During WW2, my father, George Edson, worked at Rose's Trentside Albion Works, in Gainsborough. The company played a major
role in supplying the Admiralty and Air Ministry.
Gun turret components were made throughout the workshops of Roses - each workshop
dealing with a different component.
My father worked in Jasper's Workshop where the unit
the gun pivoted on 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 - Dad 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. There was a used gun turret,
with the interior covered in blood, in one of Roses yards.
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 Haxey ?) for the radar sight
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 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 were in a reserved occupation had to do something extra
such as serving as an Air Raid Warden or in the Home Guard.
Here they are all assembled on the steps of the cricket pavilion at Rose Bros. cricket ground (incidentally, the Australian cricket team played some matches there after the war). My father is the second from the left in the back row, between a man with glasses and a much taller man.
At least two men were rostered on duty in all Rose's workshops
every night for a 6pm to 6am shift so 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. 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 at rooftop height and while my father
was lucky enough to see the 22 Lancasters and was close enough to see the crews in them,
the majority of the workers 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 and all
could see the brand new medals they were wearing.
My father has many stories about Roses and the Home Guard - the tv series Dad's Army was
so true to life !
My grandmother wanted to make sure that her blackout curtains were doing
their job properly so she walked across the road to see if there were any chinks of light
showing through them. When she got back inside the house again she boasted that they were
perfect.
No wonder, she was told - the lights hadn't been turned back on after she had closed the
door behind her.
My father was in the home guard during the war and he used to tell me many tales of the things that had happened.... Such as the time when they were receiving instruction on how to use a bayonet if the enemy attacked you. One big hefty fellow, who you would think would be capable of anything, fainted when the sergeant flashed the blade before his eyes. They also had to practice using makeshift weapons like the one made by welding a bayonet blade to a metal pipe, similar to the old time lance.
In the photo of the men on parade you will notice that not every one is in uniform and I am sure that some of the 'weapons' are pieces of wood. My father is on the extreme right.
At last, the local home guard were issued with a radio set and they couldn't wait to get out into the fields to try it out, so as soon as work was over, they got together without bothering to change into their uniforms - then wondered why they were rounded up as the enemy by the local police.
The air raid warden one very foggy morning saw big white shapes floating down and yelled out 'PARACHUTES'. 'Parachutes you dozy B******, they're swans !' he was told.
Submitted to this site by George Edson's daughter, Hazel Slater
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