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BMARC (British Manufacture and Research Company) was a UK-based firm designing and producing defence products, particularly aircraft
cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
and naval anti-aircraft cannon. It was based on a site on Springfield Road (part of the A607) in
Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...
, Lincolnshire.


History


Second World War

Created and funded under the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
's
Shadow factory plan British shadow factories were the outcome of the Shadow Scheme, a plan devised in 1935 and developed by the British government in the buildup to World War II to try to meet the urgent need for more aircraft using technology transfer from the mot ...
headed up by
Herbert Austin Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin (8 November 186623 May 1941) was an English automobile designer and builder who founded the Austin Motor Company. For the majority of his career he was known as Sir Herbert Austin, and the Northfield bypass ...
, the company was founded by
William Denis Kendall William Denis Kendall, (27 May 1903 – 19 July 1995), was an engineer, businessman, and politician. During World War II he was Managing Director of the armaments firm British Manufacture and Research Co ( BMARC), and from 1942-1950, he was th ...
. Shortly after start-up during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
rearmament period, Kendall became MP for
Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...
from 1942 to 1950. Lord Brownlow was Chairman. Like R&H and A-B, the site had its own fire brigade. These company fire brigades would hold an inter-company sports competition at the Grantham cricket ground, with other council fire brigades as far as
Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a market town in the Borough of Melton, Melton district in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, Leicestershire, River Eye, known below Melton as the Rive ...
, Bourne and
Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
. It had a rifle club, and would hold inter-department competitions. The company raised money for Grantham Hospital, to buy it a new operating table, costing £330. The factory had 7,800 employees in the war, with 2,000 women; the women made the bullets. Due to the London Blitz, the socialite
Lady Ursula d'Abo Lady Ursula Isabel d'Abo (''née'' Manners, formerly Marreco; 8 November 1916 – 2 November 2017) was an English socialite and aristocrat who served as a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, the Queen at the Coronation of King Ge ...
returned home to nearby
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
, and her father (the Duke) arranged a job for her at the factory, as women's officer. Ursula would travel the eight miles back to her home, by horse-drawn carriage, in the dark. In the darkness the horse knew the way home to
Belvoir Castle Belvoir Castle ( ) is a faux historic castle and stately home in Leicestershire, England, situated west of the town of Grantham and northeast of Melton Mowbray. A castle was first built on the site immediately after the Norman Conquest of 10 ...
. Ursula was having an affair with the managing director, which her brother Charles (the Duke from 1940 to 1999) did not like, who described the managing director as ''a real whole-hearted cad, of the worst type'' All of Ursula's three brothers saw operational service in the war. The factory was not unknown to Luftwaffe personnel, and also the importance of what it made. The factory was sited next to the railway, which could be followed. German aircraft dropped many bombs in the
Vale of Belvoir The Vale of Belvoir ( ) is in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, England. The name is from the Norman-French for "beautiful view". Extent and geology The vale is a tract of low ground rising east-north-east, drained by the ...
on the way home from the Midlands, as it was a known thoroughfare for their bomber aircraft By 1943, its two production units fulfilled 46% of the UK's demand for the Hispano-Suiza 20 mm cannon. The remainder came from The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA)
shadow factory A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensional ...
in
Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...
, 25%; Poole
Royal Ordnance Factory Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...
, 25%; and the
Royal Small Arms Factory The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), also known by the metonym ''Enfield'', was a UK government-owned rifle factory in Enfield, adjoining the Lee Navigation in the Lea Valley. Some parts were in Waltham Abbey. The factory produced British m ...
Enfield, 3%. At the time of the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...
in 1940, 20 mm cannon were only just starting to arm the
Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...
and
Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
. By 1943, the RAF had converted entirely to cannon armament for its fighters. Grantham received 21 raids by the
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
for precisely this reason, which killed 88 people in 1941-42 (many around the ''Commercial Road'' and ''Norton Street'' area on 9 January and 4 February in 1941). On 9 January 1941 at around 7pm, 22 people were killed, with 29 high-explosive bombs, on Commercial Road, near number 71. In mid-October 1944, censorship restrictions were halted, and the first official list of air raids on Grantham was released, once any immediate danger of repeat attacks had disappeared. Grantham had received 197 high-explosive bombs, 500 incendiary bombs, with 71 houses destroyed. 8 people were killed in
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
, with 55 injured,
Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...
had 36 people killed. Six people were killed in
Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...
. One notable raid was on 24 October 1942 when 32 people were killed when bombs destroyed most of ''Stuart Street'' and its
air-raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but ...
. The
Grantham Journal Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln and east of Nottingham. The po ...
would refer to any attack on Grantham as 'an air raid on a Midlands town'. The October 1942 attack was in lots in moonlight, with 10 people killed in the air raid shelter. Also hit was St Catherine's Road, with 17 high-explosive bombs, and 20 houses destroyed. It is thought that the attack was to hit the nearby RAF Group 5 HQ. The
Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...
site on ''Springfield Road'' was hit on Monday 27 January 1941 around 2.30pm, when a plane was shot down. The
Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...
had taken off from Schiphol. In the raid 16 people at the factory were killed, 4 high-explosive bombs were dropped on the factory with 30 people injured. 4 houses were destroyed. The Ju 88, A-5 4D+CT of 9./KG 30, crashed landed in a field at 3.30pm near Pilley's Lane at
