Scientists,Inventors and the Military in Britain,1915-19: The Munitions Inventions Department

This paper examines the previously unaccounted activities of the Munitions Inventions Department of the UK Ministry of Munitions — one of the largest and most productive of several government advisory bodies which held responsibility for inventions research during World War I. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between that Department, the War Office, and similar wartime scientific institutions, both in Britain and abroad, and to criticisms about the lack of formal co-ordination between those institutions made to the Prime Minister by Sir Henry Norman, MP. A study of the department's role, especially in anti-aircraft research, illustrates the nature and development of scientific inquiry in the context of military organization during World War I, and highlights the tension which existed between scientists and the military over the qualification of civilians to deal authoritatively with matters relating to munitions research.