Munitions Inventions Department

Last updated

The Munitions Inventions Department (MID) of the British Ministry of Munitions was created during the First World War in 1915. [1] Its administrative structure encompassed university and industrial laboratories, private workshops, and military experimental grounds. The department made us of the experimental facilities of other government agencies, including the National Physical Laboratory at Bushy House and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). [1] Two sister organisations were formed: The Board of Invention and Research (BIR) which was established in July 1915 to support the Admiralty, and the Air Inventions Committee (AIC), which supported the Air Board once it became become fully operational in the summer of 1917. [1]

Contents

Predecessors

The readiness of the British military to tap the inventiveness of the public can be dated back to the eighteenth century. Two War Office committees, the Colonels' Committee and the Field Officers' Committee had been convened in the 1760s to consider proposals submitted by inventors. However it was during the Crimea War that the Ordnance Select Committee was established under the Duke of Newcastle, in his capacity as Secretary of State for War. It superseded the Board of Ordnance, established in the 15th century but deemed inadequate for the circumstances of the time. Originally this committee had had some civilians amongst its fifteen strong membership. However this was dropped when the committee was given a permanent remit. The establishment of the Ordnance Committee in 1881 re-introduced civilian participation, however retaining strong involvement of artillery officers. [1] The foundation of the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1909 by Richard Haldane (later Lord Haldane) helped provide a model for the MID to follow: the committee supervised the aeronautical research of the National Physical Laboratory and provided more general advice pertaining to the scientific problems involved with aerial construction and navigation. The short war illusion that the war would be "over by Christmas" meant that little consideration was given to the development of new means of destruction. The unfolding of the Shell Crisis of 1915 indicated a new approach to innovation in the tools of warfare was needed if the war aims were to be achieved. David Lloyd George, the newly appointed Minister of Munitions pointedly remarked that the War Office exhibited "mental obtuseness in their neglect to keep abreast of modern development in pattern of munitions and machinery for munition production". [1]

Foundation

On 28 July 1915 Lloyd George announced to parliament that Ernest Moir would lead the MID, and on 5 August Moir assumed the role of Comptroller. Over the next week Moir drew up a list of people to serve on the advisory panel of the MID. [1] Moir remained in place into November 1915, when he was persuaded by Lloyd George to go to New York in an informal role organising munition supplies from the United States. [2] Despite Moir arguing for his replacement to be drawn from the civilian experts, Colonel Henry Edward Fane Goold-Adams, a Royal Artillery officer who was part of the Ordnance Board came into post on 19 February 1916. [1]

Controls and Reports

Inventions, ideas and suggestions had to be approved before resources could be allocated to their further assessment or development. The MID’s work was summarised in a series of comprehensive and detailed reports. As the date of the Armistice was approaching the 37th monthly report of the MID dated 1st November 1918 was issued by Sir Henry Norman. Its introduction stated that from its formation in August 1915, the MID had received 47,112 inventions, ideas and suggestions of which 46,104 had been examined, 45,985 considered and just 4,026 reported as worthy of further consideration. The work of the MID ended in April 1919. The MID classified reports were specifically intended for and addressed to the Minister of Munitions of War on a monthly basis. The recipient of this 37th report was Winston Churchill who held the post from 17 July 1917. [3]

Related Research Articles

Cluster munition Munition containing multiple submunitions meant to disperse effects of the munitions

A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicles. Other cluster munitions are designed to destroy runways or electric power transmission lines, disperse chemical or biological weapons, or to scatter land mines. Some submunition-based weapons can disperse non-munitions, such as leaflets.

Aberdeen Proving Ground

Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. Part of the facility is a census-designated place (CDP), which had a population of 3,116 at the 2000 census, and 2,093 as of the 2010 census. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at APG.

Bomb disposal Activity to dispose of and render safe explosive munitions and other materials

Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the military fields of explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and improvised explosive device disposal (IEDD), and the public safety roles of public safety bomb disposal (PSBD) and the bomb squad.