Fishtoft Fishtoft is a village and suburb of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. Local government has been arranged in this way since the reorganization of 1 April 1974, which resulted from the Local Government Act 1972. This parish forms an electoral ward ...
. The German crew set the plane on fire, and escaped, but were caught. It was their 100th mission. This was the second time that the crew had been shot down - on 10 May 1940, the crew had been shot down by a
Fokker D.XXI The Fokker D.XXI Fighter aircraft, fighter was designed in 1935 by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker in response to requirements laid out by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (''Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-In ...
, and crashed at Vijfhuizen, and one of the crew was killed, being replaced with Ernst Stiller. One of the propellers of the aircraft ended up in the BMARC social club. The crew was Oberleutnant Friedrich-Karl Rinck the pilot aged around 26 from
Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...
, Obergefreiter Ernst Stiller, Oberfeldwebel Wilhelm Rüther from
Salzhausen Salzhausen is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 40 km southeast of Hamburg, and 15 km west of Lüneburg. Salzhausen is also the seat of the ''Samtgemeinde A (, ; plur ...
aged around 27, and Unteroffizier Ferdinand Wissing from
Rhede Rhede () is a municipality in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern ...
aged around 23. The factory was also attacked in daylight on 3 December 1940, but the plane was damaged by the 3rd Kesteven (Grantham and Spittlegate) Battalion who had an
anti-aircraft battery Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...
at the factory. 7 people were killed on 4 February 1941. The 1942 morale-raising film ''
The Foreman Went to France ''The Foreman Went to France'' (released in the USA as ''Somewhere in France'' ) is a 1942 British Second World War war film starring Clifford Evans, Tommy Trinder, Constance Cummings and Gordon Jackson. It was based on the real-life wartime e ...
'' was based on an employee of the Grantham factory.
Melbourne Johns Melbourne Thomas Johns (9 March 1901 – 7 August 1955) was a Welsh-born munitions factory worker who became known for having taken part in a World War II mission in France aimed at retrieving several pieces of machinery of military strategic ...
, from Pembrokeshire, was working at the Grantham factory and realised in 1940 that the Hispano-Suiza factory in France had important Deep Hole Boring Machines that could be of immense value to the Germans and set out on a mission with a team to recover the equipment. Finding the French factory and local village deserted, they drove the equipment back to England on a lorry. Melbourne Johns died in Grantham in 1955. The Deep Hole Boring Machine (DHBM), used for
drilling Drilling is a cutting process where a drill bit is spun to cut a hole of circular cross section (geometry), cross-section in solid materials. The drill bit is usually a rotary Cutting tool (machining), cutting tool, often multi-point. The bit i ...
the barrels of the guns, in the Grantham factory was very valuable, and was encased in a specially-made bomb-proof shelter. The company, for morale, had an amateur revue group, called the 'Hot Spots'; a production at the town's Theatre Royal on Thursday 15 February 1940 was attended by the actor
Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director, producer and writer.Obituary, '' Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and '' Vanity Fair'' an ...
; Howard would be shot down on
BOAC Flight 777 BOAC Flight 777 was a KLM flight scheduled as a British Overseas Airways Corporation civilian airline flight from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal to Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, Whitchurch Airport near Bristol, England. On 1 June 1943, the ...
on 1 June 1943 by eight
Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...
aircraft. The 'Hot Spots' group took part in
Wings for Victory Week Wings for Victory Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of Royal Air Force aircraft being sponsored by a civil community. The British Army equivalent was Salute the Soldier Week and the Royal Navy e ...
events. On Friday 6 August 1943 the social club featured
Felix Mendelssohn's Hawaiian Serenaders Felix Mendelssohn's Hawaiian Serenaders was a popular Hawaiian music band started by British frontman Bartholdy Felix Mendelssohn (19 September 19114 February 1952). They are best known for making Hawaiian music popular in England and througho ...
, with the Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment. As part of factory entertainment,
Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was a British actress, singer and comedian. A star of cinema and music hall, she was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...
entertained workers at the town's cinema on Tuesday 31 August 1943. Afterwards Gracie visited a local airfield, and stayed the night at Mr Kendall's home - 'Brusa' on Belton Lane. It also put on events at the Empire Theatre on George Street, and at the Sleaford Corn Exchange. It arranged a Brains Trust panel question evening at the Sleaford Picture drome on Saturday 12 February 1944 at 8pm. and at the State Cinema in Grantham at 3pm on the Sunday. On both panels were Alexander Critchley, John Loverseed, a Battle of Britain pilot,
George Reakes George Leonard Reakes JP (31 July 1889 – 15 April 1961) was a British politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he became Mayor of Wallasey and later Member of Parliament (MP). Reakes entered local politics while working as a journalist for a grou ...
,
Clement Davies Edward Clement Davies (19 February 1884 – 23 March 1962) was a Welsh politician and leader of the Liberal Party from 1945 to 1956. Early life and education Edward Clement Davies was born on 19 February 1884 in Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, ...
later the Liberal leader until 1956,
Edgar Granville, Baron Granville of Eye Edgar Louis Granville, Baron Granville of Eye (12 February 1898 – 14 February 1998) was a British politician. Edgar Granville was born in Reading, the son of Reginald and Margaret Granville. His year of birth is sometimes incorrectly given as ...
,
John McGovern (politician) John McGovern (13 December 1887 – 14 February 1968) was a Scotland, Scottish Socialism, socialist politician. Early career Born into a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic family, McGovern soon became involved in the Labour movement and anarchism. ...
, and
Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his t ...
. By the end of the war, the factory had made 5 million rounds of ammunition, and 100,000 cannon shells. Jim Eade (1905-1983), who worked for Denis Kendall at BMARC, was later the editor of the Grantham Journal from 1945 to 1967.


