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Drakelow
Who built Rover's No1D Shadow Factory ?

This is a list of the people who have contacted us who were involved in the construction of theDrakelow factory in the 1940's.
If you were involved, related to, or know anyone involved we would be very pleased to hear from you.

Name	Position	Notes/Comments
Bill Mantle		We have a detailed note of Bill's memories of his time at Drakelow HERE
Cyril Brakewell		Cyril worked on the construction of Drakelow as a teenager in the early 1940's for around 12 months. He remembers workers coming in by coach from Ludlow via Cleobury Mortimer
Della Wooddisse	Secretary to chief engineer	She worked at Drakelow from 12th June 1942 to 30th November 1942 when it was handed over to Rover. She worked for sir Alexander Gibb & Partners. She was secretary to Mr Weiss the chief engineer. She remembers that there was always trouble and often fights amongst the Irish labourers and a resident Priest was usually the only one who could sort out these troubles.
Frank DeBoo	Carpenter	Frank was grade 4 due to hearing difficulties. It was nearly finished when he started there. His main job was chocking air ducts. He remembers the coaches bringin the workers in were Whittles.
Les Grice	No2 Gate Blast	Les recalled that 3 men died in Tunnel1 when setting too large a charge to remove a lump of rock from the ceiling. He remembers a shaft being dug at 45 degrees up from Tunnel 1 (This would be the vent shaft). He remembered that all the tunnels were excavated simoultaneously once started. The starting order being 2,1,3,4. John cochrane was the main contractor. McAlpines had sunk a test shaft and said that it couldn't be done. He remembered the tunnel construction method in detail. This was later confirmed when we received drawings of the blasting layout. (Pages 4 -5 of Drakelow Unearthed - Revised Edition)
Howard Challoner	Brick Layer	Howard remembered bricklaying above the air ducts and on corners. Kent & Sussex did the brickwork and canteen structure. He remembered having a close call with an electric shock when moving some temporary lights. The doors had switches to switch off the lights automatically when opening. He also recalled cutting grooves into the rock for draining excess water to soakaways.

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Drakelow RSG 9 (1960's - 1970's) RGHQ 9.2

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