Adrodd fel Amhriodol
Testun Gwreiddiol (Anodiad: EPW019255 / 2006691)
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Charging Shed Number 8. (Pin 1)
Charging Shed No 8 was the first shed to go into production. Sheds 7, 6 and 5 were soon to follow.
The charging shed layout was as follows. In the centre and running the length of the building beneath the glazed roof monitor were 5 small brick built machine rooms. The dimensions of each room was 3.6576m x 2.4384m approx... Each room contained 2 charging machines, these were enclosed inside of separate wooden booths which had glass observation windows through which the operator could view the shell filling hole alignment and charging process.
Empty 6inch howitzer shells from the Receiving Sheds were brought into the reception gangway of the Charging Shed by truck and were feed into the various machine rooms and onto the charging machines via roller conveyers. After the shells had been filled with approximately 3.63 Kg of H.S (mustard gas) the shells were plugged on a plugging table and then loaded onto a truck in the material handling gangway to be transported to the adjacent Head Filling Shed for the next operation. When C.S 8 first went into production the average output per charging machine was 5 shells per hour but this increased as improvements were made to the charging machines and the addition of a fume extraction system.
C.S 8 was the first unit to be fitted out with the Nobel design, Gravity Charging Machines. The machines were initially fed with H.S from a 909 Litre capacity header tank which was supported on a 3.51m high wooden gantry situated at the end of the charging shed that faces the River Severn. The gantry platform was provided with a roof to give protection to personnel when filling the feed tank. Drums of H.S with an approximate weight of 272Kg were manhandled up a ramp to the platform at the top of the gantry with the aid of ropes and the contents of the drums were siphoned into the storage tank. There is no evidence of these gantries in the Britain From Above photographs. Initially there were two types of drum in use, the first was similar to a modern 45 gallon drum but bound with iron hoops. This held the drum clear of the ground and made manoeuvrability less difficult. The second type was a steel barrel, the same pattern as that of a wooden barrel. These barrels are thought to have had a greater capacity and thus heaver and more difficult to manoeuver and haul up the ramp safely. '