Witton, Birmingham: The British Bullet Made by the Billion

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Kynoch, based in Witton, was a munitions manufacturer. One of its products was the .303” cartridge. During the war seven billion of these were produced for British forces. Almost two thirds of all .303s produced were made by Birmingham manufacturers, and Kynoch produced half of those – 2.4 billion rounds. At the peak of the war effort, some 18,000 people were employed at the Lion Works factory – and many of them were women. They became known as the “Kynoch Angels”. Various types of the cartridge were produced, including armour piercing, tracer and incendiary rounds. The incendiary rounds were produced to attack Zeppelin airships. These rounds penetrated the Zeppelins’ canopies and ignited the hydrogen gas within. Location: Witton, Birmingham B6 7ES Image: King George V visits Kynoch in 1915, courtesy of IMI plc