Board of Ordnance English and British body responsible for forts

The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence of the realm and its overseas possessions, and as the supplier of munitions and equipment to both the Army and the Navy'. The Board also maintained and directed the Artillery and Engineer corps, which it founded in the 18th century. By the 19th century, the Board of Ordnance was second in size only to HM Treasury among government departments. The Board lasted until 1855, at which point it was disbanded.

Mortar (weapon) Artillery weapon that launches explosive projectiles at high angles

A mortar is usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, muzzle-loaded weapon, consisting of a smooth-bore metal tube fixed to a base plate with a lightweight bipod mount and a sight. They launch explosive shells in high-arcing ballistic trajectories. Mortars are typically used as indirect fire weapons for close fire support with a variety of ammunition.

Royal Arsenal

The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing, and explosives research for the British armed forces at a site on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England. It was originally known as the Woolwich Warren, having begun on land previously used as a domestic warren in the grounds of a Tudor house, Tower Place. Much of the initial history of the site is linked with that of the Office of Ordnance, which purchased the Warren in the late 17th century in order to expand an earlier base at Gun Wharf in Woolwich Dockyard. Over the next two centuries, as operations grew and innovations were pursued, the site expanded massively; at the time of the First World War the Arsenal covered 1,285 acres (520 ha) and employed close to 80,000 people. Thereafter its operations were scaled down; it finally closed as a factory in 1967 and the Ministry of Defence moved out in 1994. Today the area, so long a secret enclave, is open to the public and is being redeveloped for housing and community use.

Sir Henry Thomas Tizard was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College, who developed the modern "octane rating" used to classify petrol, helped develop radar in World War II, and led the first serious studies of UFOs.

Shell Crisis of 1915 Political crisis in Britain

The Shell Crisis of 1915 was a shortage of artillery shells on the front lines in the First World War that led to a political crisis in the United Kingdom. The military historian Hew Strachan wrote that military strategy led an over-reliance on shrapnel to attack infantry in the open, which was negated by the resort to trench warfare, for which high-explosive shells were better suited. At the start of the war there was a revolution in doctrine: instead of the idea that artillery was a useful support for infantry attacks, the new doctrine held that heavy guns alone would control the battlefield. Because of the stable lines on the Western Front, it was easy to build railway lines that delivered all the shells the factories could produce. The "shell scandal" emerged in 1915 because the high rate of fire over a long period was not anticipated and the stock of shells became depleted. The inciting incident was the disastrous Battle of Aubers, which reportedly had been stymied by a lack of shells.

Royal Army Ordnance Corps

The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equipment, ammunition and clothing and certain minor functions such as laundry, mobile baths and photography. The RAOC was also responsible for a major element of the repair of Army equipment. In 1942 the latter function was transferred to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and the vehicle storage and spares responsibilities of the Royal Army Service Corps were in turn passed over to the RAOC. The RAOC retained repair responsibilities for ammunition, clothing and certain ranges of general stores. In 1964 the McLeod Reorganisation of Army Logistics resulted in the RAOC absorbing petroleum, rations and accommodation stores functions from the Royal Army Service Corps as well as the Army Fire Service, barrack services, sponsorship of NAAFI (EFI) and the management of staff clerks from the same Corps. On 5 April 1993, the RAOC was one of the corps that amalgamated to form The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC).

Ordnance Corps (United States Army) Military unit of the United States Army responsible for supply of weapons and ammunition

The United States Army Ordnance Corps, formerly the United States Army Ordnance Department, is a sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia. The broad mission of the Ordnance Corps is to supply Army combat units with weapons and ammunition, including at times their procurement and maintenance. Along with the Quartermaster Corps and Transportation Corps, it forms a critical component of the U.S. Army logistics system.

Imperial Munitions Board

The Imperial Munitions Board (IMB) was the Canadian branch of the British Ministry of Munitions, set up in Canada under the chairmanship of Joseph Wesley Flavelle. It was formed by the British War Cabinet to alleviate the Shell Crisis of 1915 during the First World War. The Board was mandated to arrange for the manufacture of war materials in Canada on behalf of the British government.

Naval Consulting Board

The Naval Consulting Board, also known as the Naval Advisory Board, was a US Navy organization established in 1915 by Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy at the suggestion of Thomas Alva Edison. Daniels created the Board with membership drawn from eleven engineering and scientific organizations two years before the United States entered World War I to provide the country with the "machinery and facilities for utilizing the natural inventive genius of Americans to meet the new conditions of warfare." Daniels was concerned that the U.S. was unprepared for the new conditions of warfare and that they needed access to the newest technology.

Precision-guided munition "Smart bombs", used to strike targets precisely

A precision-guided munition is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the First Gulf War guided munitions accounted for only 9% of weapons fired, but accounted for 75% of all successful hits. Despite guided weapons generally being used on more difficult targets, they were still 35 times more likely to destroy their targets per weapon dropped.

The Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (ACA) was a UK agency founded on 30 April 1909, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. In 1919 it was renamed the Aeronautical Research Committee, later becoming the Aeronautical Research Council.

Board of Invention and Research Former British expert-level committee

The Board of Invention and Research (BIR) was a British expert-level committee, initiated by the Admiralty of the Royal Navy. Established in 1915, the board was responsible for soliciting expert scientific assistance to solve tactical and technical problems. It was a sister organisation to the Munitions Inventions Department which had been set up in April 1915 and the Air Inventions Committee (AIC), once it became become fully operational in the summer of 1917.

George P. Scriven

George Percival Scriven was the seventh Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army (1913–1917). In this position he commanded the Aeronautical Division (1913–1914),and later the Aviation Section (1914–1917) of U.S. Signal Corps, the forerunner of the United States Air Force.

Ernest William Moir British civil engineer credited with inventing the first medical airlock

Sir Ernest William Moir was a British civil engineer and the first Moir baronet. He is credited with inventing the first medical airlock while working on the Hudson River Tunnel in New York in 1889.

This is a list of MBEs awarded in the 1919 New Years Honours.

The Anti-Aircraft Experimental Section of the Munitions Inventions Department was an organisation set up within Lloyd George's Ministry of Munitions in early 1916. Originally based at Northholt aerodrome, in May 1916 the section moved to the National Physical Laboratory at Bushy House, Teddington before finding a more permanent home at HMS Excellent on Whale Island near Portsmouth in Hampshire. The section was led by the physiologist A. V. Hill, who was previously a Captain in the Cambridgeshire Regiment. While on leave suffering from flu in January 1916, Horace Darwin approached him to work on anti-aircraft measures. Hill accepted and started to find the personnel for the unit, which acquired the nickname "Hill's Brigands". Hill accepted and started to find the personnel for the unit, which acquired the nickname "Hill's Brigands".

Henry Edward Fane Goold-Adams was an officer in the British Army who gained the rank of Colonel in the Royal Artillery. He was appointed to the Ordnance Board in 1910. He climbed Paektu Mountain with Alfred Cavendish in 1891, of which he supplied an account published by Cavendish in 1894. Lloyd George appointed Goold-Adams to the post of Comptroller of the Munitions Inventions Department of the Ministry of Munitions.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pattison, Michael (1983). "Scientists, Inventors and the Military in Britain, 1915-19: The Munitions Inventions Department" . Social Studies of Science. 13 (4): 521–568. doi:10.1177/030631283013004004. ISSN   0306-3127. JSTOR   284847. S2CID   145727609.
  2. ↑ Williams, Philip Hamlyn (2018). Ordnance: Equipping the British Army for the Great War. Stroud: History Press. ISBN   978-0-7509-8872-8.
  3. ↑ Mills, Steve (2019). The Dawn of the Drone: from the back room boys of the Royal Flying Corps. Havertown: Casemate. p. 225. ISBN   9781612007908.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.