Images Dated 2014 March

Midget Submarine superstructure, 1943

Also built in the Carriage and Wagon Works at Swindon were 50 of these midget submarine superstructures which were produced for the Admiralty. The superstructure was made of mahogany and then covered in outer curtains that protected the driver and his assistant from the flow of water when submerged. All joints had to be precision made in order to prevent any water penetration into the submarine, and the vessel was built to withstand water pressure of 90lb to the square inch, so allowing it to submerge to a considerable depth. The work on the midget submarines was top secret. Only the men directly involved in its design and construction knew about it and they were sworn to secrecy. The screens surrounding the submarine in this image are testament to the sensitive nature of much of the war work carried out at Swindon Works

Motor landing craft under construction, 1942

In August 1941 the GWR began building the first of a large number of motor landing craft in the Carriage and Wagon shops at Swindon. No. 13, Wagon Frame Shop was where this work took place, and in this image one of the first batch of 12 landing craft can be seen under construction in February 1942. The bulkheads and frames are shown erected on a jig, while the hull bottom strakes are in the process of being fitted. Bulletproof cladding, the engines, propellers and other fittings would then have been added and the craft ready for launch in May 1942. At 40ft in length and with a 13ft 6in. beam, these craft were too wide to be moved by rail so had to be transported to the coast at Southampton by a tractor drawn road vehicle