Moving explosives around London safely

Cordite and other explosive stores needed careful handling around sparks from steam locomotives, and water power is mentioned as an alternative source of power. Specialist railway lines took explosives from factories south of London around the capital, while night movements helped move dangerous cargo away from crowded areas. Greenwich and Woolwich Arsenal remained important centres of explosives production through both world wars. A German fireworks factory provides a separate example: small workshops had a deliberately light wall or roof intended to vent an explosion and reduce injury. A later correction identifies the No. 106 as an Army artillery fuze used on weapons ranging from Stokes mortars to 15-inch howitzers. Its introduction is recalled tentatively as about 1916, after the Somme.