Siemens Brothers

Business in London, England

Siemens Brothers and Company Limited was an electrical engineering design and manufacturing business in London, England. It was first established as a branch in 1858 by a brother of the founder of the German electrical engineering firm Siemens & Halske. The principal works were at Woolwich where cables and light current electrical apparatus were produced from 1863 until 1968. The site between the Thames Barrier and Woolwich Dockyard has retained several buildings of historic interest. New works were built at Stafford in 1903 and Dalston in 1908. During World War I Siemens Brothers was bought by a British consortium because most of its ownership was in the hands of enemy aliens; see Graces Guide to British Industrial History. Siemens Brothers and Company Limited was bought by Associated Electrical Industries in 1955. At that time its business was described as follows: manufacture sale and installation of submarine and land cables, overhead telegraph, telephone and power transmission lines, public and private telephone exchanges and carrier transmission equipment for telephone lines and marine radio and signalling equipment. Through subsidiaries it was engaged in the manufacture of lamps of all kinds, miscellaneous electrical equipment and electrical railway signals.

The invention of the dynamo in 1867 led to a switch from Siemens' previous strength in light current products to heavy current products and processes. There were just seven shareholders, the legal minimum. All except Loeffler were family members. William was chairman and Loeffler managing director.

Siemens and English Electric Lamp Company Limited Previously known as English Electric and Siemens Supplies Limited from 1 January 1923 this jointly owned company took over the electric lamp factories at Dalton and Preston. It also controlled the sale of the lamps it manufactured and provided the sales organisation for Siemens' and English Electric's wires and cables, house wiring systems and accessories, Zed fuses, wireless apparatus, telephones, instruments etc. Siemens and General Electric Railway Signal Company Limited In 1926, Siemens Brothers and GEC, combined their railway signaling activities to form the Siemens and General Electric Railway Signal Co. Submarine Cables Limited In 1935, Siemens Brothers merged its submarine cables division with the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company to form Submarine Cables Ltd.

A 15% shareholding belonging to Siemens & Halske was transferred to the Custodian of Enemy Property.

One of the many critical components of World War II's Operation Overlord was to ensure a steady supply of fuel to the Allied forces. Operation Pluto (PipeLine Under The Ocean) was facilitated by Mr A C Hartley, chief engineer of the Anglo Iranian Oil Company, who suggested to Siemens Brothers that a submarine cable might be modified to carry petrol below the channel to France. Siemens Brothers' experience with gas pressure cables lead to their design manufacture and trial (under the Thames) of what became PLUTO. PLUTO delivered more than a million gallons of petrol from England to France each day. The sheer size of the structure required the involvement of many other companies in manufacture of individual lengths. One of PLUTO's two pipeline styles was named HAIS—Hartley, Anglo Iranian, Siemens.

Despite rationalization and further investment, the layout and age of the Woolwich works stood in the way of new production methods. After the AEI take over, the Woolwich factory principally produced Strowger telephone exchanges for the General Post Office. After these became more and more obsolete, GEC's chairman Sir Arnold Weinstock was unwilling to invest in modernisation of the Woolwich plant. Early in 1968 the Woolwich works, where at the time 6,000 were employed, closed. This happened one year after the closure of the Royal Ordnance Factory in the Royal Arsenal, by far the largest employer in Woolwich. Losing both the ordnance factory and the Siemens plant at roughly the same time caused large scale unemployment in the area and decades of economic and social hardship.

At the Woolwich site, which once covered thirty five acres, several buildings testify of a rich industrial heritage. Several buildings were destroyed or severely damaged by bombs in World War II, including the oldest building of 1863 65. A range of two and three storey buildings from the 1870s, 80s and 90s stands on the north side of Bowater Road. The western section of 1871 and 1873 is largely derelict. The central section was rebuilt after war damage, the eastern section has been renovated. The latter sections are now part of London's largest complex of artists' studios, Thames Side Studios. On the other side of Bowater Road several five storey brick buildings of 1911, 1926 and 1942 have survived, along with a largely concrete building of 1937. Near the Thames Barrier is the 1946 marine radio school, a joint venture by Siemens Brothers with Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd., providing training in the use of radar and radio equipment.