Aluminium Houses

Series

Series Name: Britain Can Make It

Issue

Issue No.

Date Released

1946

Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 3

Summary

COI synopsis: At three depots in Britain junked war planes are collected, sorted out and then broken up. This scrap, however, is not waste, for out of the twisted metal will come material urgently needed to meet the nation’s top priority - housing. These aluminium houses are only temporary, but they are helping to solve one of Britain’s most urgent problems.
COI Commentary - This is a dump for wrecked and obsolete aircraft. At three depots in Britain junked war planes are collected, sorted out and then broken up.
But that scrap is not waste. Out of the mass of twisted metal will come material urgently wanted to meet the nation’s top priority - housing.
Yesterday, aluminium alloys went to build the bombers and fighters that helped to win the war. Today, these alloys are being reclaimed to win the peace.
In the yards the scrap is cut up for easy handling. In the sheds it’s broken down into smaller pieces.
Steel and other metals are removed from it and it is then fed into the furnaces.
These furnaces have been designed so that impurities can be drawn off the surface of the molten metal. The result is 98% pure aluminium.
From the furnace the aluminium is cast into moulds. This shapes the metal into easily handled ingots.
When cool, the ingots are tumbled out of the moulds and stacked in the yards to await transport.
When required the ingots are taken to mills that roll them into sheet aluminium. These sheets are needed for our new housing drive, At one time this factory produced aircraft: now it has be re-converted to meet to-day’s needs. Perhaps these workers have handled this very metal before, when it first went into planes for the RAF. Now their skill and that metal goes to the production of homes for workers. When full production starts at this factory a finished house will come off the line every ten minutes.
At the building site the house can be assembled in five hours.
If the foundations, gas, electricity, and sewage are ready, the new tenant can move in straight away.
It is only a temporary home, but these houses are helping to solve one of Britain’s most urgent problems.

Researcher Comments

This story was shot at Morris Motors, Oxford.

Keywords

Buildings and structures; Domestic life; Aircraft; Industry and manufacture

Written sources

The National Archives INF 6 /592 Used for synopsis
Central Film Library Catalogue 1948, p83.
British Film Institute Databases

COI Reference

MI 360/3

Credits:

Sponsor: Board Of Trade
Commentator: Colin Wills
Producer: Duncan Ross
Production Co.: Films of Fact
Producer: Jack B. Holmes
Support services: Jean Hennessey
Support services: John Martin Jones
Editor: Len Green
Sponsor: Ministry of Information
Support services: Peter Hennessey

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name: British Film Institute (BFI)
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Notes: The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).
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