Production of Blackburn aircraft at the Olympia factory in Leeds
during WW2. © Leodis. A photographic trail developed in
partnership with Leodis, an onlinephotographic archive from
Leeds Library and Information Service, looking atlife in Leeds
during World War Two. All photographs are under copyright and
can be viewed in more detail on the Leodis website Like many of
the great industrial cities of the north, Leeds was at the
vanguard of a manufacturing industry that turned out textiles
and engineering components that were vital to the war effort. A
Blackburn 'Skua' fighter dive-bomber built by Blackburn Aircraft
Ltd in Leeds for the Royal Navy. © Leodis. Established firms in
the city such as Blackburns and Avro made aircraft whilst the
engineering giant Vickers Armstrong established a factory in
Leeds during World War Two that concentrated on light and medium
guns. By the end of the war it had churned out almost 9,000
pieces of ordnance to the British Army. Nationally the company
produced two thirds of the Br