As WW1 progressed the British Government needed more 'unskilled' workers for the Munitions industry and recruited these under the same scheme as the “Munitions Workers” . These appear to have fallen under two categories :
War Workers – These seem to have been craftsmen without munitions qualifications/skills.
Navvies/Labourers – For basic manual work.
They were given their own badges , different from the “Munitions Worker” one but as they were recruited under the same scheme they were given a badge/worker number which was recorded on their file and appears on the same lists as the “Munitions Worker” badges.
Note – This has caused confusion as the 'basic' lists do not differentiate between “Munitions Workers” and “War Workers” / “Navvies/Labourers” so the same badge number may appear for two different volunteer's . If there are any other documents available (files etc.) it is possible to work out which group the volunteer belonged to.
Badges
Obverse : Circular bronze (brass ?) or silver (white metal ?) badge with 'WAR WORKER' embossed at the top , then the Australian coat of arms , and 'AUSTRALIA' at the bottom. (photo 1)
Reverse 'War Worker' : Stokes & Sons MELB and worker/badge number. Badge has 2 horizontal lugs/loops (E/W) (photo 1)
Reverse 'Navvies & Labourers' : Stokes & Sons MELB and worker/badge number plus 'Navvies &' at the top and 'LABOURERS' at the bottom.(photo 2)
Note – It has been suggested that the silver (white metal ?) badges were for supervisors/foremen but as yet I have found no documents to support this.
It was believed that these badges were awarded “after the Armistice (in 1919)” but documents show that , as with the AMW badges , these were issued and signed for when the “Agreement” form was completed.
Notes
A lot of this research involved cross-checking between the various resources .
Neil Smith's booklet has two columns of numbers , the first being a reference number relating to the file/list used to ascertain the badge number which is the second number shown.
The NAA (National Archives of Australia) site lists all the names and badge numbers and at present also has 'digital' access to 434 out of 6347 files which contain documents relating to the volunteers . These included Enrolment forms showing whether the volunteer was a Munitions or War worker.
There is also a “list of names and addresses of Munitions and War Workers who proceeded to the UK under agreement with Commonwealth” but unfortunately this has not been 'scanned' and would require either visiting the NAA or paying for a copy !
The
Australian Munitions Workers website is searchable and has some additional information/photos.
NB : Both the above sites can be temperamental , some badge numbers show “no results” but when a “name search” is done the badge number is shown (and correct).
Hope you find this useful , any questions/corrections please send me a PM.
Thanks to Tim (Chipper) for his help ...and patience !