Radar and Electronic Warfare 1939-1945 H10786

Sir Alwyn Douglas Crow (10 May 1894 – 5 February 1965) was a British scientist involved in research into ballistics, projectiles and missiles from 1916 to 1953. At

Fort Halstead Fort Halstead was a research site of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast o ...

he developed the

Unrotated Projectile The Unrotated Projectile (UP) was a British anti-aircraft and ground-bombardment rocket of the Second World War. The original 7-inch version was developed for the Royal Navy by Alwyn Crow of the Projectile Development Establishment of the Mini ...

an antiaircraft weapon for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, used in the early period of World War II when the supply of anti-aircraft guns was limited. His obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' called him a ''Rocket Projectile Pioneer''. He was born in London, and educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

. In World War I he was commissioned in the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ( ...

, was injured in 1916, and Mentioned in Despatches. In 1917, he was appointed to the staff of the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proof test, proofing, and explosives research for ...

, Woolwich. He served as Director of Ballistics Research at Woolwich 1919–1939. In 1934 British received intelligence reports about German developments in rocket weapons, and two years later Crow lead a new research team specializing in the topic. He later was Chief Superintendent of Projectile Development 1939-40, then Director and Controller of Projectile Development 1940-45, then Director of Guided Projectiles at the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

1945–1946. He was in Washington, D.C. as Head of Technical Services to the British Joint Services Mission to Washington from 1946 to 1953. He retired in 1953, became a consultant and in 1960 settled in the United States with his second wife.

Honours

He was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1918 Birthday Honours The 1918 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to ...

and made a Commander of the Order in the

1937 Coronation Honours The 1937 Coronation Honours were awarded in honour of the coronation of George VI. Royal Honours Order of the Thistle * The Queen Royal Victorian Chain * The Queen * Queen Mary * Clive, Baron Wigram Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) * The Que ...

. He was knighted in 1944.

References

Sources

* Obituary ''A Rocket Projectile Pioneer'' in ''The Times'', London of 6 February 1965 p.10. * ''Who was Who 1965'' (A&C Black, London) 1894 births 1965 deaths British scientists Rocket scientists Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Ballistics experts Weapons scientists and engineers British Army personnel of World War I East Surrey Regiment officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Institute of Physics Knights Bachelor Military personnel from London {{UK-scientist-stub