Editing Rolls-Royce Merlin (section)

===Crewe===
To meet the increasing demand for Merlin engines, Rolls-Royce started building work on a [[Bentley Crewe|new factory]] at [[Crewe]] in May 1938, with engines leaving the factory in 1939. The Crewe factory had convenient road and rail links to their existing facilities at Derby. Production at Crewe was originally planned to use unskilled labour and [[sub-contractor]]s with which Hives felt there would be no particular difficulty, but the number of required sub-contracted parts such as crankshafts, camshafts and cylinder liners eventually fell short and the factory was expanded to manufacture these parts "in house".<ref>Pugh 2000, p. 193.</ref>

Initially the local authority promised to build 1,000 new houses to accommodate the workforce by the end of 1938, but by February 1939 it had only awarded a contract for 100. Hives was incensed by this complacency and threatened to move the whole operation, but timely intervention by the Air Ministry improved the situation. In 1940 a [[Strike action|strike]] took place when women replaced men on [[Turret lathe|capstan lathes]], the workers' [[Trade union|union]] insisting this was a skilled labour job; however, the men returned to work after 10 days.<ref>Pugh 2000, pp. 196–197.</ref>

Total Merlin production at Crewe was 26,065.<ref name="Gunston2006190"/>

The factory was used postwar for the production of Rolls-Royce and [[Bentley]] motor cars and military fighting vehicle power plants. In 1998 [[Volkswagen AG]] bought the Bentley marque and the factory. Today it is known as Bentley Crewe.<ref>[http://www.jackbarclayparts.co.uk/about-us/crewe-history/ Crewe factory history] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305100743/http://www.jackbarclayparts.co.uk/about-us/crewe-history/ |date=5 March 2012 }} jackbarclayparts.co.uk. Retrieved: 24 August 2009</ref>