Up: Hayward
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The recruiting campaign had reached its zenith,
conscription was the order of the day and only those were retained whose
services were indispensable to war production.
A. F. Benjamin had joined up in 1914 and was
shortly serving in Salonica. It being his intention to resume his
profession of architect at the end of his military service, he intimated
his retirement from the company in 1916. H. T. Walker was elected to
the Board in his place.
The sinking of the Lusitania brought the
American nation into the war, and nearer home it aroused intense
anti-German feelings even against those of German origin who had always
made their homes in England and had done their best to serve the country
of their adoption. This feeling, painful as it must have been at the
time, prompted William Eckstein, though British by birth, to change his
surname to Extone by Deed Pole. Further, as he considered the general
hostility might operate against the company itself, in 1916 he withdrew
it from the title of the company which has been known as Haywards Limited
ever since.
Towards the end of the war, a contract for a
quarter of a million feet of roof glazing was placed with the company
and despite the disorders of the time this was carried through without
a hitch. A few weeks before the Armistice, a still larger order for
glazing was obtained for an important military depot in Slough.
Substantial orders for similar work followed
and revealed the inadequacy of the works. This was no new state of
affairs in the Borough but never had the difficulties been so great.
By a special concentrated effort, a single order of outstanding size
could be sustained but a regular sequence raised serious problems.
In September 1918, more ground at the rear of
the Union Street premises was purchased and a modern one-storey factory,
80 feet by 50 feet was swiftly erected. While the area was not large,
it sufficed for the moment until long-term planning could provide
alternative arrangements. This step marked the beginning of the
re-organisation of the entire works and in the meantime
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