The Giant's Eye: the Optical Munitions Exhibition
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/

Published by ASAP on ASAPWeb, 30 April 1997
E-Mail: bsparcs@asap.unimelb.edu.au
Prepared by Denise Sutherland and Elissa Tenkate


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Organisations

Alphabetical Listing of Organisations
* Australian Consolidated Industries, Sydney.
* Australian Institute of Physics.
* Chance Brothers, UK.
* Commonwealth Solar Observatory, Canberra.
* Munitions Supply Laboratories, Melbourne.
* National Bureau of Standards, USA.
* National Standards Laboratories, Sydney.
* Optical Munitions Panel.
* Tropic Proofing Committee.
* University of Adelaide.
* University of Melbourne.
* University of Sydney.
* University of Tasmania.
* University of Western Australia.
* Waterworth, Hobart.

Government Laboratories
* Commonwealth Solar Observatory, Canberra.
* Munitions Supply Laboratories, Melbourne.
* National Standards Laboratories, Sydney.

Australian Universities
All the Australian Universities in existence at that time were involved with the work of the Optical Munitions Panel, apart from the University of Queensland (which was occupied with other war-time work).
* University of Melbourne.
* University of Sydney.
* University of Adelaide.
* University of Tasmania.
* University of Western Australia.

Industrial Firms
Many commercial and industrial firms were instrumental in the manufacture of optical munitions. Some of the more significant firms include:
* Australian Consolidated Industries, Sydney.
* Australian Optical Company, Sydney and Melbourne.
* British Optical Company, Sydney.
* Chance Brothers, UK.
* Waterworth, Hobart.
* W. Handley Pty Ltd, Melbourne.
* F. Tough, Instrument Maker, Perth.
* Waterworth, Hobart.

Other Organisations
* Australian Institute of Physics.
* National Bureau of Standards, USA.
* Optical Munitions Panel.
* Tropic Proofing Committee.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - Australian Consolidated Industries
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/

Australian Consolidated Industries (ACI) worked in conjunction with E.J. Hartung (Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Optical Materials, and Professor of Chemistry, University of Melbourne) to produce the first optical glass in Australia.

In mid-1940, the Optical Munitions Panel arranged for one of ACI's top technical men, Mr H.G. Little, and Mr G.H. Grimwade (appointed by the Department of Munitions) to visit Canada and the USA where 'they spent three weeks "running everywhere into a brick wall of secrecy"'. (1)

They found only one institution that would give them more than a rushed inspection tour: the National Bureau of Standards.

At the National Bureau of Standards, the two Australians finally found people who were prepared to share their glass-making knowledge. The scientists at the Bureau also looked over and commented on Australian Consolidated Industries' optical glass factory plans.

With the information gathered by Little and Grimwade from the National Bureau of Standards, ACI was able to check their plans for large-scale production of optical glass, make the necessary changes and establish a modern optical glass annexe at one of their subsidiary companies, Australian Window Glass Pty Ltd (in Sydney).

ACI were also instrumental in advising the Optical Munitions Panel on the location of the best Australian raw materials for the manufacture of optical glass, and the company's stockpiles of those materials required but not readily available in Australia were crucial to the success of the project.

On 21 September 1941, ACI 'produced the first large-scale batch of optical glass ever made in Australia'. (2)

'Like many another wartime achievement, the making of optical glass was the result of good team work. Special mention should be made of Mr [A.W.] Warren [a chemical engineer with ACI; he was in charge of the Optical Glass Annexe between 1941-46] and Mr [J.S.] Blakeny [works chemist at Australian Glass Manufacturers Pty Ltd until 1941 and Chief Chemist at ACI between 1940-48], but to do justice it would be necessary to name all members of the tecnical staff of Australian Window Glass.' (3)

The production of optical glass at Australian Window Glass Pty Ltd ended in March 1945, and has not resumed in Australia. Samples of optical glass by ACI are held in the University of Melbourne Archives.

