Saunders, "Ford at War", 1946

[Hanno Spoelstra]

And the artwork can be enjoyed from online sources as well, e.g. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/fordatwar

Ford at War; booklet by H St. George Saunders, 1946 - illustrations by Helen McKie. A fascinating book issued by the Ford Motor Company of England to tell the story of the company's activities during WW2. The book, issued in 1946, is full of sketches and paintings by Helen McKie, an artist who produced a lot of 'Thames-side' material for the river boat operators, the General Steam Navigation Co., as well as commissions for the Southern Railway.

"A wonderful view of the Ford Works at Dagenham in Essex on the cover. The view looks across the Blast Furnace and other parts of the plant that formed the massive integrated vehicle production plant Ford had opened in 1931 on the marshes adjoining the River Thames. It replaced Ford's earlier UK factory at Trafford Park in Manchester. The camouflage used to try and break up the visual outline of the plant, and so distract enemy bombers, is very clearly shown. The subject of wartime 'camo' is brilliantly told in a book on the subject by Henrietta Goodden that was a relevation to me as it showed the work, and links, between so many mid-20th century graphic designers and artists whose names and work are so well known apart from their wartime service.
The quayside view shows the major production units of the wartime economy - few 'private' cars but numerous military vehicles, such as Bren Gun Carriers, and tractors - the Fordson tractor was one of the backbones of the huge increase in British food production that sustained the war effort and that was based on increasing mechanisation of agriculture at the time."
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"Women grinding tank tracks - Large sections of Dagenham was turned over to military vehicle production as part of the war effort and this image also shows one of the great achievements of the wartime economy, the mobilisation of women into the workforce on a scale, and into industries, previously denied them. Sadly, in so many ways, this achievement was not continued in post-war years - a similar story to that of 1918/19 and the end of WW1. The picture gives an impression of the difficult, nosiy and dirty metal working that formed part of tank production."
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"The view looks across to the camouflaged generating station that, along with the iron foundry, formed the massive integrated vehicle production plant Ford had opened in 1931 on the marshes adjoining the River Thames. It replaced Ford's earlier UK factory at Trafford Park in Manchester.
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"The view looks across the Thames jetty that allowed delivery of raw materials and the dispatch of finished goods towards the main works dominated by the then camouflaged generating station that, along with the iron foundry, formed the massive integrated vehicle production plant Ford had opened in 1931 on the marshes adjoining the River Thames. It replaced Ford's earlier UK factory at Trafford Park in Manchester. The jetty view shows the major production units of the wartime economy - military vehicles, such as Bren Gun Carriers, and tractors - the Fordson tractor was one of the backbones of the huge increase in British food production that sustained the war effort and that was based on increasing mechanisation of agriculture at the time."
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"What a splendid panorama of the then hugely commercialised River Thames from central London down to the PLA's eastern docks at Tilbury in Essex. This fine pictorial map was issue dinthe 1946 "Ford at War" publication, a record of the WW2 activities of the British branch of the American motor company and is illustrated (as is the book) by the artist Helen McKie. McKie (1889 - 1957) must have been well used to the River as she illustrated many editions of the Rover Steamer Service guides issued by the General Steam Navigation Co Ltd in the decade before the war and she also was frequently commissioned by the Southern Railway for publicity material, including the famous pair of "then and now" posters of Waterloo station issued in 1948. Anyhow, this map is packed with information, centred on the vast Thames-side works of the Ford Motor Company who still maintain a presence here, however a far cry from this almost integrated production plant seen here."
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