Ford Motor Company - Rolls-Royce Merlin

1940s

Rolls-Royce never had factories producing aircraft engines in
Manchester. However, the most famous of all aircraft engines, the
Rolls-Royce Merlin was produced in quantity in Trafford Park.

The Merlin was used on many aircraft types including Spitfires and
Hurricanes but most notably on Avro Lancasters that were made by
Avro at Woodford and by Metrovicks nearby in Trafford Park.

(Colour Photograph showing) - RAF Ground engineers working on Lancaster Merlin engines

Henry Royce was an engineer, but Charles Rolls was an entrepreneur an early aviation pioneer. In October 1908 he was the second Englishman ever to go up in a powered aeroplane which was piloted by Wilbur Wright, after which Rolls soon bought his own Wright Flyer aeroplane. He famously appointed Alliott Verdon-Roe as the secretary of the Aero Club and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Royce to start producing aeroplane engines.

In May 1941 Ford returned to Trafford Park with a factory on Barton
Dock Road. This was established under the Shadow Factory Scheme to produce Rolls-Royce Merlin engines on behalf of Rolls-Royce.

Its factory covered 44 acres and at its peak production employed over
17,000 men and women.

(Monochrome Photograph showing) - Women building Merlin engines at Trafford Park

Using revised drawings, mass production techniques and advanced engineering processes it produced over 900 engines every month. By the end of its operations in March 1946 it had manufactured over 34,000 Merlin Engines which had a significant impact on war effort.

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