Free Heart of War by John Masters Page B

They’ll send him down as soon as we ask for him.’
    Bob sat down heavily. He did not normally sit down in this office unless asked to, but he was feeling tired, and old, and worried. Perhaps he should have retired when Mr Harry did, after all. That damned girl, turned out to be really a woman when she was still looking like a girl. He pushed the bowler hat to the back of his head – ‘We’ll have to lay off most of the men, Mr Richard.’
    â€˜We’ll need some to make the conversion.’
    Bob nodded. ‘That’s true, but when we’ve done that, and we’re ready to fill shells, a lot of men will not be coming back at all. We won’t need their trades. I’ve seen a Filling Factory, and it’s mostly manual labour, unskilled, too.’
    â€˜It’ll be mostly women,’ Richard said. ‘That’s why I’ve been trying to get more women into the plant since I took over … and my father had started before that, as you know.’
    Bob said, ‘I didn’t like it, but he was right. If we hadn’t taken women we’d ’a had to close the gates long since.’
    â€˜Do you have a list of everyone who works here now?’
    â€˜Miss Harcourt has in her office, for the payrolls. But I know them all, and their trades.’
    â€˜We’ll have to make some sort of announcement this afternoon before they leave.’
    â€˜Miss Harcourt has the lay-off slips all typed out. It’s only a question of who we give ’em to. An’ that won’t be easy till the man from Woolwich comes down and shows us what changes we have to make.’
    â€˜Right. Look, we’ll give them all an extra day’s wage by not handing out the slips until tomorrow. Then, I’ll get everyone together in the main machine room and tell them what’s happening. We’ll hand out lay-off slips to everyone, except Miss Harcourt, Beckett the night watchman and two others to caretake in the daytime. You choose those – take Willum Gorse for one … Then you and I will go through the roll, and decide first, whom we will probably need to make the conversions … and finally, whom we can recommend to Hedlington Aircraft, or the J.M.C.’
    â€˜The Aircraft’ll only be wanting the fabric men and women. J.M.C. might take some others,’ Bob said gloomily. What if the girl died? They did, from abortions, he knew.
    Richard said, ‘Before I do anything else, I’ll call the Ministry of Munitions. They’ve got some good men there – Lloyd George put them in. They act, not just write memoranda.’ He reached out for the telephone, and, while Bob Stratton waited, sucking his teeth and looking sightlessly at the Duke of Connaught visiting the plant in ’88, half listening to his employer, Richard spoke: ‘Ministry of Munitions … Mr Smiley, please … Smiley, Richard Rowland, of the Rowland Motor Car Company in Hedlington here … No, the War Office didn’t manage to persuade the Navy to take the vehicle, so it’ll have to be shells … Thanks, so am I … Yes … Yes … As soon as possible. I have several hundred men and women who will be laid off tomorrow … He can come down tomorrow? That’s wonderful! … Three weeks, if we can install a new big boiler and lagged piping in the time, and build the boiler house. All right. Thanks. Come down yourself to see how we’re doing. Any time. We can still give you a good unch at the South-Eastern … and we have to fix the financing. Come soon.’
    He put down the telephone and turned to Bob – ‘Well, that’s that. So round about April 7th we’ll be reborn as Rowland’s Shell Filling Factory. It’ll be an occasion for a celebration, I suppose.’
    â€˜Or a wake,’ Bob said gloomily. The plant would be changed out of recognition – pipes all over the place, wet floors, hand washing