by HENRIETTA HEALD
Brazing blades at Heaton Works, the site of the Parsons family firm in Newcastle. PHOTO/Tyne & Wear Archives ref 2402
The Shell Crisis of May 1915 triggered a political earthquake in Britain that would lead eventually to the fall of the Asquith government. At its heart was the revelation that heavy British losses on the Western Front had been caused by a catastrophic shortage of artillery shells. Immediate measures to deal with the crisis included the creation of a Ministry of Munitions under David Lloyd George and a massive recruitment drive for industrial workers. The women who answered the call in their hundreds of thousands not only provided the vital production capacity to salvage the situation but also made great strides towards their own economic emancipation.
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