French female munitions worker making powder primers 1916

A photograph of a female munitions worker, as she makes the primers and other associated percussion cap parts for shells, in a French munitions factory. Women were favoured for this work as their hands were small. In England, the women who filled shells were known as Canaries because the chemicals used to make the explosives, turned their skin yellow

Canaries Chemicals Favoured Filled Munitions Percussion Powder Primers Shells

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