Post-war

In 1974, the company acquired a site at
Faldingworth Faldingworth is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A46, and approximately south-west from Market Rasen. Spridlington parish lies to the west, and Friesthorpe parish to the s ...
, near
Market Rasen Market Rasen ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately north-east from Lincoln, England, Lincoln, eas ...
which had two indoor firing ranges for testing and proving of cannon (
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models empl ...
). The site also had the capability to store nuclear weapons such as
Redbeard Redbeard or Red Beard may refer to: People * Frederick Barbarossa (Redbeard), another name for Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor (1122–1190) * Oruç Reis or Redbeard (''Barbarossa'') (1474–1518), Ottoman naval commander * Hayreddin Barbarossa o ...
and WE.177. This site is currently used by
BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...
. The company also made the
Oerlikon 30 mm twin cannon The Oerlikon 30 mm twin cannon is an anti aircraft gun, incorporating two Oerlikon KCB, used by the Royal Navy. They were fitted to Type 42 destroyers after the Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between ...
(GCM). BMARC was a subsidiary of
Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft engines, trucks and weapons. ...
(
Suisse Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
), S.A. in
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
and then was owned from 1970 to 1987 by Oerlikon, the Swiss defence contractor. It was then sold to British Astra Holdings, which had a head office in Kent, in May 1988. With Contraves of Switzerland (now called
Rheinmetall Air Defence Rheinmetall Air Defence AG is a division of German armament manufacturer Rheinmetall, created when the company's Oerlikon Contraves unit was renamed on 1 January 2009 and integrated with Rheinmetall's other air-defence products. Oerlikon Contra ...
) and
Plessey The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas compani ...
, it developed the Seaguard naval anti-missile defence. In 1984 the Royal Navy bought the Dutch
Goalkeeper CIWS The Goalkeeper CIWS is a Dutch close-in weapon system (CIWS) introduced in 1979. It is an autonomous and completely automatic weapon system for short-range defence of ships against highly maneuverable missiles, aircraft and fast-maneuvering surf ...
(made by Signaal, now
Thales Nederland Thales Nederland B.V. (formerly Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V. or in short Signaal) is a subsidiary of the French multinational company Thales Group based in the Netherlands. The firm was founded as ''NV Hazemeyer's Fabriek van Signaalapparate ...
) in an agreement whereby the Dutch armed forces would buy, in exchange, the Rolls-Royce Marine Spey engine for their
Karel Doorman-class frigate The ''Karel Doorman''-class frigates are a series of eight multi-purpose vessels built for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class takes its name from the lead ship, whose namesake is Karel Doorman, a Dutch naval officer who went down with his shi ...
s. In the 1990s, the company was investigated for alleged illegal dealings with
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
.
Jonathan Aitken Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving until 1997), and wa ...
was a non-executive director of the company from September 1988, and in a libel trial in March 1997, BMARC was accused of selling weapons to
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. On 11 December 1995, an ITV ''
World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...
'' programme covered the subject and the
Scott Report The Scott Report (the ''Report of the Inquiry into the Export of Defence Equipment and Dual-Use Goods to Iraq and Related Prosecutions'') was a judicial inquiry commissioned in 1992 after reports surfaced of previously restricted arms sales to ...
. It was extensively (and exclusively) investigated by the ''
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...
'' newspaper, largely motivated by the potential to discredit (and later convict) Jonathan Aitken.


