[jamesicus]

Pots & pans -- scrap metal for the war effort.

Note: now that I have found some Web pages about WWII I find that I have been off on some of my dates and locations -- please excuse the lapses, but it has been over sixty years ago and I have been relying on my memory and some rough notes and occasional remembrances of friends.

Shortly after the war started there were calls for scrap metal drives to fill the ever increasing need of the war effort -- there was a severe shortage and reliability of transportation for raw materials (especially iron ore via ship) was poor.

School children in particular pitched in with vigor and most schools had ongoing scrap metal drives -- Boy Scouts and other organizations did their bit too. We collected every kind of metal item you could imagine -- lots of old flat irons were melted down to make bombs and shells. The government soon got in the act and one of the prime sources of superfluous metal was the iron railings/gates surrounding parks and public buildings -- private home owners contributed their gates and railings also . Much beautiful ironwork was surrendered to the cause -- only the stubs were left as railings were sawn off (or cut with oxyacetylene torches). I remember how sad Scott Park and many homes looked with (most of) the railings gone. Eventually even historic landmarks were sacrificed -- the two Crimean War cannons next to Burnley Grammar School went -- I was sad about that because I always thought they were an important part of the town history.

James