Twickenham, Middlesex, The Pelabon Works 1914-1918 - Sepia Saturday

Twickenham, Middlesex, The Pelabon Works 1914-1918. After Germany had invaded Belgium at the start of World War One, thousands of Belgian refugees fled to England. Most stayed with ordinary English families and they must have found it very strange. Eager to help the fight in liberating their country, armaments factories were built and some, like the Pelabon Works in Twickenham, were staffed by refugees and wounded soldiers. Converted from a roller-skating rink in 1914-15 by Collinsons of Teddington, The Pelabon Works was a hand-grenade factory. Charles Pelabon was a Belgian Industrialist. After the war the factory was converted into the famous Richmond Ice Rink. The Ice Rink was eventually demolished in 1992 to make way for the luxury flats overlooking the Thames which you can see in the modern Street View. In this first picture, taken on the 21st of July 1917,  you can see a group of workers from 'Section 16 Departement des Gaines Russes' which loosely translates as 'the glove-puppet' department. Presumably the glove-puppet was one of the components of the early hand-grenades. This is one of my favourite postcards in my collection. I've scanned this one at 300 dpi so that if you click to enlarge it you can gaze upon the faces of these workers in detail. I can't imagine how these young women felt to be so far from home, doing horrible work for long hours in the hope that their struggle would assist in the liberation of their country and their own repatriation. You can see the determination in their faces. By the way they are holding hands or linking arms you can also see they are good friends.
Click the pictures to enlarge them!

The photograph below shows a group of male workers having a break. On the wheel of the traction engine it says 'London' and 'Vive la Belge'. The presence of rail freight carriages in the background indicate this may have been taken somewhere near Twickenham railway station.

Finally, a postcard showing Collinsons building the factory. The Street View shows the flats that now stand on the site. For more old pictures please visit Sepia Saturday.

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