Page 11 - AWTX Internal Newsletter December 2018 UK

>> From that moment W&T Avery and the famous Soho
Foundry was on a war footing. For the next four years Avery’s How did the First World War impact our direct
would be at the forefront of transforming weighing and geographies?
testing in British manufacturing. Over 1,200 employees UK – More Britons died in WW1 than any other conflict
would go to war, and some would not return.’ - over 6 million men were mobilised and of those

Unfortunately, due to inaccurate records it hasn’t been 600,000 lost their lives
possible to tell exactly how many Avery men died, but it’s India – India made a huge contribution to the war
estimated to be anywhere between 78-120. One of the effort with over 1.2 million men volunteering in the
main reasons Andrew wrote the book was to ensure the Indian Expeditionary Force in either combat or labour
people of Avery who lost their lives were not forgotten. roles

Canada – Over 620,000 Canadians enlisted in the
Canadian Expeditionary Force and fought in most of
the major battles with over 60,000 men losing their
lives

Malaysia – Malaysia was not directly impacted by WW1
as the events were mostly confined to Europe

Book launch
The book was officially launched at the Soho Foundry site
State-of-the-art Avery counting machines on on 9th November, where author Andrew Lound, dressed
display as part of the Birmingham Mayor’s ‘Win in a First World War Infantryman’s uniform, told the
the War’ parade in 1918
fascinating story of Avery in World War 1. His captivating
presentation was both informative and moving, and
employees were extremely proud to learn of the bravery
of their predecessors.

Local newspaper, the Express and Star, attended the
day and ran a full page article on the book. Giving both
fantastic publicity for Andrew’s book and for Avery
Weigh-Tronix!

Avery employees funded Harborne Hall VAD
Hospital for injured soldiers

The book launch featured in the
Express and Star newspaper
Avery had its own regiment of troops - luckily
the war was over before they were called up
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