Rootes Aircraft Factory Speke WW2

[MissM]

Hi Mathilda

I really don't remember ever hearing that Rootes was bombed.  I know bombs were dropped over Speke across the fields but not the factory.

Have a looked at this link for a piece about the first airport which mentions the Rootes factory.  It doesn't mention any bombings there.  The planes were delivered to Rootes partially built and put together there, then the planes woul dbe wheeled across the road to Speke Airport where pilots (often female) would fly them to wherever they were needed.

http://www.south-lancs-aviation.bravepages.com/history_of_speke_airport.htm

There's another website here with an interesting story of a German attempt to bomb the Rootes factory. 

http://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/277179/7.html

Have a look at message 276905.

Sorry I can't be more definite but I can't find any reference to the factory being bombed.

Lynne

[MissM]

I've been trawling the internet and have found a reference to Rootes being bombed in the Battle of Britain Campaign Diary.

"29th/30th August
Manchester and Liverpool were severely bombed - property, gas and water mains being severely affected. IB and HE bombs are reported to have been dropped in many places including the factory of Messrs Rootes Ltd and others in the Speke district. "

http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/august29.html

[Mathilda]

Many thanks Lynne, much appreciated.

[CdnScouser]

My Mother lived across the road from Rootes.  It was never bombed during the war.  The Germans tried and hit everything but it.  Lord Ha Ha (German Propagandist used to give false reports on the radio) claimed it had been bombed to panic the people, however my Mum and family used to look out of the window and it was still there.  Started off as Dunlops tire, then they changed it to make aircraft, then after the war changed it back to Dunlops again.  Factory is long gone.

[Mark Abbott]

An excellent book on the HP Halifax:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handley-Page-Halifax-Victory-Beyond/dp/1906537062

[Ian N]

Hi all,

Just got to this thread while researching the Rootes factory as my late father worked there.  He told us about air raids as everyone who worked at there also had a defense role and he was a fire-watcher.  He described how he and the other lads would deal with incendiaries which, like all cluster bombs, fell in their hundreds when used.  Instead of the ministry approved method using a bucket of sand and a shovel they would dribble the devices 'like Dixie Dean' to the edge of the roof and chip it up over the parapet.

Although he talked about the raids he never mentioned either damage or casualties.

[COMEONFRANK]

Hi Ian

Good to hear from you , if you have any more information or photo's of the Rootes Factory please feel free to add them to this thread

Best Regards

Paul

[Mathilda]

Hello everyone.
Ian N, I read with interest about your late father and Rootes. My mother in law was one of the first women to be employed as a welder during the war. She is now 89 years old and maintains the the factory was attacked by a lone German plane sweeping low over the factory and firing. She remembers every one taking cover and recalls there may have been casualties. She would love to know if anyone else can remember this incident.
Regards,
Mathilda.

[Englishman]

The factory made bombers during WW2.  Later it became part of the Dunlop Rubber company.  It closed in 1979/1980, in part due to destructive behaviour of the trades unions.  It was demolished and the site now houses various industrial units.

It was on Speke Hall Avenue, and the main gate was opposite the junction with Dunlop Road.  Speke Hall Avenue now leads to the "new" Liverpool Airport.  This airport was named after John Lennon, and what a travesty that is: it's difficult to think of a less deserving deadbeat.  Is he really the best example of value and worth that Liverpool has?

Anyway, the factory made car tyres, truck tyres, cycle tubes, golf balls, tennis balls, and conveyor belting.

There was a chap on the old black & white TV programme, What's my line? (Eamon Andrews et al) who claimed to pump the air into tennis balls.  No such job existed.

In answer to another's question, Wellington boots were made at the Dunlop Footwear plant in Walton, Liverpool.

The Lockheed factory was Lockheed Hydraulics, not the Lockhead Aircraft company.