Rolls-Royce is moving production of fan blades from the 80-year-old factory in Barnoldswick, Lancs, to Singapore, threatening 350 jobs. Barnoldswick began producing the first jet engines, invented by Frank Whittle in the 1940s, as part of the war effort. If just 150 workers are left in Barnoldswick, unions fear for the viability of the site. The first jet engines made there were for Gloster Meteors, our first fighter jets, which flew in 1943. German engineers were several years behind Whittle but, thanks to Hitler’s support, got their jet planes in the air nine months earlier.

Source: Daily Mirror September 28, 2020 19:26 UTC