John A Silkstone
21-05-06, 19:00
I’m not sure where to place this, so as it’s about the Dam Busters Lancaster’s turrets' I 've placed it here
ROSES' FACTORY GAINSBOROUGH LINCONSHIRE.
The gun turret components were made throughout the workshops of Roses - each workshop dealing with a different component. Jasper's Workshop was where the unit gun pivoted was made and also the valve chest which was a device to alter the flow of oil instantly to allow for a quick change of the gun's direction.
If an enemy fighter was zooming in on you, you didn't have the time to wait for the ordinary hydraulic system to adjust to a closing target. Wherever the gun sight went, the gun was lined up instantly. These gun turrets were tested at Roses.
Local people remembers hearing the test firings of the guns so there would have been no secrecy as to what they making at this time. Some of the men who worked on these guns also installed them in the aircraft.
Roses also manufactured naval guns and had a rocking platform which was used to test whether the guns could remain on target when the ships were taking evasive action.
A barrage balloon was positioned approx. 6 miles away over a small town called Haxey? This was so the radar sight had something to focus on and this was so accurate that it even took into account the movement of the balloon in the wind.
The working hours at Roses during the war were very long. There were 3 X 8-hour shifts in the Moulding and Turning shops while the Fitting shop staff started work at 7.30 am.
They never really knew when work would finish for the day. They had one Sunday off per month and usually found that a Home Guard exercise was scheduled for this day. Anyone who was over age for the forces or who was in a reserved occupation had to do something extra such as serving as an Air Raid Warden or in the Home Guard.
At least two men were on duty in all Roses workshops every night for 18.00 -06.00 hours as the firm was in operation 24 hours a day.
They also had plane spotters and each plane sighted had to be identified and reported, which, as there were so many airfields around Gainsborough, kept them very busy.
There was a competition running at the time in which all who entered had to pay 6d. (2.5 new pence) to guess how many aircraft would be sighted in the following week - the person who was closest to this number received the cash. It was the aircraft spotters who alerted the workshops when the Dam Busters flew over the town and one of my neighbours states that he was lucky enough to see the 22 Lancasters fly past and they where close enough to see the crews in them. The majority of the workers inside the factory would only have heard those 88 engines flying over them.
After the raid, Bomber Harris, Guy Gibson and a number of the aircrew toured Roses
I tried to place a photo of one of the turrets on the site but couldn't, sorry.
Silky
ROSES' FACTORY GAINSBOROUGH LINCONSHIRE.
The gun turret components were made throughout the workshops of Roses - each workshop dealing with a different component. Jasper's Workshop was where the unit gun pivoted was made and also the valve chest which was a device to alter the flow of oil instantly to allow for a quick change of the gun's direction.
If an enemy fighter was zooming in on you, you didn't have the time to wait for the ordinary hydraulic system to adjust to a closing target. Wherever the gun sight went, the gun was lined up instantly. These gun turrets were tested at Roses.
Local people remembers hearing the test firings of the guns so there would have been no secrecy as to what they making at this time. Some of the men who worked on these guns also installed them in the aircraft.
Roses also manufactured naval guns and had a rocking platform which was used to test whether the guns could remain on target when the ships were taking evasive action.
A barrage balloon was positioned approx. 6 miles away over a small town called Haxey? This was so the radar sight had something to focus on and this was so accurate that it even took into account the movement of the balloon in the wind.
The working hours at Roses during the war were very long. There were 3 X 8-hour shifts in the Moulding and Turning shops while the Fitting shop staff started work at 7.30 am.
They never really knew when work would finish for the day. They had one Sunday off per month and usually found that a Home Guard exercise was scheduled for this day. Anyone who was over age for the forces or who was in a reserved occupation had to do something extra such as serving as an Air Raid Warden or in the Home Guard.
At least two men were on duty in all Roses workshops every night for 18.00 -06.00 hours as the firm was in operation 24 hours a day.
They also had plane spotters and each plane sighted had to be identified and reported, which, as there were so many airfields around Gainsborough, kept them very busy.
There was a competition running at the time in which all who entered had to pay 6d. (2.5 new pence) to guess how many aircraft would be sighted in the following week - the person who was closest to this number received the cash. It was the aircraft spotters who alerted the workshops when the Dam Busters flew over the town and one of my neighbours states that he was lucky enough to see the 22 Lancasters fly past and they where close enough to see the crews in them. The majority of the workers inside the factory would only have heard those 88 engines flying over them.
After the raid, Bomber Harris, Guy Gibson and a number of the aircrew toured Roses
I tried to place a photo of one of the turrets on the site but couldn't, sorry.
Silky