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BBC History Channel

The Great War Interviews

Mabel Lethbridge

Detlef Siebert

Sandra Gorel

The Great War Interviews: Mabel Lethbridge

BBC - The Great War Interviews, Mabel Lethbridge

Mabel Lethbridge, a munitions factory worker from London, recalls her perilous job.

Mabel Lethbridge, a munitions factory worker from London, recalls her impulsive decision to work at Hayes National Filling Factory in Middlesex - with terrible consequences.

A 17-year-old Mabel Lethbridge lied about her age to get a job cleaning detonators at the No. 7 National Filling Factory in Hayes, Middlesex. It was a dull job, and when on her sixth day of work a poster appeared requesting staff to work in Amatol Filling Section - the Danger Zone - she immediately volunteered. Injury and deaths were frequent due to novice workers and highly explosive materials.

On Mabel's ninth day of work, a shell exploded and her left leg was mutilated beyond repair. It was later amputated, and she was awarded a Medal of the Order of the British Empire (known as a BEM nowadays) for her courage and devotion to duty.

Factual: History

A selection of original interview recordings filmed for The Great War in their entirety.

Filmed in the early 1960s, a selection of interviews from the BBC's series, The Great War, featuring eyewitness accounts of the conflict.

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