Regardless of the number of munitions orders available to them, for the duration of the First World War, the factory struggled to maintain an adequately sized workforce to keep up with production requirements. In December 1916, a fire ravaged the Quaker Oats factory in Peterborough, and the resulting reconstruction efforts monopolized a large portion of the remaining skilled worker base in the city. This, in combination with the increased labour requirements at the factory to maintain munitions production, led to the relatively new practise of hiring women in the factories. An additional solution was implemented that saw wages increased above the minimums required as a condition of receiving wartime production contracts. Furthermore, due to multiple disputes and the intervention of the Department of Labour in 1917, a 50-hour work week was awarded to 1700 workers at CGE and several other industries. As a result, the labour shortage led to locally higher wages in Peterborough, which ultimately led to a stable transition through the post-war recession period. The pay deduction was not the only sacrifice made by the workers in the CGE plant, as approximately half of all workers employed at the plant left their jobs to sign up for the Canadian military service. Of the 1800-2200 workers who worked at the factory, 1076 CGE employees departed to fight in the First World War, 63 of whom were killed or missing and fated never to return. In all, the CGE plant supplied 45 officers, 99 N.C.O.s, and 932 Privates to the Canadian expeditionary forces. In addition to this, CGE operated a detachment of 25 electrical and mechanical engineers. This detachment served the government while remaining on the CGE payroll throughout their service, and except for food and clothing, were funded entirely by CGE. The contribution by CGE was not limited to manpower, rather the company also donated $150,000 to the Red Cross Society, Patriotic Fund, the British Sailors, the Relief Fund, and more. [Text Box: Figure 3: Diagram of war munitions produced by CGE during the First World War as found in the Canadian General Electric Co. 1918 Annual Report of the Board of Directors. Archive Reference 1989-022. Used with permission from Peterborough Museum and Archives.] Once orders started to come in to the factory as the war took hold, it did not take long for production to ramp up sharply. Many different types of munitions were created at the CGE plant in Peterborough, and a diagram of the various shells can be found in figure 3. These shells were vital to the war effort, and were shipped all over the world. During the period of 1915 – 1918, CGE manufactured and shipped munitions amounting in a value of $15,287,284.42. Most of which were sent to the front lines in Europe through the Imperial Munitions Board, and later in the war through the U.S. Army Ordnance Department. A relatively small portion totalling $130,318 worth of ammunition was sent to the British Admiralty for use in naval vessels. In total, CGE forged 9,376,369 shells of various sizes and types, machined and assembled 1,455,010 shells of various sizes and types, and manufactured upwards of 2 million brass cartridge cases. Further production included 4.5 million brass primers, and 2.2 million component parts such as plugs, discs, etc.