The Story of 'The Angels' Where does all this information come from Why were they called 'The Aycliffe Angels'? What did the Factory manufacture? Plans and Photos of the Factory (1940s) TIMELINE of the Factory & Workers Winston Churchill visits the Aycliffe Factory (1942) Mrs Dillon - Senior ROF worker who received a medal Honour at last, thanks to The Northern Echo The Aycliffe Angels 2000-2020 Extremely dangerous work... Workers' Houses and Accommodation 350 Houses on Secret Estate in Darlington Photo Gallery 1 - (Admin Staff) Photo Gallery 2 - (Production Staff) Photo Gallery 3 - (Individual Angels) Photo Gallery 4 - (ROF site in 1945) Photo Gallery 5 - (ROF Fire Brigade) Documents and Certificates etc... What's left of Aycliffe ROF? Surviving ROF buildings... Links for History of The Aycliffe Angels    PHOTO GALLERY – Individual photos of some 'Angels'... Photos originally donated to The Northern Echo. Please do not reproduce without permission. These are individual 1940s photographs of some of the Aycliffe Angels. We would like to add more photographs to this page in due course. If you have any pictures of an 'Angel' or have any relatives who would like to see their photo here then please get in touch. This page is not limited to female workers, photos of male employees are also welcome.    Maisie White This is a photo of Aycliffe Angel Maisie White from Darlington, aged about 30. Please see Photo Gallery #1 for a photo of Maisie with her colleagues at the Aycliffe ROF (link below).    Elsie Wright This is a photo of Elsie Wright taken in the 1940s. Elsie worked at the Aycliffe ROF during the war. This photo was kindly provided by Elsie's daughter, Sheila Coulson. In Sheila's words - "Sadly my mother died some years ago and never talked much about what she did. I do know she lost part of her finger in an accident".    Zoe Smith (Nee West) Before going to the R.O.F. at Aycliffe, Zoe Smith had to go to the Wallsend Training School for 8 weeks, to train as a "fitteress". She had to stay in lodgings during that time. Zoe still looks back on the shift-work, long hours and travelling from West Hartlepool by train, as some of her happiest worthwhile days. For a Wartime photograph of Zoe and her collegues at Aycliffe please click the link below.    Florence Gray - Process Tools Dept. Florence Gray, pictured, was friendly with Zoe West (above) and she wrote poems about her days at the wartime munitions factory. I believe Florence and Zoe both worked as maintenance "fitteresses" as part of the Process Tools department, and can bee seen in their overalls on some of the group photos. Florence wrote a poem about Mrs Dillon, an elderly ROF worker who received the British Empire Medal for services to her country (click link below to read more). Read more about Mrs Dillon and Florence's poem    Vera Barber (Nee Coulthard ) & R.O.F Colleagues This is a photo of Vera Barber (nee Coulthard), pictured back, left with some of her Wartime colleagues from Aycliffe ROF. Also on the photo are Sally Rostlow(?) pictured back, right, Margaret Laverick pictured front, left and Queenie Suggett pictured front, right. All worked in the office, Group 3. Photograph taken in 1945. Many thanks to Vera for this and other photos.    Jim Smith & Friends at Aycliffe Photograph courtesy of Elaine Allinson, Jim's Granddaughter. This photograph features Jim Smith at Aycliffe ROF during WWII. Jim can be seen at the back, in the centre. Very little is known about this photo and it is rare to see a photo taken during Winter as most known photos from Aycliffe were taken at the end of the war, in the Summer of 1945. Do you know who the other people are on this picture or what their jobs were? If so, please let us know.    Male worker ... there were a few! On the back of the photo there is a sticker which states:- P.715 (Picture issued April 1942). 70-year-old munitions worker and lastwar vetran runs 2 jobs. Mr E. H. Jobbens. A 70-year-old Royal Ordnance Factory worker, was a volunteer as far back as 1897, and saw five years service in the last war (WWI). Now he combined part-time munition work with commercial travelling. He has a son in the R.A.F. Picture shows:- Mr E. H. Jobbens weighing boxes of rifle and machine gun ammunition washers in a Ministry of Supply factory. Photo courtesy of Miss Ruth Vickery M.B.E. I think this photograph is from Aycliffe, but may, possibly, refer to R.O.F Risley which operated as a Filling Factory during WWII. Do you know this man? Did you work with him at Aycliffe or anywhere else? Are you a member of his family? Any information greatly appreciated.