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A Coventry business grew exponentially during the war and expanded to cover Holbrooks and Whitmore Park.

Before the war, White and Poppe鈥檚 was a component manufacturer. In 1914 they had approximately 350 staff and had premises in Drake Street, just off Lockhurst Lane.

When the war began, they quickly adapted and started making munitions and with it, their premises expanded to 66 acres covering the areas of Holbrooks and Whitmore Park. By the end of the war they had over 12,000 staff.

The war and the subsequent war contracts had led to a huge growth in the company. A large proportion of the factory workers were women and were known as 鈥榗anary girls鈥� because the powder they worked with stained their skin yellow.

Researcher Anne Spurgeon explains how working conditions changed and impacted on some of the rules that we see in workplaces today.

鈥淭he vast majority of factories and workshops were very dangerous places to work in during World War One. When they first realised the problem of TNT exposure, they introduced a huge range of health and safety measures, so quite ironically the health and safety in the munitions factories was probably the best in the country, much better than elsewhere.鈥�

When the war ended, so did the munitions contracts and the country fell into recession. The company was bought out and returned to making motor components. It eventually ceased trading in 1930.

It has been reported that Alfred White was offered a knighthood after the war but reputedly turned it down because his business partner, Poppe, a Norwegian national was not eligible for the same title.

A local theatre company, Theatre Absolute is commemorating the WW1 centenary with a project called 鈥�100鈥�. The play is inspired by the life of a woman at the White & Poppe鈥檚 factory and written by playwright Richard Walls.

Location: Whitmore Park, Coventry, CV6 4QX
Image of female factory workers, courtesy of the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery

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