§ 33. Sir KINGSLEY WOODasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry 1803 of Munitions whether he can make any statement concerning the cordite fire which took place at Woolwich Arsenal on Wednesday last?
Mr. HOPEThe fire in question occurred during the breaking down of unserviceable small arms ammunition. During the operation of extracting the cordite one of the cartridges caught fire. It is surmised that some of the cap composition had broken loose and had got into the cartridge case, and that friction caused by the extraction of the cordite ignited it. The flame spread to other cartridges and caused a fire. I greatly regret that one girl worker, who ran from the room when the fire broke out into an adjacent cubicle, collapsed, and died of shock, and that a woman work-taker was very seriously burned. I am glad to say that I am in formed she is slightly better and there are faint hopes of recovery. This is the first instance that has occurred of any ignition of the charge, though the operation of breaking down small arms ammunition has been going on since 1917.