Inside a German WW1 Munitions Factory in 1918 — How Mortar Shells Were Made

Seventy kilograms of solid steel. A 500-ton forging press. And a factory floor where every projectile body had to be shaped, machined, handled, and inspected before it could leave. Drawing on a surviving wartime manufacturing film, this episode follows the production of German Minenwerfer ammunition bodies in 1918—from the first furnace to the final acceptance checks. Behind the enormous machines were workers guiding hot steel, operating lathes, fitting guiding rings, and testing the finished metalwork with water pressure. The film also reveals how mortar barrels were made, exposing another demanding production process behind the weapons sent to the front. As Germany pushed its factories to deliver more, each increase depended on the people, materials, and inspection stations farther down the line. This is the story of what it took to turn one steel block into an accepted ammunition body—and why greater output alone could not win the war. Subscribe to Iron & Men for the machines, factories, and workers behind industrial history. #WWI #IndustrialHistory #IronAndMen