In the past they had just charged other GEC units for research work. Now
Robert and others had to charge for goods made and supplied. This aspect
however was not one which came naturally to him, compounded by the fact
that in the early days Robert had no clerical support, having to record every
detail of the mundanity of the process himself. These early months of the war
also saw the Laboratories make contact on a regular basis with those at the Air
Ministry, the Admiralty etc., together with leading scientists such as Watson
Watt, Bowen and Sir Henry Tizard—himself a physical chemist ‘by trade’
and who, as Chairman of the Aeronautical Research Committee during most
of the war, enthusiastically championed the development of ‘RDF’. Indeed,
by November 1939 Tizard visited the Laboratories to convince himself that
all the resources of industry were being focused on radio and RDF, Paterson
recording on 06 November 1939 that Tizard was ‘sure that this is a ‘radio
war’, and radio will win or lose it’.
Shortly after Tizard’s visit, on 15 November Robert and a colleague visited
E. K. Cole Ltd. (‘EKCO’), at their factory at Southend–on-Sea, to advise
them on the mounting and cooling of the E1046 for ‘Bowen’s job’—clearly
an involvement with AI at a ‘hands-on’ level. At the time EKCO was one of
the largest manufactures of radios in the UK, with a wide range of iconic
‘Bakelite’ cabinets that readers ‘of a certain age’ might remember. They began
the production of thermionic valves in the 1930s and were involved in the
early days of RDF/radar. In 1938 the Government held secret discussions
with EKCO regarding help with radar research and production methods, and
by 1939 EKCO were getting the night fighter radar AI Mk II
27 into production—probably still at Southend, although by 1940 radar work had
moved to a ‘shadow factory’ in Malmesbury, Wiltshire away from the
bombing. Shortly after Tizard’s visit, and at the request of Watson Watt, the
Wembley Laboratories were to take on the ‘R and D’ for AI, ‘breaking away if
possible, from orthodoxy … ‘if they could get an expectation of better results
therefrom. Watson Watt therefore encouraged progress by thinking ‘outside
the box’.
28
By the end of 1939 however there were mixed fortunes in the war; German
submarines dealt a psychological blow by sinking HMS Royal Oak ‘at home’
in Scapa Flow, in November magnetic mines sank 60,000 tons of shipping on
the English East coast in just one week, but in December at the Battle of
River Plate, a ‘hunting group’ of British cruisers seriously damaged the
German pocket battleship the Graf Spee and forced her into Montevideo
harbour for repairs where she was scuttled and taken out of the war. At the
Laboratories however, the year ended with a good deal of illness and absence,
Paterson recording ‘I hope the New Year will start off with a good push.’
414
D. Sheppard
Robert and others had to charge for goods made and supplied. This aspect
however was not one which came naturally to him, compounded by the fact
that in the early days Robert had no clerical support, having to record every
detail of the mundanity of the process himself. These early months of the war
also saw the Laboratories make contact on a regular basis with those at the Air
Ministry, the Admiralty etc., together with leading scientists such as Watson
Watt, Bowen and Sir Henry Tizard—himself a physical chemist ‘by trade’
and who, as Chairman of the Aeronautical Research Committee during most
of the war, enthusiastically championed the development of ‘RDF’. Indeed,
by November 1939 Tizard visited the Laboratories to convince himself that
all the resources of industry were being focused on radio and RDF, Paterson
recording on 06 November 1939 that Tizard was ‘sure that this is a ‘radio
war’, and radio will win or lose it’.
Shortly after Tizard’s visit, on 15 November Robert and a colleague visited
E. K. Cole Ltd. (‘EKCO’), at their factory at Southend–on-Sea, to advise
them on the mounting and cooling of the E1046 for ‘Bowen’s job’—clearly
an involvement with AI at a ‘hands-on’ level. At the time EKCO was one of
the largest manufactures of radios in the UK, with a wide range of iconic
‘Bakelite’ cabinets that readers ‘of a certain age’ might remember. They began
the production of thermionic valves in the 1930s and were involved in the
early days of RDF/radar. In 1938 the Government held secret discussions
with EKCO regarding help with radar research and production methods, and
by 1939 EKCO were getting the night fighter radar AI Mk II
27 into production—probably still at Southend, although by 1940 radar work had
moved to a ‘shadow factory’ in Malmesbury, Wiltshire away from the
bombing. Shortly after Tizard’s visit, and at the request of Watson Watt, the
Wembley Laboratories were to take on the ‘R and D’ for AI, ‘breaking away if
possible, from orthodoxy … ‘if they could get an expectation of better results
therefrom. Watson Watt therefore encouraged progress by thinking ‘outside
the box’.
28
By the end of 1939 however there were mixed fortunes in the war; German
submarines dealt a psychological blow by sinking HMS Royal Oak ‘at home’
in Scapa Flow, in November magnetic mines sank 60,000 tons of shipping on
the English East coast in just one week, but in December at the Battle of
River Plate, a ‘hunting group’ of British cruisers seriously damaged the
German pocket battleship the Graf Spee and forced her into Montevideo
harbour for repairs where she was scuttled and taken out of the war. At the
Laboratories however, the year ended with a good deal of illness and absence,
Paterson recording ‘I hope the New Year will start off with a good push.’
414
D. Sheppard