The War Years
As with most heavy industry papermaking was deeply affected by war, the Second World War in particular had a long term impact. Paper as an essential part of the war effort fell under the jurisdiction of Paper Control. This took over the industry and dictated what could be produced and what raw materials were made available. With the decline in goods being imported all wood pulp, esparto grass and pulp wood were distributed through the Paper Controller. Paper was allocated through this control and the market price was set. These restrictions on the industry stayed in place until 1956 when government controls on imports of raw materials and paper were removed.
When traditional raw materials became scarce manufacturers began to experiment with alternative sources for production. Paper was made out of many things such as potatoes, tomato plants, reeds, rope ends and saw mill waste. Straw was commonly used but this was also rationed. Mills often had to be shut down either due to lack of materials or lack of orders. Available labour to run the machines was also a problem as many men and women were called up to do war work. At Galloways by 1942 64% of men were in service and the mill often had to close.
Sections of mills were taken over by the Ministry of Defence, Kinleith was used as storage for tea and sugar. New papermachines and parts were difficult to acquire. Papermaking manufacturers such as James Bertram and Sons and Bertrams of Sciennes were commandeered by the Ministry of War and used for armament manufacture, thus only essential papermaking machine maintenance could be undertaken during this time.
‘Aye everybody used used to get their name down for blanket felts. An’ especially during the war, you know it was a good source – save your coupons, your clothing coupons’
Times were difficult for those who worked in the mills as they were often out of work and also subject to rationing, demand for used felts from papermaking machines was even greater than usual as many people made clothes and blankets from the material