Published in Windlesora 07 (1988)
© WLHG
Whilst researching the log book of Holy Trinity Girls School I came across the following entry:
“11th October 1918.
Collected chestnuts from the Rectory Garden. These were sent to the Borough Surveyors Yard for Government Purposes.”
Though I asked around at the time no one could tell me what it was all about. Now I don’t normally read the Daily Mirror, but some years later I found a copy in the dentist’s waiting room and I idly turned the pages in an attempt to calm my nerves. I found myself reading a question from a reader about the First World War. The answer included the information that acetone was used in the manufacture of the explosive, cordite. This was normally extracted from maize imported from America. However, due to U-boat activity in the Atlantic the maize was not getting through. Acetone could also be extracted from horse chestnuts. A national conker collection was started and as a result 20,000 tons of cordite was made during the blockade.
I wonder if those Windsor schoolgirls knew what their conker collection would be used for?
Pamela Marson
Windsor Local History Group 