References
(1) D.P. Mellor (1958), 'Optical Munitions', Australia in the War of 1939-1945: The Role of Science and Industry, ch. 12, series 4: civil, vol. 5, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, p. 254.
(2) D.P. Mellor (1958), 'Optical Munitions', Australia in the War of 1939-1945: The Role of Science and Industry, ch. 12, series 4: civil, vol. 5, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, p. 257.
(3) D.P. Mellor (1958), 'Optical Munitions', Australia in the War of 1939-1945: The Role of Science and Industry, ch. 12, series 4: civil, vol. 5, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, p. 258.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - Australian Institute of Physics
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/aip.htm

Attempts to establish an Australian Branch of the British Institute of Physics started as early as 1923. A.D. Ross was one of the major instigators, however, T.H. Laby, was not convinced that it would be a useful thing to do at all. He wrote to Ross:

'I doubt whether [forming a section in Australia] is practicable as there seem to be very few who would join the Institute. I doubt if in the whole of Australia you would get a dozen members of the body, and it would be fortunate if half of that number attended a meeting of any local section.' (1)

Despite Laby's doubts, the first committee of the Australian Branch of the British Institute of Physics was was appointed on 28 August 1924. The British Board of the Institute officially recognised the Australian committee on 10 December 1924; Professor Ross was made the Local Honorary Secretary of the Institute for Australia, and Professor Laby was the Inaugural President. Laby. A.L. McAulay and Ross were the first committee Fellows, while N.A. Esserman, E.O. Hercus, and R.D. Thompson were Associate Members.

In 1944 the Board of the British Institute of Physics approved a Constitution for the Australian Branch. By 1945 the membership of the Australian Branch had risen to forty-nine Fellows, seventy-eight Associates, fourteen Subscribers and forty-one Students. The organisation still holds regular meetings and conferences and continues to support physicists and their research in Australia.

References
(1) T.H. Laby, letter to Professor Ross, 25 October 1923, Basser Library Manuscript Collection, MS 86/1/1.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - Chance Brothers
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/cbros.htm

'Chance Brothers, of Smethwick, England, the British Commonwealth's leading optical-instrument firm, would not or could not help us. We asked for the lend of an expert, but this was refused. The conditions they imposed for future participation in any industry formed - in return for showing one or two of our men their techniques - were so tough that we decided to ignore them and make the glass ourselves somehow.' - Sir Lawrence Hartnett (1)

Chance Brothers was an optical glass factory at Smethwick, England. Soon after the establishment of the Optical Munitions Panel, Chance Brothers were approached by Australian Consolidated Industries who asked that the firm loan one of their experts to assist in the establishment of an optical glass industry in Australia. Unfortunately, Chance Brothers were unable to send an expert to Australia as they were too busy with the demands being placed upon them to supply the British troops with optical instruments.

In 1940, at a meeting in London between Australian and Canadian Government representatives, Admiralty, Chance Brothers and Australian Consolidated Industries, Chance Brothers discussed the possibility of setting up arrangements for the manufacture of optical glass in Australia under their supervision. They said that they were opposed to the manufacture of glass in Australia, but that they 'would be willing to assist Australia if their civil trade was protected'. In other words, they wanted to make sure they still had a monopoly on the Australian optical glass market after the war! Chance Bros felt that, 'having regard to the problems of chemical and physical control as well as highly complicated details therein involved, Australian glass makers may be underestimating the difficulties which they have to face'. (2)

Stanley Bruce, the Australian High Commissioner in London, sent a cable to the Australian Government, summing up the meeting:

'Have conferred with Admiralty and Chance Brothers very emphatic that the making of optical glass in Australia would be wasteful of war effort as it would probably take four years before a successful production could be achieved and the cost would probably be a million pounds accordingly they discourage ...' (3)

Thus, the negotiations between Chance Brothers and the Australians failed. Australia went on to develop its own optical glass industry under the Optical Munitions Panel, without the blessing of their British counterparts.

References
(1) Sir Laurence Hartnett (1973), Big Wheels and Little Wheels, 2nd edn, Gold Star Publications, Hawthorn, Victoria, p. 131.
(2) J.S. Rogers, The History of the Optical Munitions Panel: July 1940 - December 1946, Australian Archives, Brighton, Melbourne, MP 730/11, Box 3.
(3) D.P. Mellor (1958), 'Optical Munitions', Australia in the War of 1939-1945: The Role of Science and Industry, ch. 12, series 4: civil, vol. 5, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, p. 253.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - Commonwealth Solar Observatory
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/cso.htm

The Commonwealth Solar Observatory was established on 1 January 1924, on Mount Stromlo, on the outskirts of Canberra. It was founded to study the sun and geophysics, and W.G. Duffield was the first Director. At the end of 1939, Dr R. v.d.R. Woolley became Director, aiming to completely change the emphasis of the CSO's study to stellar astronomy and astrophysics; however, his plans had to be delayed for almost five years.

