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'{{Redirect|Royal Ordnance Factories|the football club|Royal Ordnance Factories F.C.}} '''Royal Ordnance Factories''' ('''ROFs''') was the collective name of the [[United Kingdom|UK]] government's [[munitions]] factories in and after heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy [[World War II]]. Until [[privatisation]] in 1987 they were the responsibility of the [[Ministry of Supply (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Supply]] and later the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]. The majority of the ROFs were built in the [[Rearmament (UK, 1930s)|re-armament]] period just before the start of the 1939-45 World War to enhance the capacity of the [[Royal Arsenal]], [[Woolwich]], the [[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills|Royal Gunpowder Factory]] (RGPF) [[Waltham Abbey (town)|Waltham Abbey, Essex]] and the [[Royal Small Arms Factory]], (RSAF) [[Enfield Town|Enfield]]. These were sited in or near to [[London]] and were considered to be vulnerable to aerial [[bombing]] from continental [[Europe]]. The Royal Arsenal designed many of the ROFs and was also the [[wiktionary:agent|agent]] for the [[construction]] of all of the Rifles ROFs, the Medium Machine ROF and the Small Arms Ammunition ROFs. The Ministry of Supply, the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Works]] and two other private companies were agents for the construction of the remaining ROFs.<ref name=kohan>Kohan (1952).</ref> == Factories types== ===WW II explosive factories=== A number of World War II [[munitions]] factories in the UK were built and owned by [[Imperial Chemical Industries]] (ICI). These [[ICI Nobel|ICI Nobel Explosives]] owned factories were not considered part of the Ministry of Supply's Royal Ordnance Factory organisation and they were not called ROFs. ICI also managed munitions factories constructed with Ministry of Supply funding. These were known as "Agency Factories" and three of them became part of [[Royal Ordnance]] upon the ROFs' privatisation. ===Agency Factories=== Some of the ROF Filling Factories built later during World War II were government-owned but managed, as Agency Factories, by private companies unconnected with the explosives industry. For example [[J. Lyons and Co.|Joseph Lyons & Co]] ran [[ROF Elstow]] throughout the war.<ref name=bates>Bates (n/d).</ref> Other Filling Factories were run by [[Imperial Tobacco|Imperial Tobacco Co Ltd]], [[Courtaulds Ltd]], [[Co-operative Wholesale Society|The Co-operative Wholesale Society]] (CWS), Metal Closures Ltd and [[Lever Brothers]]. == Siting of the ROFs == The new ROFs were to be built in areas regarded as "relatively safe", which until 1940 meant from [[Bristol]] in the south and then west of a line that ran from (roughly) [[Weston-super-Mare]] in [[Somerset]] northwards to [[Haltwhistle]], [[Northumberland]]; and then northwestwards to [[Linlithgow]] in [[Scotland]]. The South, South East and East of [[England]] were regarded as "dangerous" and the [[English Midlands|Midlands]] area, including [[Birmingham]] as "unsafe". This definition of "safe" area was later changed, and in 1940 ignored in the case of ROF Chorley.<ref>Hornby (1958) Chapter IX.</ref> Siting of the individual ROFs north and west of this line was of vital importance. ROFs involved with [[explosive]] manufacture or filling needed, on safety grounds, to be located away from centres of [[population]]. However they needed access to good transport links, such as [[railways]]; the availability of adequate workers within reasonable travelling distance; a plentiful guaranteed supply of clean process water; and (to avoid the danger of frozen explosives) tended to be located at or just above [[sea Level]]. Some ROFs located in [[Wales]] and Scotland were the result of [[political]] [[lobbying]] as these areas had high [[unemployment]] rates in the 1930s. The ROFs were guarded by what was to become the [[Ministry of Defence Police|Ministry of Defence Police Force]]. == Management of the ROFs == === World War II to the Korean War === {{Main|Engineering ROF|Explosive ROF|Filling Factories}} The Royal Ordnance Factories were set up with six generic types of factories: * [[Engineering ROF]]s; * [[Explosive ROF]]s; * [[Filling Factories]], including [[small arms]] ammunition (SAA) Filling Factories; * Medium Machine Shops, specifically [[ROF Patricroft]]; * Rifles ROFs, specifically [[ROF Fazakerley]] and [[ROF Maltby]]; and, * Small Arms Ammunition Factories. The three main types were: Engineering, Filling and Explosives. The largest ROFs tended to be the Explosive ROFs and the Filling Factories as these needed an explosives safeguarding zone around the [[perimeter]] of the factory; as well as separation, or reduced separation and traverses, between buildings. [[ROF Bishopton]] occupied over {{convert|2000|acre|km2}} and [[ROF Chorley]] was {{convert|900|acre|km2}}. Each ROF tended to be self-contained, apart from its raw [[materials]]: with their own coal-fired [[power stations]], for generating [[steam]] for heating and process use, and [[electricity]] via high-pressure steam [[turbines]] if needed; engineering workshops; [[plumbers]] and chemical plumbers; [[leather]] workers; electricians; buildings and works departments; [[House|housing]] and [[hostels]] for workers; [[Canteen (place)|canteen]]s; [[Laundry|laundries]] and medical centres. The UK's ROFs were set up and operated as production factories. The design of [[explosives]], [[propellants]] and [[munitions]] was carried out at separate government-owned research and development establishments such as the Research Department, which was initially based at the [[Royal Arsenal]], [[Woolwich]] and then [[Halstead, Kent|Fort Halstead]], in [[Sevenoaks]], [[Kent]]; and at PERME Waltham Abbey, Essex, which later moved to became RARDE Fort Halstead. === Post-war closures of temporary ROFs === {{seealso|1957 Defence White Paper}} A number of the ROFs were designated ''temporary'', for use during the war's duration only. They closed shortly after the end of World War II. Other ROFs were designated ''permanent'' and they remained open into more recent times. In 1957, a Defence [[White paper]] lead to a reorganisation of the aircraft industry, a restructuring of the [[British Army]] and a concentration on [[missile]] systems. A number the ''permanent'' ROFs closed in the late 1950s, after the end of the [[Korean War]], and others closed in the 1970s. The temporary ROFs, or ROFs which closed in the 1950s and 1970s, tended to be taken over by other Government Departments. Some closed ROFs and [[Admiralty]] explosive sites, such as the [[Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent]], were retained by the Ministry of Defence as ammunition storage areas; others became Government Industrial Estates or Trading Estates; others were used as [[Brownfield status|brown field]] sites to build [[Prisons]] or Open Prisons. Part of [[ROF Thorpe Arch]] became the [[Boston Spa]] depository of the [[British Library]]. A Hostel at [[ROF Swynnerton]] became a [[Training]] [[School]] for the [[General Post Office (United Kingdom)|General Post Office]] (GPO) Telephones, which later became [[British Telecom]]. Now called Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre and run by [[Accenture]]. [[ROF Elstow]] was taken over by the [[CEGB]] and became a storage depot. The site has been cleared; and, as of 2008, is in the process of becoming the new town of [[Wixams]]. === The Trading Fund === In, July 1974, the Royal Ordnance Factories were set up as a [[Trading Fund]], under the Government's Trading Funds Act 1973.<ref name=nevell-4>Nevell, Roberts and Smith (1999), Chapter 5: "From Royal Ordnance Factory to Plc, 1957&ndash;1984".</ref> ===Privatisation of the remaining ROFs=== {{Main|Royal Ordnance|Dstl|QinetiQ}} As part of its [[privatisation]] process in the 1980s, the UK Government transferred some of the, formerly separate, research and development capability of the [[Defence Research Establishments]] into the ROFs. Other parts of the UK's defence research and design capability were later closed down; remained with the UK [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]], as [[Dstl]]; or became part of [[QinetiQ]]. On 2 January 1985 the majority of the Royal Ordnance Factories were vested in the UK Government-owned company [[Royal Ordnance]] Plc; it was bought by [[British Aerospace]] in 1987.<ref>Vickers, John and Yarrow, George (1993). ''Privatization: An Economic Analysis''. Cambridge Massachusetts and London, England: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ISBN 0-262-22033-4, page 173.</ref> The [[Ministry of Defence Police]] left most of the ROFs on or within a few years of privatisation. The small number of ROFs involved in [[nuclear weapon]]s production, [[Atomic Weapons Establishment|ROF Burghfield]] and [[ROF Cardiff]], were removed from ROF management and did not pass over to Royal Ordnance upon privatisation. They were transferred to the control of AWRE; which later became the [[Atomic Weapons Establishment]]. ==See also== *[[Filling Factories]] *[[List of prisons in the United Kingdom]] *[[List of Royal Ordnance Factories]] *[[Royal Ordnance]] *[[Royal Small Arms Factory]] *[[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills]] *[[Ruddington Depot]] == References == === Notes === {{Reflist|1}} === Bibliography === * [[H.E. Bates|Bates, H. E.]] (n/d). ''The Tinkers of Elstow: The story of the Royal Ordnance Factory managed by J. Lyons & Company Limited for the Ministry of Supply during the World War of 1939-1945''. London: n/p. * Bowditch, M.R. & Hayward, L. (1996). ''A Pictorial Record of the Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Health''. Warham: Finial Publishing. ISBN 1-900467-01-1. * Hay, Ian. (1949). ''R.O.F.: The Story of the Royal Ordnance Factories: 1939 - 48''. London: [[Her Majesty's Stationery Office|His Majesty's Stationery Office]]. * Hornby, William. (1958). ''Factories and Plant: ([[History of the Second World War#United Kingdom Civil Series|History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Civil Series]])''. London: [[Her Majesty's Stationery Office]] and Longmans, Green and Co. * Kohan, C.M. (1952). ''Works and Buildings: ([[History of the Second World War#United Kingdom Civil Series|History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Civil Series]])''. London: [[Her Majesty's Stationery Office]] and Longmans, Green and Co. * Nevell, Mike, Roberts, John & Smith, Jack. (1999). ''A History of Royal Ordnance Factory, Chorley''. Trowbridge: Carnegie Publishing. ISBN 1-85936-063-7. [[Category:Explosives manufacturers]] [[Category:Filling factories|*]] [[Category:Royal Ordnance Factories|*]]'