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Charlesfield Incendiary Bomb Munitions Factory, St Boswells
The factory was built c. 1942 with bomb production ending in 1945. The site was later given over to the Royal Navy and used as an Armaments Depot, thus becoming RNAD Charlesfield from 1948 until 1963. Thereafter, the site was used for agricultural purposes before an industrial estate was established in the mid 1970s. Today, it is a thriving industrial site, with large and small businesses alike utilising the site's central Borders location and easy access to the A68.
Charlesfield was one of only two factories producing the 4lb thermite incendiary bomb, used so effectively against the enemy during World War II. The factory was controlled by the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) and operated by Nobel Explosive Company/ICI. Incidentally, the second factory was at Bowhouse, near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, controlled by the Air Ministry. An item in the 'Glasgow Herald' on 28 May 1945 stated that 4,000 Scottish workers at the two sites mentioned above and ICI Linlithgow made more than 90,000,000 incendiary bombs - 'one for each of the inhabitants of greater Germany', with magnesium for them being manufactured at Bellshill. Nearby Charlesfield Halt to the west served the factory, as did a siding from the east.
See the RCHAMS Canmore site Link for further information and aerial images. An interesting interview with Margaret Cessford, a worker at Charlesfield during the war, can be found at Link whilst a diagram of the 4lb incendiary bomb can be found on this page: Link
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