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page3Historic Gas Times%u2022 Issue 111 %u2022 June 2022 %u2022Zeppelin attacks continued however, and although gasworks avoided significant further attacks, the bombing continued to inflict damage on gas mains.There were substantial attacks by the Imperial German Navy on the Towns of Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool on the 16th December 1914. Hartlepool was the more significant target as it was an industrial town, during that raid the German ships fired 1,150 shells into the town damaging the gasworks as well as steelworks, railways, seven churches and 300 houses. A large loss of life occurred, with 86 civilians killed and Private Theophilus Jones of the Durham Light Infantry, was the first death of a British soldier from enemy action on British soil for 200 years.A much bigger impact on the gas industry was caused by industrial accidents at munitions works in Great Britain. There were three notable explosions at munitions works, which damaged gasworks, these were the explosions at Ashton under Lyne, Low Moor (Bradford) and Silvertown (London).A major explosion occurred on Wednesday June 13th 1917 in Ashton under Lyne. This explosion happened at the Hooley Hill Rubber and Chemical works, which was said to have caught fire, and then later led to a huge explosion, causing debris to be scattered to the adjacent town of Dukinfield. Adjacent to this chemical works was a gasholder station which belonged to the Ashton under Lyne gasworks, when the munitions factory exploded, it caused the two adjacent column guided gasholders to be completely destroyed. The explosion was so large that it seriously damaged the Gasworks at the nearby town of Dukinfield.This event seriously affected the local communities, 43 people died, and 23 of those were casualties at the factory, it also left 120 hospitalised, and several hundred with minor injuries, making it one of the most serious war time accidents. A stainless steel memorial by artist Paul Margett was erected in 2017 in Henry Square, Ashton under Lyme, honouring those who died in the tragic incident. The gasholder were rebuilt as spirals guided gasholder during the war and were only recently demolished by National Grid.Another major explosion which occurred during the course of WW1, was at the Low Moor Chemical Works, Bradford on the 21st of August 1916. This incident started as a small fire which spread to the munition%u2019s magazines, and then gradually triggered a large explosion followed by subsequent series of smaller explosions as the munitions set alight. The large explosion seriously damaged the nearby Low Moor gasworks, ripping the sheeting from the gasholder and shattering the roof of the retort house. In total, 39 people sadly died, with a further 60 injured. As with Ashton Under Lyne a memorial was built remembering the 100th anniversary of the explosion in 2016. The gasholder and gasworks were rebuilt after the accident.Perhaps the most notable disaster to affect a gasworks in World War One was the Silvertown explosions of 1917. Silvertown, which is now in the London Borough of Newham, to the East of London, was home to a factory established by the War office in a disused part of a Brunner Mond soda factory. The factories purpose was to purify the explosive TNT (Trinitrotoluene), a process more dangerous than its manufacture and rather fool hardy to be carried out in a very populated area.A fire broke out in the melt-pot room of the works, unable to control the fire it soon spread igniting approximately 50 long tons (50.8 metric tons) of TNT. The resulting explosion ultimately killed 73 people, and injured at least 400 more. Debris was strewn for miles in the local area which included red hot fragment of rubble which then caused further fires elsewhere. The blast was so loud that it was reported to have been heard from Guildford in Surrey to Sandringham in Norfolk. Other reports described how that Glass was blown from windows in the Savoy hotel, and even a Taxi was said to have been overturned outside on Pall Mall.The blast destroyed much of the area surrounding the factory and damaged the East Greenwich gasworks, blowing out doors and windows and removing the slates from the roofs of the buildings. The giant No.2 gasholder, which had six lifts and had a working capacity of 12m cubic feet was completely destroyed. The 8 million cubic feet of gas release from the No.2 gasholder created a fireball which lit up London as if it were daylight. The other giant No.1 gasholder was also severely damaged. Both gasholders were repaired afterwards. The accident is remembered through the Silvertown memorial which is located on the side of the River Thames in the Royal Wharf development.These were not the only major explosions which occurred at munitions factories throughout the war, many others happened, which did not impact gasworks, not mentioned here. The attacks on the gasworks by the Germans were just a prelude to what would be encountered during World War Two, where again the gasworks played a vital part in the war effort and were obvious targets with their large gasholders.By Oliver ThomasBased on H Townsend M.Inst.C.E %u2013 proceedings of the Institution of Gas Engineers 29th May 1919 and other sources.Note that the fallen guide column at Ashton has not fractured, as might have been expected.