Witton, Birmingham: The British Bullet Made by the Billion
Kynoch, based in Witton, was a munitions manufacturer. One of its products was the .303鈥 cartridge.
During the war seven billion of these were produced for British forces. Almost two thirds of all .303s produced were made by Birmingham manufacturers, and Kynoch produced half of those 鈥 2.4 billion rounds.
At the peak of the war effort, some 18,000 people were employed at the Lion Works factory 鈥 and many of them were women. They became known as the 鈥淜ynoch Angels鈥.
Various types of the cartridge were produced, including armour piercing, tracer and incendiary rounds.
The incendiary rounds were produced to attack Zeppelin airships. These rounds penetrated the Zeppelins鈥 canopies and ignited the hydrogen gas within.
Location: Witton, Birmingham B6 7ES
Image: King George V visits Kynoch in 1915, courtesy of IMI plc
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