Industry

Jack Elliott was born in Edmonton, London in 1913. His father worked for the Small Arms Factory in Enfield. Jack joined him on leaving school, but he left again after 12 months because he didn’t like the repetition of the work. Instead he found a job at the Royal Gunpowder Mills, where he worked from 1936 to 1943.

Mr and Mrs Elliott in Ponders End, late 1930s.

Transcript

Jack Elliott:
‘Cause funny enough, my mother, it was my mother actually. She said to me - I lived at Edmonton see, and my labour exchange was in Brucegrove, Tottenham - She said they were giving forms out. The labour exchange was over the road here, never been in it. She said they were giving forms out for the Powder Mills to people, you know, so she said: 'Why don't you go there?' So I goes there. I said: ‘Can I have a form for the Gunpowder Mills’ – ‘cause they treat you like dirt in them times, oh yeah 'cause they was well nasty - they said: 'Where's your signing on card?' I give it to them. He said: ‘You've got Tottenham across it, you sign on at Tottenham.’ I said: ‘I'm still out of work.’ ‘Well’, they said: ‘There's a form there’ - big form, government like where he works and everything. He said: ‘Fill that in and send it in to me, not the firm,’ he said: ‘Because that will go with another 1500 forms.’ Well, hopeless weren’t it. I put it in my pocket and went home and it must be weeks after my mother said to me: 'Did you ever get a form?' I said: 'Yeah, I've got it in my pocket.' She said: 'Did you fill it in?' I said: 'No they've got 1500 now.' She said: 'Fill it in' and I think it was a penny stamp in them days. I posted it and within a fortnight I had a letter to go down for a medical. You had a medical, with an Army doctor. I passed all right. I went in there, end of '36, three years before the War, and it was lovely.

But when I went in, there was one local and several people from distressed areas, you know, (…) marches and all that. Some from there. Two from Ireland, some from Wales and we all met. I was local. But they was good blokes. But none of them had ever worked. Some of them had only sold newspapers on the corner of the street. There’s no work at all. So they brought them down. They gave them a nice suit, a grey suit, all dressed the same, put them in lodgings and gave them a job in the Powder Mills. And course, they were on top of the world when they got a few shillings, (…) the wages. Some of them – well, I know we was on explosives but nobody thought of war three years before – some of them joined the Territorials. Because you get another suit, army suit. And they go on manoeuvres two weeks in a fortnight, on Salisbury Plain. Well it’s a bit more money I suppose. And course when the war come, they was the first ones to get called up. So I lost halve my mates there. Then we sent parcels, you know, and then we had letters saying don’t sent no more ‘cause… It was terrible really. You were mates and then they’re all gone.'

Copyright. Jack Elliott was interviewed by Carien Kremer on 23 September 2003. Photograph courtesy of Jack Elliott. For access to full interview please contact the Museum.