Ford at War; booklet by H St. George Saunders, 1946 - "View from the Jetty-Master's Office, Dagenham" : illustration by Helen McKie
A wonderful view of the Ford Works at Dagenham in Essex from a fascinating book issued by the Ford Motor Company of England to tell the story of the company's activities during WW2. The book, issued in 1946, is full of sketches and paintings by Helen McKie, an artist who produced a lot of 'Thames-side' material for the river boat operators, the General Steam Navigation Co., as well as commissions for the Southern Railway.
The view looks across the Thames jetty that allowed delivery of raw materials and the dispatch of finished goods towards the main works dominated by the then camouflaged generating station that, along with the iron foundry, formed the massive integrated vehicle production plant Ford had opened in 1931 on the marshes adjoining the River Thames. It replaced Ford's earlier UK factory at Trafford Park in Manchester.
The jetty view shows the major production units of the wartime economy - military vehicles, such as Bren Gun Carriers, and tractors - the Fordson tractor was one of the backbones of the huge increase in British food production that sustained the war effort and that was based on increasing mechanisation of agriculture at the time.
Ford at War; booklet by H St. George Saunders, 1946 - "View from the Jetty-Master's Office, Dagenham" : illustration by Helen McKie
A wonderful view of the Ford Works at Dagenham in Essex from a fascinating book issued by the Ford Motor Company of England to tell the story of the company's activities during WW2. The book, issued in 1946, is full of sketches and paintings by Helen McKie, an artist who produced a lot of 'Thames-side' material for the river boat operators, the General Steam Navigation Co., as well as commissions for the Southern Railway.
The view looks across the Thames jetty that allowed delivery of raw materials and the dispatch of finished goods towards the main works dominated by the then camouflaged generating station that, along with the iron foundry, formed the massive integrated vehicle production plant Ford had opened in 1931 on the marshes adjoining the River Thames. It replaced Ford's earlier UK factory at Trafford Park in Manchester.
The jetty view shows the major production units of the wartime economy - military vehicles, such as Bren Gun Carriers, and tractors - the Fordson tractor was one of the backbones of the huge increase in British food production that sustained the war effort and that was based on increasing mechanisation of agriculture at the time.