Falklands War

The company was awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export) (1981). In planning the Vulcan raid,
Operation Black Buck Operations Black Buck 1 to Black Buck 7 were seven extremely long-range airstrikes conducted during the 1982 Falklands War by Royal Air Force (RAF) Vulcan bombers of the RAF Waddington Wing, comprising aircraft from 44, 50 and 101 Squad ...
, the RAF was most interested in the capabilities of the anti-aircraft twin 35-mm
Oerlikon GDF The Oerlikon GDF or Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon is a towed anti-aircraft gun made by Oerlikon Contraves (renamed as ''Rheinmetall Air Defence AG'' following the merger with Rheinmetall in 2009). The system was originally designated 2 ZLA ...
. The station commander of
RAF Waddington Royal Air Force Waddington , commonly known as RAF Waddington, and informally known by its nickname 'Waddo' is a Royal Air Force station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England. The station is th ...
sent the station intelligence officer, Flt Lt Martin Hallam, to speak to Spike Jones, a former senior RAF officer, now at the Grantham factory. The meeting was arranged by the managing director Werner Loyk (Swiss). The RAF were able to find out capabilities of radar, but the RAF were told that it would be unlikely for the Argentines to have transported the bulky
Roland (missile) The Roland is a Franco-German mobile short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. The Roland was also purchased by the U.S. Army as one of very few foreign SAM systems. Development Roland was designed to a joint French and German requirem ...
system. The Argentines had taken the system to the Falklands, and the system would later shoot down a Sea Harrier on 1 June 1982. The Argentines would also shoot down two of their own aircraft with the Oerlikon 35mm. After the Falklands War, many Royal Navy vessels had BMARC 20mm cannon added, as many of these ships had had woeful protection in that war, against substantial Argentine air attacks.


Financial collapse

On 4 February 1992, after owing £50 million, Astra went into receivership. In Britain, it also owned the pyrotechnics company Haley & Weller (who made
grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...
s). After the financial collapse of Astra Holdings, in April 1992 BMARC was bought by
British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...
, briefly becoming part of
Royal Ordnance Royal Ordnance plc was formed on 2 January 1985 as a public corporation, owning the majority of what until then were the remaining United Kingdom government-owned Royal Ordnance Factories (abbreviated ROFs) which manufactured explosives, ammunit ...
. The company closed the Grantham site later in 1992, and the site was sold in 1994.


Visits

The site was visited on Tuesday 26 January 1943 by the
Minister of Supply Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
, Sir Andrew Duncan. On Sunday 7 September 1941 the
Band of the Royal Air Force College The Band of the Royal Air Force College is based at RAF Cranwell and is one of three established bands in the Royal Air Force. It is the music ensemble of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell. Formed in 1920 and based at RAF Cranwell, the ...
gave a concert in the BMARC social hall.''Grantham Journal'' Friday 12 September 1941, page 8


Royal Navy use

Ships using the 20 mm weapons are the
Type 22 frigate The Type 22 frigate also known as the ''Broadsword'' class was a ship class, class of frigates built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen were built in total, with production divided into three batches. Initially intended to be anti-submarine ...
, the
Type 42 destroyer The Type 42 or ''Sheffield'' class was a class of fourteen guided-missile destroyers that served in the Royal Navy.Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', , Ian Allan Ltd, 1989 A further two ships of this class were built for and ...
, the , the , the , the , the , HMS Bristol, and and .


Current use of the site

The former site's offices are now home to the Springfield Business Park, with the rest of the factory part developed for housing. South Lincolnshire Enterprise Agency was based there.


References


External links


Faldingworth site



Listen to a BBC documentary about BMARC/Astra.

20mm weapon
on HMS ''Cumberland''


Video clips


Dennis Kendall in 1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bmarc 1992 disestablishments in England Companies based in Grantham Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Defunct firearms manufacturers of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1992 Science and technology in Lincolnshire Manufacturing companies established in 1937 British companies established in 1937 1937 establishments in England