A Miscellany of Baker Perkins’ Bits and Pieces


Baker Perkins in Wartime



  1. The nameplate on one of the 2,000 25-pounder Field Guns made at Westwood during WW2. This one, built in 1943, is on display outside York Museum.

  2. One of Baker Perkins’ most significant contributions to the war effort was the complete re-design of the recuperator fitted to the 25-pounder and “stop-gap” 17-pounder field guns. This significantly reduced the manufacturing time and speeded up the availability of guns at a crucial time in the progress of the War.

  3. A nameplate from an Army Automatic Bread Plant jointly manufactured by Joseph Baker & Sons, Willesden and Perkins Engineers, Peterborough to feed the troops both in the UK and on the front line in France during WW1. These were “static” bakeries as opposed the “mobile” “Polly Perkins” ovens produced by A.M. Perkins & Son in 1867 and used in WW1 and the mobile bread ovens and bread making machinery units made in their hundreds at Westwood during WW2. The order for the Army Automatic Bread Plants in WW1 was the catalyst that finally brought Joseph Baker & Sons and Perkins Engineers together to create Baker Perkins.

  4. Baker Perkins Fire Brigade uniform badges. The story of the formation and development of Baker Perkins’ own fire brigade is told here.

  5. Baker Perkins WW2 ARP (Air Raid Precautions) Badge.

  6. Baker Perkins WW2 Lapel Badge - Used during wartime as a security check. (See Westwood Works at War). There were two versions of this badge - one brooch style with a pin, and one for buttonholes. Each had 4-digit numbers stamped on the back (clock numbers?) and were made by Fattorini (Birmingham).

The Baker Perkins Sports & Social Club

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