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MD1
Ministry of Defence 1 (MD1), also known as "Churchill's Toyshop", was a British weapon research and development organisation of the Second World War. Its two key figures were Major Millis Jefferis and Stuart Macrae, former editor of '' Armchair Science'' magazine. History MD1 began in "Military Intelligence Research" (MIR). MIR was a department of the War Office set up in 1939 under Lt-Col Joe Holland RE. Holland was the General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO1) and brought in Jefferis, also a Royal Engineers sapper and explosives expert, with experience in India, as GSO2 to head MIR(c) a division of MIR that was to develop weapons for irregular warfare. Needing special magnets, Jefferis brought in Macrae initially as an outside contractor but later to be brought into uniform and serve as his deputy. Between them they produced the limpet mine, a timed explosive that could be stuck to the underside of a ship. started in a room at the War Office, Macrae initially secured offices and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stuart Macrae (inventor)
Colonel Robert Stuart Macrae TD was an inventor best known for his work at MD1 during the Second World War, his best known invention being the sticky bomb. Macrae was the author of ''Winston Churchill's Toyshop'', a memoir detailing his experiences at MD1. Early career Macrae had been a trainee engineer and late in the First World War worked on a device for dropping grenades as an early form of cluster bomb. The war ended before the device was used or he received any commission for his work. Macrae was an editor of '' Armchair Science'' magazine during the period leading up to the Second World War. He was approached by Millis Jefferis who was after strong magnets for a secret explosive project. Already security cleared from his previous work, Macrae was able to join in the project. Second World War Macrae was called up as a second lieutenant on the Special List of the Territorial Army on 1 September 1939. with the effect that he had to give up editing ''Armchair Scienc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Millis Jefferis
Major-General Sir Millis Rowland Jefferis KBE MC (9 January 1899 – 5 September 1963) was a British military officer who founded a special unit of the British Ministry of Supply which developed unusual weapons during the Second World War. Early career Born at Merstham, Surrey on 9 January 1899, Jefferis was educated at Tonbridge School and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. From Woolwich he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 6 June 1918, during the final months of World War I, and after passing through the School of Military Engineering at Chatham, he was posted to the First Field Squadron RE in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).''Sir Millis Jefferis New Weapons of War (Obituary)''. ''The Times'', 7 September 1963 p10 column E. In 1920 he went to India and served with the Queen's Own Madras Sappers and Miners in the Third Field Troop at Sialkot. In 1922 he went into the Works Services in India as garrison engineer at Kohat and then at Khaisora which is today ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Royal Marine
Operation Royal Marine was a military operation in May 1940 of the Second World War, during the Battle of France (10 May – 25 June 1940). The British floated fluvial mines down rivers which flowed into Germany from France. The plan was to destroy German bridges, barges and other water transport. After several postponements insisted on by the French government, fearful of German retaliation, the operation began on 10 May 1940, when the German offensive in the west began. The mines caused some damage and delay to German river traffic on the Rhine from Karlsruhe to Koblenz and damaged bridges and protective barriers. Part of the plan was for Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers to drop the mines into rivers and canals on moonlit nights but this had hardly begun when the campaign ended. The success of the plot was nullified by the Allied defeat and the Franco-German Armistice of 22 June 1940. Background Despite the concerns of the French government during the Phoney War, over German air ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Firs, Whitchurch
The Firs is a country house in Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire. History The house was built in 1897 for Charles Gray, an officer who fought with the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa. By the 1930s the house was owned by Major Arthur Abrahams from whom it was requisitioned by the War Office in 1939. During the Second World War the house was used by MD1 for the development and testing of various weapons including time delay fuses, depth charges and PIAT guns. The house, which was known locally as "Winston Churchill's Toyshop", accommodated some 250 people at this time. Meanwhile Abrahams was knighted for his services to the British Red Cross in June 1942. In around 1953 the house became the Central Research Laboratories for Richard Thomas and Baldwins Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd (RTB) was a major iron, steel and tinplate producer, primarily based in Wales and formed in 1948 by the merger of Richard Thomas & Co Ltd with Baldwins Ltd. It was absorbed into British Steel Corporation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PIAT
The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT) Mk I was a British man-portable anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in 1942 in response to the British Army's need for a more effective infantry anti-tank weapon and entered service in 1943. The PIAT was based on the spigot mortar system, and projected (launched) a 2.5 pound (1.1 kg) shaped charge bomb using a cartridge in the tail of the projectile. It possessed an effective range of approximately in a direct fire anti-tank role, and in an indirect fire role. The PIAT had several advantages over other infantry anti-tank weapons of the period: it had greatly increased penetration power over the previous anti-tank rifles, it had no back-blast which might reveal the position of the user or accidentally injure friendly soldiers around the user, and it was simple in construction. However, the device also had some disadvantages: powerful recoil, a difficulty in cocking the weapon, and early prob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sticky Bomb