Soon after the start of the Second World War, Woolley was asked to attend the first meeting of the Optical Munitions Panel along with T.H. Laby and L.J. Hartnett. Thus, both Woolley and the CSO became involved in the work of the Panel from beginning to end. At this time, the CSO staff included the following men:

* Dr R. v.d.R. Woolley, Director and an original Optical Munitions Panel member;

* Dr C.W. Allen (Physicist);

* Mr N.G. Chamberlain (Physicist);

* Dr S.C.B. Gascoigne (Physicist);

* Mr D.W.N. Stibbs (Research Assistant);

* Mr J.C. Dooley (Research Student);

* Mr H.J. Banham (Foreman of the Mechanical Workshop);

* Mr Francis Lord (Optical Technician); and

* Mr S.J. Elwin (Technician and Assistant to Lord).

The CSO computed designs for many instruments, including sighting telescopes and periscopes, and it fulfilled eleven different contracts for the construction of optical munitions. The first optical munition to be made in Australia was designed at the CSO.

The CSO received grant money from the Department of Munitions to conduct research and undertake tests in relation to optical munitions, as well as for the establishment of a mechanical workshop for related optics production. After sorting out some initial communication and quality control problems, the CSO became a very professional glass working centre.

The CSO workshops produced many lenses and prisms, and Mount Stromlo Observatory still maintains a position as a world-leader in optical systems. The CSO staff involved in the optical munitions work were pioneers in the production of these optics, and people from most of the Optical Munitions Panel associated firms made a visit to the CSO to learn how to improve the standard of their optics work.

By the end of 1943 the CSO had such expertise and equipment that it was possible for them to produce new optical instruments, from the initial design through to the finished piece, without any outside help.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - Munitions Supply Laboratories
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/msl.htm

In 1922, the Munitions Supply Laboratories (MSL) were established by the Australian Government to support the armed services. The MSL were based in Maribyrnong, in Melbourne and comprised Physics, Chemistry and Metrology (measurement) Sections. The Physics Section was the main department to be involved in optical munitions work coordinated by the Optical Munitions Panel, although the other two sections also made contributions to the war effort.

Prior to the formation of the Optical Munitions Panel, the MSL had gained many years of experience in repairing military optical instruments, and they were more experienced with such equipment than any other Australian laboratory. The MSL were very helpful to the Panel; they also held large reserves of materials useful to the Panel's work, including imported optical glass.

The MSL also assisted contractors and industrial firms in the construction of optical instruments. Occasionally the MSL would even allow their scientists and experienced technicians to leave the MSL for months at a time, so that they could provide on-site advice to contractors who were having trouble in manufacturing mechanical optics parts. The MSL Optics Section, under J.J. McNeill, became the focus for the testing of new techniques and design prototypes.

The main MSL physicists and technicians involved in optical munitions work were:

* E.L. Sayce (Assistant Superintendent of the MSL) was an original OMP member;
* H.J. Frost (Head of the MSL Physics Section) attended nearly every Panel meeting;
* J.J. McNeill (Physicist-in-Charge of the MSL Glass Working Shop);
* G.G. Schaefer (Analytical Physicist and Mathematician);
* W.J. Wark (Physicist); and
* T.C. Alldis (J.J. McNeill's main Optical Technician).


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - National Bureau of Standards
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/nbs.htm

Before the Second World War, only a few countries had optical glass and optical munitions experience - one of those was the United States of America (USA). However, the USA was strictly neutral at the start of the Second World War, and their firms and laboratories would not help Australia by providing advice, glass blanks or machinery to help establish an optical glass industry in Australia. The firms were also wanting to protect their knowledge and thus their industry from perhaps another avenue of competition.

In mid-1940, the Optical Munitions Panel arranged for Mr H.G. Little (a chemist for Australian Consolidated Industries) and Mr G.H. Grimwade (appointed by the Department of Munitions) to visit Canada and the USA where 'they spent three weeks "running everywhere into a brick wall of secrecy"'. (1) They found only one institution that would give them more than a rushed inspection tour: the National Bureau of Standards.

At the National Bureau of Standards, the two Australians finally found people who were prepared to share their glass-making knowledge. The scientists at the Bureau also looked over and commented on Australian Consolidated Industries' optical glass factory plans. The assistance and advice provided by the National Bureau of Standards was invaluable and enabled the quick and efficient establishment of optical glass production in Australia.

The USA entered the Second World War in December 1941, and in 1942, they were grateful for Australia's newly established optical industry after they realised they were short of prisms and lenses. L.J. Hartnett arranged for the USA to receive a shipment of about 7,000 prisms (2,000 full sets of optics for one telescope and 5,000 prisms for another).

