William Alan Stewart Butement (18 August 1904 – 25 January 1990) was a New Zealand-born British-Australian defence scientist and public servant. A native of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, he made extensive contributions to

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

development in Great Britain during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, served as the first chief scientist for the Australian Defence Scientific Service, then ended his professional career with a research position in private business.

Early life

Alan Butement was born at Masterton, New Zealand, the son of New Zealand-born William Butement, physician and surgeon, and his English-born wife Amy Louise Stewart. When Alan was age eight, the family moved to Sydney, where he started at

The Scots College , motto_translation = O that we may be worthy of our forefathers , location = Bellevue Hill, Eastern Suburbs, Sydney , country = Australia , type = Independent single-sex primary ...

. After a year, the family moved again, this time to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. He graduated from

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...

and then studied at University College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, where he attended lectures by Edward Victor Appleton and received the BSc degree in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

in 1926. He followed this as a research student for two years. He married Ursula Florence Alberta Parish on 17 June 1933.

Achievements in Great Britain

In 1928, Butement joined the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

's Signals Experimental Establishment (SEE) at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, London, as a Scientific Officer, developing radio equipment for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He and an associate, P. E. Pollard, conceived a radio apparatus for the detection of ships. A breadboard test unit, operating at 50 cm (600 MHz) and using pulsed modulation, gave successful laboratory results, but was not of interest to War Office officials. Nevertheless, in January 1931, a writeup on the apparatus was entered in the ''Inventions Book'' maintained by the Royal Engineers. This is the first official record in Great Britain of the technology that would eventually become radar. In October 1936,

Robert Watson Watt Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology. Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accura ...

's team working for the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

began work on what would become Chain Home (CH). By 1936 they had moved to the

Bawdsey Manor Bawdsey Manor stands at a prominent position at the mouth of the River Deben close to the village of Bawdsey in Suffolk, England, about northeast of London. Built in 1886, it was enlarged in 1895 as the principal residence of Sir William C ...

Research Centre (on the North Sea coast) and had already begun plans for deployment of the CH system. Referred to as Range and Direction Finding (RDF), Bawdsey had by this time begun branching out, forming teams to design and build all sorts of radar related devices. An Army Cell from the SEE was attached to the Bawdsey operation. Butement was among those representing the War Office. At Bawdsey, Butement was assigned to develop a

Coastal Defence Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in s ...

(CD) RDF system to be used for aiming anti-shipping and anti-aircraft guns. By early 1938, he had a prototype under test. This used a pulsed 1.5 m (200 MHz) transmitter producing 50 kW power, (later increased to 150 kW). For the transmitting and receiving antennas, he developed a large

dipole In physics, a dipole () is an electromagnetic phenomenon which occurs in two ways: *An electric dipole deals with the separation of the positive and negative electric charges found in any electromagnetic system. A simple example of this system ...

array, 10 feet high and 24 feet wide, giving narrow transmitting and receiving beams. This array could be rotated at a speed around 1.5 revolutions per minute. To improve the directional accuracy, lobe-switching was used in the transmitting array. Primary credit for introducing beamed RDF systems in Great Britain must be given to Butement. As a part of this development, he formulated the first – at least in Great Britain – mathematical relationship that later became well known as the "radar range equation". In September 1939, at the start of the war, operations at Bawdsey were distributed to safer locations. The Army Cell joined the Air Defence Experimental Establishment (ADEE) at Christchurch in Dorset on the south coast. At the time of the move, Butement was named an Assistant Director of Scientific Research, and continued to lead the Coastal Defence (CD) research activity. The primary use of the evolving CD system was in aiming searchlights associated with the anti-aircraft guns, and Butement acquired the nickname of 'Mr. Searchlight Radar.' He also developed what became the standard method of determining miss-distance of gunfire against shipping by using RDF echoes from splashes caused by shells hitting the sea. There was an urgent need to improve the effectiveness of the anti-aircraft guns. With his background in radio, in October 1939 Butement turned to this technology as a potential solution. He conceived of a highly compact RDF set placed on the projectile, setting off the detonation when close proximity to the target was attained. He completed the circuit design, but there was the problem of packaging such a device in a small projectile, as well as the question of the vacuum tubes surviving the acceleration forces at firing. The demands on personnel and funds at the start of the war were such that little more was done at that time. In less than a year, however, (in September 1940), Butement's concept was moved dramatically toward mass production when it was exported under the technology transfer arrangements of the

Tizard Mission The Tizard Mission, officially the British Technical and Scientific Mission, was a British delegation that visited the United States during WWII to obtain the industrial resources to exploit the military potential of the research and development ( ...

, and subsequently a variation of his circuit became adopted in the United States as the

proximity fuse A proximity fuze (or fuse) is a fuze that detonates an explosive device automatically when the distance to the target becomes smaller than a predetermined value. Proximity fuzes are designed for targets such as planes, missiles, ships at sea, an ...

or VT (variable-time) fuse, ''the most-manufactured electronic device of the war''. In the later stages of the war, anti-aircraft shells fitted with proximity fuses played a major part in defeating both German

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...

attacks on London, and Japanese ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

'' attacks on Allied shipping. As well as the dramatic breaking of Japanese Naval air power in the

Battle of the Philippine Sea The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invas ...

, it immortalised the invention's impact with the battle's alternate name: ''The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot'', where the battle losses were so severe that it led to the Japanese adoption of the kamikaze. Years later, Butement said that he considered the proximity fuse as his most significant accomplishment. As the war got under way, it was realised that the Chain Home (CH) system needed an additional ability to detect low-flying aircraft. The CD RDF was ideal for this function, and was soon added at most CH stations as the Chain-Home Low (CHL). For making the necessary adaptations, Butement led the effort at the

Air Defence Experimental Establishment The Air Defence Experimental Establishment (ADEE) was a civil agency run by the British War Office, the civilian side of the British Army. It was primarily tasked with developing sound ranging of enemy artillery, and the development of anti-aircra ...

(ADEE). In February 1940,

Harry Boot Henry Albert Howard Boot (29 July 1917 – 8 February 1983) was an English physicist who with Sir John Randall and James Sayers developed the cavity magnetron, which was one of the keys to the Allied victory in the Second World War. Biography ...

and John Randall at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

built a high-power

cavity magnetron The cavity magnetron is a high-power vacuum tube used in early radar systems and currently in microwave ovens and linear particle accelerators. It generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field whi ...

, allowing signal-generation at

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ra ...

frequencies. In the autumn of 1940, the device was brought to America by the

, and development of microwave radars was started on both sides of the Atlantic. (The Tizard Mission also brought back to Great Britain the name 'radar' – adopted as a cover by the US Navy in 1940.) The ADEE was reformed into the

Air Defence Research and Development Establishment The Air Defence Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) was a civilian research organization run by the War Office that primarily studied the development of radar for British Army use. It was formed in 1941 from the merger of the Air Defenc ...

(ADRDE) in mid-1941. Applications of the CD system and the work of Butement were even more important as microwave devices were added. Germany began bomber attacks on the British mainland, and it was decided that radar research and development activities would be moved further inland. In May 1942, the ADRDE was transferred to

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern is a spa town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is a historic conservation area, which grew dr ...

, where it remained for many years. In 1943, Butement, then Assistant Director of Scientific Research with the Ministry of Supply, invented and supervised the development of a secure radio-based method of battlefield communication using narrow beams of pulsed microwave signals, to replace the traditional telephone cable. Using a 10 cm (3 GHz) transmitter and receiver developed for radar, the Wireless Station No. 10 evolved. Called one of the electronic wonders of WWII, this was the first multi-channel, microwave communication system in Great Britain. It first went operational in July 1944, just after D-Day, and served as the central communications backbone for the British march across Europe to victory.

Achievements in Australia

After the War, the British and Australian governments established a joint project on research and development of guided missiles. The project included laboratory and workshop facilities at

Salisbury, South Australia Salisbury is a northern suburb in Adelaide, South Australia. It is the seat of the City of Salisbury, and in the South Australian Legislative Assembly electoral district of Ramsay and the Australian House of Representatives division of Spence. ...

, and a rocket test range at a new town, Woomera, in the Australian Outback. Butement was selected as Deputy-Chief Scientist of the project and moved to Australia in early 1947. As a British subject, he was eligible to hold official positions in Australia, and, shortly after arriving, he was appointed Chief Superintendent of the project. In April 1949, Butement took a new position as the first Chief Scientist in the Defence Scientific Service of the Australian Department of Supply and Development. His responsibilities encompassed laboratories for high-speed aerodynamics, propulsion, and electronics, all closely linked with the Anglo-Australian joint project. In 1955, all of these activities, including the joint project, were merged to form the

Weapons Research Establishment The Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is part of the Australian Department of Defence dedicated to providing science and technology support to safeguard Australia and its national interests. The agency's name was changed from Defenc ...

(WRE) reporting to Butement in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Under Butement, the WRE established working facilities and conditions highly suited for scientific research. Hundreds of university graduates were recruited and sent to Great Britain for research training. While by this time Butement was primarily a research administrator rather than a hands-on scientist, he did personally initiate several highly important developments, including a rocket engine that used a semi-solid paste pressed into the firing chamber as propellant, and the

Malkara missile The Malkara (from an Aboriginal word for "shield") was one of the earliest guided anti-tank missiles (ATGMs). It was jointly developed by Australia and the United Kingdom between 1951 and 1954, and was in service from 1958 until gradually repla ...

, an anti-tank guided weapon that was adopted as standard equipment by the Australian and British armies. Butement encouraged the WRE to establish working links with scientists and engineers at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, in Adelaide, South Australia. In this, he personally submitted a thesis describing his principal contributions to defence technologies and was awarded the

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

(D.Sc.) degree in 1961. He had a leading role in Great Britain's testing of nuclear weapons in Australia. He led the party that identified the

Monte Bello Islands The Montebello Islands, also rendered as the Monte Bello Islands, are an archipelago of around 174 small islands (about 92 of which are named) lying north of Barrow Island and off the Pilbara coast of north-western Australia. The islands f ...

in Western Australia and

Emu Field Emu Field is located in the desert of South Australia, at (ground zero Totem I test). Variously known as Emu Field, Emu Junction or Emu, it was the site of the Operation Totem pair of nuclear tests conducted by the British government in Octob ...

in South Australia as suitable sites, and was one of three observers representing the Australian Government at atomic tests on these sites in 1952 and 1953, respectively. Another mainland site, at

Maralinga, South Australia Maralinga, in the remote western areas of South Australia, was the site, measuring about in area, of British nuclear tests in the mid-1950s. In January 1985 native title was granted to the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Aborigi ...

, was later selected, and Butement was a member of the board that managed the construction of this site, and was also a member of the test safety committee preparing for detonations there in 1956 and 1957. Butement resigned his position with the WRE in 1966, to become, for a five-year term, Director of Research for Plessey Pacific Pty Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of

Plessey The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas compani ...

, a major British electronics manufacturer. In 1969 Butement wrote a paper to the Australian Industrial Research Group, advocating the formation of an Australian academy of applied science. From this, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering was formed in 1975. Butement, a member of both the steering committee and the council of the new academy, was appointed an honorary fellow in 1979. After retirement from Plessey in 1972, Butement remained in Melbourne where he was an enthusiastic amateur radio (ham) operator (

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

VK3AD) and an adept carpenter, metalworker, and mechanic. He was a committed Christian, adhering to the

Catholic Apostolic Church The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

. Survived by his wife Ursula Florence Alberta Parish and two daughters Ann and Jane, he died on 25 January 1990, at Richmond, Melbourne.

Recognition

* In 1946 Butement was honoured as an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE). * In 1959 he was promoted to Commander of the Order (CBE). * The Butement Laboratory of the High Frequency Radar Division at the Department of Defence's

was named in his honour. * The main village square in the town of Woomera in the outback of South Australia is named "Butement Square" in his honour.

Reference notes

General references

* Home, R. W.
Butement, William Alan Stewart (1904–1990)
, '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University *Swords, S. S.; ''Technical History of the Beginnings of Radar'', Peter Peregrinus, Ltd, 1986 *Watson, Raymond C. Jr.; ''Radar Development Worldwide'', Trafford Publishing, 2009 *Williams, Betty; ''Dr. W. A. S. Butement: the First Chief Scientist for Defence'', Bib ID 1492798, Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1991 *Wisdom, John; ''A History of Defence Science in Australia'', Defence Science and Technology Organisation, 1995. {{DEFAULTSORT:Butement, W Radar pioneers Australian scientists British scientists 1904 births 1990 deaths Chief Defence Scientists Alumni of University College London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Amateur radio people New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom