Evening star., 1942-03-13
British Plane Plants
Hire Woman Workers
Up 10 IS Years Old
Half Dozen 'Grunnies'
In One Factory Put in
AZ Hours q Week
Wide World News.

hJNDON, MdlCI 1o.-AI y tlillC
when most octogenarians are spared
as much of the rigors Of war as
possible, some half dozen women
the eldest of them 85-are working
in a Midlands factory helping make
small parts for airplanes.
They're known to their fellow en-
ployes as "the grannies."
Their grit and stamina are q
quiet inspiration to all.
They're on the Job not for q few
hours, a couple of days or q week.
They work eight-hour shifts. six
days a week, and not infrequently
put in a half day extra.
Special privileges? None would
afiront these women now by sug-
gesting favors merely because OF
their age. Their performance has
been described as altogether accept
able and at times distinguished con-
sidering their years.
They are helping do an essential
war work and they are proudly con-
scious of it, but an avowedly added
buoyancy is given their spirit by the
thought they are doing something
worthwhile in so modern field as
aircraft production.
Girls in Teens Also on Job.
The grannies are as flush with
the times as the r. A. F.
Far down the succession Of calen-
dar years there now are rising up in
aircraft production groups Of young
girls who, reckoning by age, might
be great-grandaughters of the
grannies.
And between these extremes, there
Is ample evidence that Britain Is
relying increasingly on the distaff
side for a variety of aptitudes in
plane manufacture and kindred in
dustries.
Little time is lost by factory man
ayers, some of whom obtain the
services of girls 16 and II on their
leaving school, 1t is the desire Of
such managers to train girls from
the first technical principles, to
make sure both of the direction
they are travelling and the equip
ment they'll need on the way.
Young girls, as we'll as the ones
who start when they are older, find
themselves in factory work covering
a large range of production.
Can Do 80 Per Cent of Work.
Excellent sources say it has been
established that women could do 80
per cent of work in aircraft fac
tories. The Ministry of Aircraft
Production has said women actually
are doing so per cent of the work
IN many engine plants.
1t is common sight these days to
see one woman operating a half
dozen or more Semi-automatic ma
chimes. incidentally, many of these
machines are from the United
States, and factory visitors see girls
virtually assemble engines.
The girls pitch into all the jobs,
whatever the tax on their strength,
nerves and patience. They seem to
have inexhaustible reserves of
cheerfulness. forbearance and rug
gedness under their femininity.
They'll bore holes for hours or apply
themselves to riveting with no loss
of lilt.
But the actual mechanics of man
ufacture are only a part of this
story of what many Women-their
numbers cannot be given, for secu-
rity reasons-are doing in this prov
ince of aviation.
Research, design, testing, inspec-
ton and repair-these are facts re-
necting some of the finest technical
skill in Britain.
Women Test Planes.
Here largely is required that
measure of proficiency represented
by college and university degrees.
Here, too, is the imperative need for
imaginative science wherein not
few women so far have won praise.
Women test planes to determine
the effects of atmospheric condi-
tons on new craft. They serve in
aeronautical inspection departments,
getting preliminary training before
going to factories for inspection of
parts.
Hardly less responsible Is the re-
pair end, which likewise has brought
commentator to the women.
At North Midlands factory, all
woman crews under woman super
visors repair crashed service planes.
They dismantle plane, At new
parts, and reassemble the machine,
readying it for the test pilot.
Originally the crews we're mixed
but the policy was unsuccessful, as
men felt they were superior workers.
With separation of the sexes, the
work leaped ahead.
Most Remain Anonymous.
In some factories girls are re-
cruited from the rank and file Of
workers being trained as draughts-
women. This relatively new develop
ment is hailed as a most important
one.
From the radio field, laundries,
various peacetime goods factories
and a great variety Of quasi-tech-
nical occupations girls and older
women have come to the aircraft
production.
Most of them remain anonymous
Even when a woman herself Is a
pilot, and only women in England
operate a factory making aircraft
equipment. the public may be a long
time hearing about her.
Such a woman is Mrs Aubrey
Burke, 32-year- r-old granddaughter Of
first Lord Aberconway and mother
of two small daughters.
Formerly a maker of model air.
planes, she is manufacturing plane
parts requiring extraordinary &C
curacy. She is an engineer with un-
usual qualifications and familiar
with every operation of her factory.
Summing up the women's contri-
button to aircraft production, a high
source says: