartime factory.
