When you think about heroes of the First World War it brings to mind images of those battling in the trenches.
But there are of course an incredible number of stories closer to home, of formidable resolve, bravery and tragedy.
Some, like the part Pembrey Country Park played in the war, have been largely forgotten
Based inside the now picturesque park on the Carmarthenshire coast was Pembrey Munitions Factory.
It was here thousands of women sacrificed their health, and often their lives for the war effort.
The hair and skin of the women who worked there would turn yellow due to chemicals being used.
Women would suffer burns caused by acid. They would be blinded by vapour. They would suffer seizures, and, in one incident lives were lost.
However, due to the secretive nature of the work their stories are not widely known.
What was the factory?
The factory was actually built in 1882 by the New Explosive Company but was taken over by Nobel’s Explosives Company (founded by the guy who the Peace Prize is named after) in 1886 or 1887.
However, with the outbreak of the First World War production was stepped up.
At its peak 200 tons of crude TNT was made there every week with a total of 15,000 tons made during the war.
During the war over 20,000 tons of Cordite (a smokeless explosive) was also produced
By the end of the war 4,765 workers were employed at the factory - the majority of which were women.
Employees earned between two shillings and sixpence and three shillings a day.
At the time, that was pretty good pay, causing a local shortage of people wanting to be domestic servants.
What was life like inside the factory?
There was so much secrecy around the factory that few records remain.
However, one incredibly valuable sources is, surprisingly, from the diary of a Gloucestershire vicar’s daughter named Gabriella West.
Gabriella had joined a newly formed women's police service where she started working as a sergeant in 1917. According to Gabrilla her job was to “control the women workers”.
The extracts from her diary paint a stark picture of what these women endured.:
“The girls here are very rough and so are the conditions.
“Their language is sometimes too terrible! But they are also very impressionable.
“Particles of acid land on your face making you nearly mad - like pins and needles but much more so.
"They get on your clothes and leave brown specks all over them.
“They also get up your nose and down your throat and in your eyes so you are blind and speechless.”
All of those symptoms came from the sulphuric acid section of the factory.
Just as bad was the TNT section.
The women there were nicknamed the “canary girls” because the work turned their hair and skin yellow.
The area was so polluted that even rabbits living in the park got yellow underbellies.
On top of that the ether in the cordite caused hysterics and epilepsy.
Gabriella wrote that when there was no wind 30 girls could be overcome by fumes.
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Despite (and perhaps because of) the appalling conditions there was an incredible sense of community amongst the people in the area.
This culminated when there was a fatal explosion in July 14, 1917.
Four men and two women were killed. What happened next was incredible.
The two women, aged 18 and 19 respectively, were named Mildred Owen and Mary Watson.
The first witness at the inquest into their death was the general superintendent of the department who said the explosion happened in the area used for the final washing and filtering of the munitions.
Mildred and Mary were employed to take the bags to that building to take the others away.
Their funeral was an absolutely enormous affair with thousands of people travelling to Swansea from across South Wales to pay their respects.
The pair were laid to rest in Danygraig Cemetery but it was their procession that was most unusual.
Their coffins on the horse drawn carriages were covered in a Union Jack and all their pull bearers were women.
These women wore their work uniforms which means that it was essentially a military funeral for women - incredibly unusual for the time.
Despite an inquest, the cause of the explosion was never satisfactorily explained.
The South Wales Daily Post covered the funeral and wrote on August 11, 1917: “There was a huge crowd at High Street Station, Swansea, on Saturday to witness the arrival of the bodies of the local victims of the explosion at a Welsh munition works -- Mildred Owen (18), of Bridge Street, and Dorothy Watson (19), of Port Tennant Road, who were buried at Danygraig Cemetery.
“Heading the funeral procession were the heroines’ fellow workers, much of them carrying the hold-all by which all munition girls have come to be recognized.
“An extremely affecting touch was lent the proceedings by the escorting of the hearses by girls in munition uniform, who acted as bearers, whilst the floral tributes were exceedingly beautiful.”
Another incredible part of this story is a letter from Dorothy Watson’s mother.
Despite being over a century old the letter speaks to not just the pain and grief she felt, but also the dignity the people of this part of Wales conducted themselves.
178 Port Tennant Road, Swansea, South Wales
In answer to your letter of some time ago requesting a portrait of my dear daughter, Dorothy Mary Watson, who was killed in an explosion at HM Factory Pembrey, I beg to apologize for not answering your request before, but I met with an accident eleven weeks ago. I fell down and put my right shoulder out, so I have not been able to write. I went a fortnight ago to see the photographer, the price will be 10/6 the kind you require. I have not been able to pay for it yet as we are not in very good circumstances but I will get it as soon as I possibly can. My poor little girl’s death was a great loss to me, financially and otherwise.
I remain, Madam, yours respectfully,
M. A. Watson
The second explosion
The end of the war meant a slowdown in production at the factory.
Tragically, the end in hostilities did not mean the end of fatalities.
On November 18, seven days after armistices, there was another explosion at the factory as women worked to dismantle the shells.
Edith Ellen Copham, 19, Mary Fitzmaurice, 36, and Jane Jenkins, 21, died while Annie Davies and Selina Davies were injured, suffering from shock and a blow to the head respectively.
On November 23, 1918 the Llanelli Star reported: “John Fitzmaurice, who was the first witness, identified one of the bodies as that of his wife.
“He said she was engaged at the National Shell Filling Factory as a chargewoman, and he last saw her alive at 7:30 on Monday night, when she left home for Pembrey.”
The article reported that Mary was mother to seven children between the ages of two and 16.
One man who was on the scene said they found the floor and part of the adjoining cubicles where the women worked in flames.
Reports said he found Edith lying down in the passage on her side, alive but badly injured.
He carried her out to the door and on returning saw Jane Jenkins lying on the floor near the door leading from the clean way into the shed.
The Star reported: “She was dead, part of her skull had been blown off.
"Mrs Fitzmaurice had been taken out by Harry Jones. The girl Copham was removed to the hospital where she died. Mrs Fitzmaurice also died in the hospital.”
The factory now
The whole site was closed in 1964 and given to the Forestry Commision.
However, there are still parts of the factory visible in the Pembrey Country Park now.