SECRET WEAPONS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 8 January 1944, Page 3

SECRET WEAPONS

BRITAIN’S PREDOMINANCE TURNING TOINTS IN THE WAR When we examine the Anglo-German conflict to date, we find that one of the most amazing, yet least generally realised, facts is this—that every time the war has reached a major turning-point, the issue has been largely decided in favour of the United Nations by some secret British weapon, states a British Ministry of Information manifesto. This fact is due to the unrivalled inventiveness of British Commonwealth scientists of which the latest illustrations are the disclosure on 29th October, of the new auxiliary engine for British four-engined bombers, and the London “Daily Telegraph” report of 25th October of a ‘‘secret new device against sneak raiders which sweep across London at night shortly being piit into qperation—the equipment has been produced by the research of two brilliant scientists, one British, the other South African." The following are major examples: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN la) In the first 10 months of the war victorious Germany (thanks to the British invention of the tank) crushed Poland, the Low Countries, and France, and brought the blitzkrieg within 21 miles of its greatest western objective, Britain. To the Luftwaffe fell the indispensable preliminary conquest of British air space. Yet, even before the German air armada reached this battlefield, it encountered unwittingly the first, and perhaps the greatest, British secret weapon—radiolocation (discovered by Sir Robert Watson Watt; early trials 1935; perfected 1939). Helplessly the German bombers betrayed their approach by reflecting electro-magnetic jadiations into the British receivers. Hence when the Germans reached Dover Cliffs, the British fighter ambush was already set; e.g. on 15th September, 1940-41, out of 42 R.A.F. squadrons dispatched made immediate contact with 500 invaders, of whom a mere 70 reached London. The R.A.F. ambush, incidentally, consisted of the world's first 8-gun fighters for which the almost unarmed Messerschmidt escort was wholly unprepared. Germany lost the daylight battle. TWO NEW DEVICES (b) The Luftwaffe then turned to a .night offensive, expecting to crush the ground defences, which consisted of the famous British 3-inch A.A. guns, and to wipe out British cities. Instead, the German terror fleet (forced to an optimum height by a British invention, the balloon barrage) ran slap into the secret British 3.7-inch A.A. gun, firing a shell 61bs heavier and 12,000 feet further than its 88mm. German counterpart, and this with 2£ times the accuracy of its British predecessor; and also into the secret heavier version of the 3.7-inch, namely the 4.5-inch firing a 54£lbs. shell compared with the 281bs. | shell of the 3.7-inch. Since 1940 British ( improvements include an invention which increases the former 12 rounds per minute firing rate of the 3.7-inch (revealed in the “Sunday Dispatch” of 3rd October, which added that the British device was “flown to America for the U.S. gunnery officers and scientists to whom it was quite new”), and a secret mechanical fuse for the shells giving twice the former accuracy at a 50 per cent, greater range. Thanks to these inventions, British A.A. guns to-day average 8 German planes with the number of rounds which destroyed one in 1940. Yet, even without them, Germany lost the Battle of Britain. BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC (a) After the defeat of her Blitzkrieg plans in the Battle of Britain, Germany saw her only hope of conquering Britain was by slow starvation by victory in the Atlantic. First, therefore (in the words of the official British publication “His Majesty’s Minesweepers,” page 27): “Hitler relied on the magnetic mine to destroy the British Mercantile Marine: e.g. Captain Hans Langsdorf of the Graf Spee said that Germany regarded the magnetic mine as a secret weapon which would be the decisive factor in winning the war, declaring that the cleverest German technicians had failed to find an antidote to their own invention.” (In fact, of course, Britain invented the tnagnetic mine and used it off the Belgian coast in 1918). British technicians found an antidote within a week. The first trawlers exploded the mines by sweeping the sea-bed with wire holding magnetised bars; next Wellington bombers, enclosed in an electrified hoop, became flying minesweepers; finally after four months Britain invented the de-gaussing girdle (electrically energised wire surrounding ships and neutralising their magnetic field) which made the mines useless. Then Ger- ' many turned to the acdustic mine (det-

onated by the sound of the propeller) and Britain again discovered the antidote of which all the details are still secret. Germany lost the battle of the mines. SOUND ELIMINATOR (b) Germany now turned, to an allout U-boat attack which was defeated by British inventions, some already well known (the corvette and the frigate), and some still largely secret (e.g. the Asdic detector, new depth charges, and the Leigh Light which was revealed on 22nd October, 1943, a search-light millions of candle-power strong, yet light enough to be mounted on planes). Typical of the almost daily inventions was the less well known antidote to the “singing propeller,” a common defect enabling U-boats to detect convoys while still far distant. “It was a heavy blow,” wrote the “Sunday Express” of 16th August, “when, at a vital period of the Battle of the Atlantic, the latest type of American freighter was found to have ‘singing propellerism,’ making this otherwise fine ship impracticable.” The newspaper revealed how a British scientist, William Kerr, Professor of Engineering at the Royal Technical College at Glasgow, invented a method of complete sound elimination 98 hours after the first American ship docked in Britain. It is common knowledge how Germany finally came to stake her hopes largely on long-range air attack, only to meet the British-invent-ed “Cam” ships (merchantmen launching Hurricanes by catapult), pocket aircraft-carriers, seaborne balloons, and rocket-guns (firing parachutes which trail wires to entangle the raiders.) Germany lost the Battle of the Atlantic.