All this effort in addition to the prestige of being a top priority factory could not prevent the inevitable set back in general morale, often boring repetitive work, and, war time austerity for four years caused us many problems – although not as serious as in many factories, especially in the older industrial areas. I had been very impressed by some of the investigations before and during the war by "Mass Observation" under Tom Harrison, and invited him to come down to see if he could use his technique to help us with this problem. He readily agreed and sent down one of his trained observer-investigators, a University graduate Miss Celia Fremin (now a well known novelist).
With the connivance of the Ministry of Labour, and our employment office where Charles Garland was in charge, she was "introduced" as a new recruit and lived up at the hostel for three months. Not a soul knew of this except Garland, my wife and myself. She just disappeared into the works background, indistinguishable from hundreds of other girls, and burned the midnight oil writing up her day's experiences and impressions.
Harrison edited her report and sent it on to me. I circulated it to some of the directors and the works managers of our other factories, but got no reaction; such high faulting stuff was not for them! Delving into the problem and motivations of workers evening wartime is dangerous stuff! Charles Garland and I, after careful study sent our report to Harrison. The report confirmed widespread apathy among the less informed and unskilled members, most of whom in spite of great efforts on our part, did not or could not relate their work to the war effort. They were not "involved" - even many of those with relatives in the forces. The war was something that just happened and was a matter for "them" rather than "us".
In general, it confirmed the correctness of line taken by the management but did show up a number of gaps in our efforts to involve the workers, which we tried to remedy. The main conclusion we could draw was that try as we might, no effort on our part could possibly for any length of time raise the "spirit" or morale of the bulk of the workers significantly above the level obtaining in the population in general, and later, morale can temporarily be raised to a height above the general surroundings, but tends to fall to the original level.
Some months later, I was taken aback when I received in the post the book "War Factory" published by Collance for "Mass Observation". I had no advance knowledge of the intended publication of this report and was faced with the awful prospect of the book being widely reviewed and read, leaving me open to the accusation that I had put a "spy" into the works! It was a genuine oversight on Harrison's part under pressure of work.
Having only a day or so to think out a solution, I took the bull by the horns, called together the works council and told them that our factory had been chosen because of its reputation, as the subject of a special survey and that it had been decide because of its importance to the war effort to publish it; the news spread through the factory like wildfire and the local W.H. Smith's was swamped with orders for the book. There were no unpleasant repercussions; the more intelligent people in the technical departments and the production shops found it a constructive survey and I was congratulated by many of them.
The reviews in all the papers added to the interest, as though no mention was made in the book of "War Factory's" location, the employees as a whole took it as a compliment, even those less interested wrote home to tell family and friends that they "were in a book"! My subterfuge had paid off, but I was not terribly proud of either of my confidence trick or of some of the overheard comments on myself which appeared in Miss Fremin's opus. This, of my daily peregrinations round the factory –
"He stopped for a long time to look at my machine. I thought he was going to speak to me."
"He stopped and spoke to me last time he came round. "How are you getting on?! he asked me."
"He's very nice, the way he speaks to you, isn't he? Some manners, you might be one of the machines yourself. But he's not like that."
"That's the difference, you see. He knows his position and so he's polite to you. Some of them are scared for their position, ad so they treat you like dirt."
"I think he's got ever such a nice kind face. I've never spoken to him."
"Does he know us all, do you think? Would he know my name."
"He seems to know you, doesn't he? He sort of looks as if he knew you."
which did raise my morale, only to have it dashed by –
"I've never known him give a lift to anyone. Often I've seen him drive through the town, and somebody may be going along, missed the bus or something, and he's all alone in that great car, he never picks them up. People would think a lot more of him if he did a thing like that. But he's not that sort. He just wants to be fat and comfortable. He's a Jew, you see." (P200)
"All he thinks of is the money he can get out of us. He doesn't consider his workers." (P250)
and
"He comes from Manchester, and he talks like this: (imitates north country accent). You'd have thought he'd have tried to pull himself up to it, wouldn't you, when he found he was manager, but he's let himself stay right down low. I don't think a manager of a big factory should be like that; he ought to think of his position.
"He isn't very smart, is he, but I suppose she takes all his clothes coupons." (P200)
