dexterity, and their ability—unlike most men—not to get bored with the
mundane repetition of some of the tasks. Paterson’s hope was that even more
wives of staff would be willing to engage with the work, because getting
enough women trained to do the most difficult operations was problematic
and by now there were very big ‘outfalls’ in some pre-production lines at
Wembley. No mention is ever made of Emily in the Diary, even so, the Le
Rossignol family like thousands of others, were thoroughly immersed in the
national war effort, being bombed and rationed, disrupted and inconvenienced, deprived of the comfort of a normal life, fearful of the turn of events,
but trying hard to make a contribution, which for Robert at least meant his
stewardship of the ‘micropup’ which by April 1941 had achieved a cumulative total of 10,000 valves.
As for the war, the 11 April 1941 saw the ‘Lease-Lend’ Bill
22 signed by
President Roosevelt, an event which the Diary records as ‘bringing the USA
definitely out of her neutrality’ and a source of elation in the UK. Any
optimism however, was tempered by concerns over the invasion of Yugoslavia
and Greece by Germany, the latter presenting a threat to the critical British
interests of Egypt and Suez. For some families in the country these events
may have seemed remote, but for others such as Emily and Robert the
summer of 1941 saw their immersion in the conflict become deeper and far
more intimate.
17.3.2 Detroit Michigan, June 1941
On 07 June 1941, a young man entered the USA at the border crossing
control in Detroit, Michigan.
32 He was 5
0 11
0 tall, with dark brown hair, a
fresh complexion and blue eyes. He was unmarried, accompanied by
‘no-one’, and destined for the Graham Aviation Company at Americus,
Georgia. The young man was British, but he was born in Berlin and his home
was at St John’s Road, Harrow. Robert and Emily’s son John Augustin, by
now an RAF volunteer, had arrived in the USA from Canada, a member of
the very first draft (SE-42-A) of the ‘Arnold Scheme’.
33 The Arnold
Scheme was created under ‘lend-lease’ by Roosevelt and U.S. Major General
Henry (‘Hap’) Arnold, to use spare USAAF capacity to train British pilots.
Since the skies above Britain were a war zone, the Air Council realised that it
had to pursue aircrew training outside the UK, initially in Canada, but
subsequently through the Scheme in what was, at first, a neutral United
States. The Scheme lasted from June 1941 to March 1943 by which time
over 4000 pilots from cohorts SE-42-A through SE-42-K, graduated. In 1940
17 The GEC Laboratories 1939–1949
419
mundane repetition of some of the tasks. Paterson’s hope was that even more
wives of staff would be willing to engage with the work, because getting
enough women trained to do the most difficult operations was problematic
and by now there were very big ‘outfalls’ in some pre-production lines at
Wembley. No mention is ever made of Emily in the Diary, even so, the Le
Rossignol family like thousands of others, were thoroughly immersed in the
national war effort, being bombed and rationed, disrupted and inconvenienced, deprived of the comfort of a normal life, fearful of the turn of events,
but trying hard to make a contribution, which for Robert at least meant his
stewardship of the ‘micropup’ which by April 1941 had achieved a cumulative total of 10,000 valves.
As for the war, the 11 April 1941 saw the ‘Lease-Lend’ Bill
22 signed by
President Roosevelt, an event which the Diary records as ‘bringing the USA
definitely out of her neutrality’ and a source of elation in the UK. Any
optimism however, was tempered by concerns over the invasion of Yugoslavia
and Greece by Germany, the latter presenting a threat to the critical British
interests of Egypt and Suez. For some families in the country these events
may have seemed remote, but for others such as Emily and Robert the
summer of 1941 saw their immersion in the conflict become deeper and far
more intimate.
17.3.2 Detroit Michigan, June 1941
On 07 June 1941, a young man entered the USA at the border crossing
control in Detroit, Michigan.
32 He was 5
0 11
0 tall, with dark brown hair, a
fresh complexion and blue eyes. He was unmarried, accompanied by
‘no-one’, and destined for the Graham Aviation Company at Americus,
Georgia. The young man was British, but he was born in Berlin and his home
was at St John’s Road, Harrow. Robert and Emily’s son John Augustin, by
now an RAF volunteer, had arrived in the USA from Canada, a member of
the very first draft (SE-42-A) of the ‘Arnold Scheme’.
33 The Arnold
Scheme was created under ‘lend-lease’ by Roosevelt and U.S. Major General
Henry (‘Hap’) Arnold, to use spare USAAF capacity to train British pilots.
Since the skies above Britain were a war zone, the Air Council realised that it
had to pursue aircrew training outside the UK, initially in Canada, but
subsequently through the Scheme in what was, at first, a neutral United
States. The Scheme lasted from June 1941 to March 1943 by which time
over 4000 pilots from cohorts SE-42-A through SE-42-K, graduated. In 1940
17 The GEC Laboratories 1939–1949
419