17.3.1.1 1940
January 1940 saw bacon, butter and sugar rationing introduced in the UK,
this was followed by meat, tea, jam, biscuits, breakfast cereals, cheese, eggs,
lard, milk, canned and dried fruit. Alongside this austerity however, The
Times on 14 February 1940 recorded an ‘Anonymous’ gift of £1000 to the
Red Cross and St John Fund by a ‘Mr. and Mrs. Le Rossignol’. Also, at this
time AI work at Wembley was intensifying, Paterson and senior members
visiting Northolt aerodrome to consider the possibility of installing the radar
in a number of aircraft—a task which Paterson acknowledged, ‘does not
become easier as we examine it’. For Robert however, January brought a
welcome diversion from the tedium of recording E1046 pre-production, as
his experience in making seals between various ceramics (glass) and metals led
to him investigating a problem from the KLG company who were experiencing difficulties making their aircraft spark plugs gastight. This work also
probably led to his only patent of the war. However, there was a growing
concern regarding AI, viz., the need for ‘centimetric’ wavelengths—Espley
suggesting as low as 5 cm may be necessary. In February, a development of
the ‘micropup’, the ‘milli-micropup’ (E1190), was effective at 25 cm and by
April this has been reduced to 20 cm at 1 kW peak pulse, but progress was
slow and the sickness at the laboratories continued with staff ‘dropping like
flies’ from colds, fevers, ‘flu and measles’. The war too took a turn for the
worse as Germany invaded Norway, Denmark, Holland, Luxembourg,
Belgium and then France. Chamberlain resigned and Churchill formed a
Government of National Unity, but amidst this turmoil, on 01 May
Paterson’s Diary records; ‘Randall from Birmingham came … to get us to
start quickly with replicas of three large magnetrons which Megaw thinks
highly of … ’, an entry of little significance at the time but in hindsight it
marked a turning point of the radio war. But as the bad news continued,
Paterson decided to hold a service in the Library on Sunday 24 May for those
who cared to join him in the National and Empire Day service of prayer. It
was the first time a religious service had ever been held at the Laboratories,
and Paterson observed … ‘we may only have a very small attendance’. Prayers
it seemed went unanswered, British troops were evacuated from Dunkirk and
German troops entered Paris. By 17 June Paterson records; ‘the French have
caved in … so we are to fight the war alone …’
But from April, when Randall and Boot first approached Megaw, progress
on the magnetrons had been spectacular, and towards the end of June two
types had been progressed; Megaw’s sealed-off, air-cooled and Randall’s
17 The GEC Laboratories 1939–1949
415
January 1940 saw bacon, butter and sugar rationing introduced in the UK,
this was followed by meat, tea, jam, biscuits, breakfast cereals, cheese, eggs,
lard, milk, canned and dried fruit. Alongside this austerity however, The
Times on 14 February 1940 recorded an ‘Anonymous’ gift of £1000 to the
Red Cross and St John Fund by a ‘Mr. and Mrs. Le Rossignol’. Also, at this
time AI work at Wembley was intensifying, Paterson and senior members
visiting Northolt aerodrome to consider the possibility of installing the radar
in a number of aircraft—a task which Paterson acknowledged, ‘does not
become easier as we examine it’. For Robert however, January brought a
welcome diversion from the tedium of recording E1046 pre-production, as
his experience in making seals between various ceramics (glass) and metals led
to him investigating a problem from the KLG company who were experiencing difficulties making their aircraft spark plugs gastight. This work also
probably led to his only patent of the war. However, there was a growing
concern regarding AI, viz., the need for ‘centimetric’ wavelengths—Espley
suggesting as low as 5 cm may be necessary. In February, a development of
the ‘micropup’, the ‘milli-micropup’ (E1190), was effective at 25 cm and by
April this has been reduced to 20 cm at 1 kW peak pulse, but progress was
slow and the sickness at the laboratories continued with staff ‘dropping like
flies’ from colds, fevers, ‘flu and measles’. The war too took a turn for the
worse as Germany invaded Norway, Denmark, Holland, Luxembourg,
Belgium and then France. Chamberlain resigned and Churchill formed a
Government of National Unity, but amidst this turmoil, on 01 May
Paterson’s Diary records; ‘Randall from Birmingham came … to get us to
start quickly with replicas of three large magnetrons which Megaw thinks
highly of … ’, an entry of little significance at the time but in hindsight it
marked a turning point of the radio war. But as the bad news continued,
Paterson decided to hold a service in the Library on Sunday 24 May for those
who cared to join him in the National and Empire Day service of prayer. It
was the first time a religious service had ever been held at the Laboratories,
and Paterson observed … ‘we may only have a very small attendance’. Prayers
it seemed went unanswered, British troops were evacuated from Dunkirk and
German troops entered Paris. By 17 June Paterson records; ‘the French have
caved in … so we are to fight the war alone …’
But from April, when Randall and Boot first approached Megaw, progress
on the magnetrons had been spectacular, and towards the end of June two
types had been progressed; Megaw’s sealed-off, air-cooled and Randall’s
17 The GEC Laboratories 1939–1949
415