Inside Chemring

Sites across Chemring played a crucial role in the war effort, as well as being directly impacted by air raids and invasions across the UK and Europe. We dug through the archives to gather a collection of Chemring stories to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day and recognise the contribution of Chemring people and its sites. 

Chemring Energetics UK (CEUK), Ardeer - Scotland 

Ardeer played a substantial role during the Second World War when, between Ardeer and the nearby Royal Ordnance and Ministry of Defence factories at Irvine, Bishopton, and Powfoot, the west of Scotland had some 30,000 of its people engaged in active support of munitions production for the war effort. This included Chemring’s Ardeer facility, which produced high explosives and cordite used in gun propellants during the Second World War. The factory was hit by an air raid on 7 May 1941. Below follows details from the official Air Raid Report, November 1941. 

Report on Air Raid, Ardeer Factory 

Bombers located the factory by following the firebox of the steam locomotive pulling the nightshift workers’ train as it approached the Ardeer site. The air raid alert was received at 12.38 am, with bombs dropped within a few minutes of the alert. They continued to fall until about 3 am. On the sounding of the alert, workers appointed for duty as fire marshals proceeded to their posts, while the other workers went to their shelters.  

There were between 1,200 and 1,300 workers on duty in the manufacturing departments when the raid started. In the factory’s Blackpowder department, where 50 men were on duty at the time the raid started, one of the buildings was set on fire. Fortunately, it had already been cleared of powder the previous day and thoroughly washed down, so the fire team quickly got the fire under control and prevented it from spreading further.  

An account from Jean Raymond, who worked at the Ardeer factory during WW2: 

“My work involved making bombs and high explosives. We wore special clothing which tied rather than had metal fasteners to reduce the risk of sparks. One night in 1941, while travelling home on the train from the factory, we were pursued by a German aircraft attracted by the lights of the train. The next day, we learned that he had dropped his payload of bombs over Kilmarnock, on either side of the railway line, killing and injuring people on the ground.” 

Secret Spitfires at Chemring Countermeasures UK (CCM UK), Salisbury 

The Spitfire will forever be remembered as vital to Britain’s success in World War 2, particularly during the Battle of Britain. CCM UK’s High Post site in Salisbury is one of the few sites around the country where, after the German bombing of the major Spitfire factories in Southampton, the Spitfire continued to be constructed by a small ‘secret army’. 

This army was made up of unskilled workers, along with a handful of engineers, working in garages, workshops, bus depots, hotels, and even sheds around Salisbury, Trowbridge, and Reading. Together, they built half of the 22,000 Spitfires instrumental in winning the Battle of Britain.  

Chemring Nobel (CHN) during Nazi occupation of Norway 

On 9 April 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Norway. The invasion began early in the morning, and strategic points along the coast were attacked. In Hurum near Saetre, where the CHN facility is located, there was a good view of the Oslofjord, in which the Battle of Drøbak Sound occurred. The Blücher, an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser of the German Navy, commissioned shortly before World War II, was sunk by Norwegian coastal defences during the invasion of Norway. The ship was notable for carrying 882 military personnel at the time of its sinking. 

*Two shots from the 28-centimetre cannons "Moses" and "Aron" were fired at Blücher with Ballistic No. 6 from the now CHN plant at Engene. The plant is only around three kilometres from where the Blücher sank. This marks one of the most famous moments in the early defence of Norway. After the invasion, production at the plant was briefly halted, but resumed in the early summer of 1940.  

In the fall of 1942, a German military guard was introduced at the Engene plant, but these guards had no technical authority and functioned primarily as security guards. Despite the many challenges and restrictions of the war, operations at Engene continued without further accidents or drama. 

*Source. Kåre Ulstein, Det røksvake krutt. 1992