Baker Perkins Historical Society - Virtual Books

BAKER PERKINS AT WAR

PREFACE

Ask any ex-Baker Perkins employee to list what were the main characteristics of Baker Perkins and it is almost certain that they will mention the company’s Quaker background. It might seem odd therefore that the Baker Perkins Historical Society should have produced a book about the company's’ relationships with the military. The story is a complicated one – firstly, not all the constituent companies of the group espoused the Quaker doctrine. Jacob Perkins' development of a steam gun probably owed more to his obsession with high pressure steam than to any militaristic feelings. At the beginning of WW1, the chairman of Werner, Pfleiderer and Perkins, F.C. Ihlee, himself a refugee from Bismarckian despotism, demonstrated his patriotism for his new country in the face of local anti-German feelings with dignity and calm while gearing up to produce munitions.

Muir, in his book "The History Of Baker Perkins" suggests that to the Baker family, with their firm adherence to Quaker principles, the onset of WW1 brought deep distress. The older generation, Joseph Allen Baker and his three brothers on the board of Joseph Baker and Sons, would not have chosen to manufacture munitions of war at Willesden if they had had their way. Some of their workpeople were Quakers like themselves, and a conscientious objection to war – even a war of survival – conflicted with feelings of fervent patriotism. J. Allen Baker’s untiring work for peace as Liberal MP for Finsbury from 1900 until his death in 1918 is described in the memoir written by his wife and son, but, when his efforts to avert war proved unsuccessful, the Baker’s exhibited the Quakers’ readiness to help those who suffered by organising the Friend’s Ambulance Unit.

In WW2 there was little apparent hesitation about using Baker Perkins' expertise to support the war effort. Allen Baker's grandson, Ivor Baker, aided by his works manager, the redoubtable Josh Booth, inspired his workforce to meet the challenge of producing armaments in WW2.- In his book "Wartime at Baker Perkins" - Ivor Baker explained:

"By early 1940 we had already reconditioned one hundred and fifty-seven 6-in Howitzers which, by the way, we had had a hand in making during the 1914-18 conflict; meanwhile the conversion of our works and organisation from peace to wartime footing had become well advanced, for we had determined at the outset that every interest must be subordinated to that of winning the war, and our capacity to contribute towards that end was of no mean magnitude; commercial business was deliberately relegated to last place, indeed practically eliminated in the knowledge that no consequences of such a policy could be so disastrous as defeat at the hands of the enemy. Now we are making guns – then more guns – then bigger and better and more and more guns".

The company achieved heights of ingenuity, resourcefulness and sheer hard work that resulted in Ivor Baker receiving the CBE from the Government as a mark of appreciation for the company’s work in arms production as well as for his own personal service to the cause.

There seems little doubt that "sheer hard work" and the stress induced by the pressures of war contributed in no small measure to the company's own wartime tragedies. Following hard on the heels of the death of Walter Pelmore in 1939 came news of the passing of F.C. Ihlee. As Muir puts it - "He had been vice-chairman of Baker Perkins Ltd since its formation in 1920 and chairman of the Board of Management also from that year. Since the time when he had first joined Werner, Pfleiderer and Perkins at Regent Square, his services had extended over nearly half a century. Although in his early days he had been regarded as rather ruthless, a man who spared neither his colleagues nor himself, he had mellowed as the years passed, and on his death his fellow directors, in paying tribute to his devoted work for the company, had stressed the humanity of the man who had been so loyal and sympathetic a friend to all, not least to the employees of the firm."

Ihlee's death brought Josh Booth into even greater prominence as the factory turned to war production.  Drawing on his experience at the beginning of the 1914-18 war and avoiding a repetition of mistakes made at the time, he worked in close association with A.I. Baker.  After visiting an ordnance factory where they had watched the production of a number of different armaments, they returned to Peterborough where Booth began the process of using this experience to significantly improve the economic manufacture of a wide range of guns. Sadly, he died suddenly in March 1942.  He had worked with such energy to keep production departments running with the highest efficiency that his body could no longer stand the strain.  A colleague said of him - "He did not spare himself - or anyone else".

The company was to suffer two more grievous losses before the War came to an end - the chairman of the company, Allan R. Baker, died in October 1942 after serving the company for close to half a century. D.Y.B.Tanqueray (who came in to the firm with the Aublet Harry business), and who had, with much encouragement from Josh Booth, successfully created a Materials Control Department at Westwood.was asked to create a similar organisation for the Ministry of Supply,  He succeeded so brilliantly that he was allowed to return to Peterborough at the end of 1943 but - "his strength has been undermined and he died shortly afterwards, having earned the gratitude of all at Westwood and at Whitehall with whom he had worked so devotedly and well"

In both World Wars, women took over from men the task of production in the group's factories. It is disappointing to note that few records of these resourceful ladies exist, making appropriate recognition of their efforts impossible; a few photographs and an incomplete list of names must serve to record their contribution. However, some insight into their life inside the factory may be gleaned from the memoirs of Jim Deboo (click here), Bert Slater and others (click here). Details of women war workers at Forgrove, Leeds in WW2 can be found here.

Women Munitions Workers parade through the Market Place in Peterborough - September 1918

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