The "Grenade, Hand, Anti-Tank No. 74", commonly known as the S.T. grenade or simply sticky bomb, was a British hand grenade designed and produced during the Second World War. The grenade was one of a number of anti-tank weapons developed for use by the British Army and Home Guard after the loss of many anti-tank guns in France after the Dunkirk evacuation. Designed by a team from MIR(c) including Major Millis Jefferis and Stuart Macrae, the grenade consisted of a glass sphere containing an explosive made of nitroglycerin and additives which added stability to the compound. The compound was designed to contact the target before exploding. This form of detonation would concentrate on a small area, favouring the rupture of a thick armour plate rather than a general and diffuse explosion. The charge was covered in a strong adhesive and surrounded by a sheet-metal casing. When the user pulled a pin on the handle of the grenade, the casing would fall away and expose the sticky sph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blacker Bombard
The Blacker Bombard, also known as the 29-mm Spigot Mortar, was an infantry anti-tank weapon devised by Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Blacker in the early years of the Second World War. Intended as a means to equip Home Guard units with an anti-tank weapon in case of German invasion, at a time of grave shortage of weapons, it was accepted only after the intervention of Churchill. Although there were doubts about the effectiveness of the Bombard, many were issued. Few, if any, saw combat. Development With the end of the Battle of France and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the port of Dunkirk between 26 May and 4 June 1940, a German invasion of Great Britain seemed likely. However, the British Army was not well-equipped to defend the country in such an event; in the weeks after the Dunkirk evacuation it could field only twenty-seven divisions.Lampe, p. 3 (The German Army had more than 100 divisions at that time.) The Army was particularly short of anti-tank gu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell
Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II. Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureaucratic red tape that was hampering vital defence preparations against a German invasion. This caused sharp disagreements with many of the permanent bureaucracy. His contribution to Allied victory lay chiefly in embracing the art of the possible. He was particularly adept at converting data into clear charts to promote a strategy. His approach to technology focused on rapid experiments and fast failures, to come up with the proper answer; this made him at target for bureaucratic ire and accusations. He was involved in the development of radar and infra-red guidance systems. He was skeptical of the first reports of the enemy's V-weapons programme. He pressed the case for the strategic area bombing of cities. His abiding influence on C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its purpose was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe (and later, also in occupied Southeast Asia) against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements. Few people were aware of SOE's existence. Those who were part of it or liaised with it were sometimes referred to as the "Baker Street Irregulars", after the location of its London headquarters. It was also known as "Churchill's Secret Army" or the "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare". Its various branches, and sometimes the organisation as a whole, were concealed for security purposes behind names such as the "Joint Technical Board" or the "Inter-Service Research Bureau", or fictitious branches of the Air Ministry, Admiralty or War Office. SOE operat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limpet Mine
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets. It is so named because of its superficial similarity to the shape of the limpet, a type of sea snail that clings tightly to rocks or other hard surfaces. A swimmer or diver may attach the mine, which is usually designed with hollow compartments to give the mine just slight negative buoyancy, making it easier to handle underwater. Types of fuses Usually limpet mines are set off by a time fuse. They may also have an anti-handling device, making the mine explode if removed from the hull by enemy divers or by explosions. Sometimes limpet mines have been fitted with a small turbine which would detonate the mine after the ship had sailed a certain distance, so that it was likely to sink in navigable channels (to make access difficult for other ships) or deep water (out of reach of easy salvage) and making determination of the cause of the sinking more difficult. Development In December 1938, a new unit wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limpet Mine
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets. It is so named because of its superficial similarity to the shape of the limpet, a type of sea snail that clings tightly to rocks or other hard surfaces. A swimmer or diver may attach the mine, which is usually designed with hollow compartments to give the mine just slight negative buoyancy, making it easier to handle underwater. Types of fuses Usually limpet mines are set off by a time fuse. They may also have an anti-handling device, making the mine explode if removed from the hull by enemy divers or by explosions. Sometimes limpet mines have been fitted with a small turbine which would detonate the mine after the ship had sailed a certain distance, so that it was likely to sink in navigable channels (to make access difficult for other ships) or deep water (out of reach of easy salvage) and making determination of the cause of the sinking more difficult. Development In December 1938, a new unit wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armchair Science
''Armchair Science'' was a UK, British monthly Magazine, journal of topical and popular science articles published from 1929 to 1940; it ceased publication because of wartime paper shortages. The first editor was A. Percy Bradley, a mechanical engineer associated with Brooklands, then Archibald Low, Professor A. M. Low. Issue one included: “Wonders of the Night Sky”; “How Flowers Breed and How they Fade”; “We Eat Bad Cheese, and why not Bad Meat?”; and “What is Noise?”. It cost one shilling, later reduced to sixpence. The publisher was Gale & Polden Ltd, London. It reported the splitting of the atom, the chemical identification of Vitamin C, the finishing of the Netherlands, Dutch dam around the Zuyder Zee and developments in television. Looking to the future it asked “Are Whales Doomed?”, discussed the possibility of Stereoscopy, stereoscopic film, cinema, and reported biofuels and power from the sea. Its editor in 1940, Stuart Macrae (inventor), Stua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
