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Auction: 14002 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 14

Edward Medal (Industry), G.V.R., 1st type obverse, 2nd type reverse, silver (Thomas Coppard), very fine, in case of issue

E.M. London Gazette 10.5.1918 Thomas Coppard, Police Sergeant, National Filling Factory No. 13, in joint citation with 3 others for the Edward Medal, and listed alongside 8 men who received the K.P.M. for the same action, 'On account of their gallant conduct on the occasion of a fire which occured at a Munitions Factory on the 1st October, 1917.'

Heroic Endeavour by D.V. Henderson, G.M., offers further insight on Coppard's actions, '1 October 1917. He saved a number of lives when fire and explosions occurred at the White Lund factory, near Morecombe, Lancashire.'

The Lancaster Guardian states, 'on the evening of October 1, 1917, an explosion at the National Filling Factory on White Lund was so strong its force was felt as far away as Burnley. Ten people were killed during the night the majority of whom were firemen.

Most of the factory workers were in the canteen on their supper break when the alarm was raised around 10.30pm which probably saved many other lives though in the rush to escape the site, some were injured. The biggest explosion occurred around 3am.

The works fire brigade was unable to contain the fire which spread quickly and there were some staff who put their own lives on the line to save further casualties. Among them was Thomas Kew who shunted 49 ammunition trucks holding 250,000 live shells out of the danger zone to prevent further explosions.

Shells which had been filled at the factory began to explode with the intense heat. In Morecambe, shells were seen flying overhead into the bay while in Lancaster shop windows were blown in and shrapnel travelled as far as Scotforth and Quernmore....The factory was so wrecked by the explosion that it was out of commission for the rest of the war.

The cause of the disaster was never found though some suspected spy action or a Zeppelin air raid.

The National Filling Factory was one of two new factories which had been opened in the area by the Ministry of Munition by the middle of 1916. The National Projectile Factory in Caton Road was mainly turning and filling shell cases delivered from Barrow.

Such was the pride in these factories and the work they were doing for the war effort that both were visited by King George and Queen Mary in May, 1917 when they were presented with a silver plated shell as a memento.

The real shells were transported from Caton Road to White Lund where they were filled with explosives. This factory had taken seven months to develop, covered 400 acres and included 150 buildings.

More than 8,000 people worked in these factories at their peak and three quarters of them were women.'

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