railway companies across the country. Many of the companies undertook this vital war work to the detriment of the maintenance of their locomotives, carriages and wagons. The Munitions of War Act 1915 prevented the resignation of munitions workers without their employer's consent. It was a recognition that the whole economy would have to be mobilised for the war effort if the Allies were to prevail on the Western Front. Supplies and factories in British Commonwealth countries, particularly Canada, were reorganised under the Imperial Munitions Board, to supply adequate shells and other materiel for the remainder of the war. The Health of Munitions Workers Committee, one of the first investigations into occupational safety and health, was set up in 1915 to improve productivity in factories. A huge munitions factory, HM Factory, Gretna was built on the English-Scottish border to produce cordite. There were at least three major explosions in such factories: An explosion at Faversham involving 200 tons of TNT killed 105 in 1916. The National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell exploded in 1918, killing 137. The Silvertown explosion occurred in Silvertown (now part of the London Borough of Newham, in Greater London) killing 73 and injuring 400 on Friday, 19 January 1917 at 6.52 pm. See also Munitionettes National Filling Factory, Georgetown (NFF No 4, in Scotland) Footnotes References Further reading External links The Shell Scandal, 1915 History of the Ministry of Munitions Political scandals in the United Kingdom Cordite United Kingdom in World War I Government munitions production in the United Kingdom Military industry 1915 in British politics 1915 in military history Military logistics of World War I Military logistics of the United Kingdom Bonar Law David Lloyd George Winston Churchill H. H. Asquith