'We also exported quite a lot of lenses and prisms to America. I was in Washington when some arrived at the Franklin arsenal, where every one, 100%, passed their inspection and the Americans had never inspected any better than those from Australia ... We earned a great reputation for optics.' - Sir Laurence Hartnett. (2)

References
(1) D.P. Mellor (1958), 'Optical Munitions', Australia in the War of 1939-1945: The Role of Science and Industry, ch. 12, series 4: civil, vol. 5, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, p. 254.
(2) Sir Laurence Hartnett (1985), 'Recollections of the Optical Munitions Panel in Australia', Australian Physicist, vol. 22, May, pp. 158-60; with notes by H.C. Bolton, p. 159.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - The Optical Munitions Panel
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/panel.htm

'Australia's munitions production problems in the early days of the war were in many ways much more difficult than those of any other Commonwealth country. For the first time in our history, we were thrown completely on our own resources. Almost overnight our lines of supply from Britain dried up, and yet we had to equip our own Army, Navy and Air Force and keep our essential civil production going. We were out on a limb, geographically and every other way - and no one could climb out to help us.' (1)

The Optical Munitions Panel was formed in June 1940. Between July and December 1940 it met six times. It then met every two months until it was disbanded in November 1945. The Panel held a total of thirty-two meetings. The Chair of the Panel was T.H. Laby. He resigned in 1944 due to ill-health and Kerr Grant undertook the position of Chair until the Panel's end. The Secretary of the Panel was J.S. Rogers, who also wrote its official history.

Three Government Laboratories were involved in the work of the Panel:

* Munitions Supply Laboratories;
* Commonwealth Solar Observatory; and
* the now CSIR/O's National Standards Laboratory.

Australian armed services and industrial firms were also represented.

The Optical Munitions Panel name was changed to the Scientific Instruments and Optical Panel near the end of the Second World War in an unsuccessful attempt to widen and continue the Panel's work after the war.

Members of the Optical Munitions Panel

Original Panel members are listed below. It must be noted that the Panel did grow on occasion, drawing in expertise from various sources in government, industry and the universities.

Professor T.H. Laby (Chair) (University of Melbourne)
Lt-Col G.H. Adams (Assistant Director of Artillery AHQ)
F.S. Daley (Department of Defence, Ordnance Department, Maribyrnong)
N.A. Esserman (National Standards Laboratory)
Professor Kerr Grant (University of Adelaide)
L.J. Hartnett (Department of Munitions)
Associate Professer E.O. Hercus (University of Melbourne)
E.L. Sayce (Munitions Supply Laboratories)
Professor O.U. Vonwiller (University of Sydney)
Dr R. v.d.R. Woolley (Commonwealth Solar Observatory)
J.S. Rogers (Secretary) (University of Melbourne)

Early on, the Panel decided against a centralised research institution, preferring to give each senior physicist several optical instruments to design. Thus research was undertaken in the physicist's own laboratory, wherever it was located in Australia. The instruments designed by the physicists would then be manufactured by local industrial firms, although often in frustratingly small numbers. The task of actually producing the first optical glass in Australia was given to Hartung, who worked successfully in conjunction with Australian Consolidated Industries.

The Panel mostly met at the University of Melbourne, where Laby was based. Occasionally it met at other locations where optical munitions work was being undertaken, such as the Hobart Annexe, and the Commonwealth Solar Observatory in Canberra.

The Panel was also a unique opportunity for Australian physicists to meet together regularly and to work on a common cause. The Australian Branch of the Institute of Physics was only a relatively new organisation, having been established only fifteen years previously. Its members were separated by great distances; thus, the work o the Panel afforded the scientists a chance to strengthen their personal and professional ties while doing important war-time work.

The Final Meeting

Kerr Grant chaired the final meeting of the Optical Munitions Panel in November 1945. At this time, the Panel made a formal resolution stating that: 'The success of the work of the Panel has been due in no small manner to the zeal and unsparing efforts of Dr. Laby'. Kerr Grant also said:

'Australia was highly indebted to [Laby] for the zeal with which he had devoted himself to the work of the Panel in its early years. Dr Laby had never spared himself and it was his overwork which had led to his breakdown in health which had necessitated his resignation.' (2)

The Panel also talked a lot about the future direction of optics in Australia. They felt there were two possibilities: optical instruments could still be made for the armed services and Government departments; and/or optical instruments like microscopes, binoculars and telescopes could be made for schools and universities and the general public. Despite the Panel's attempts to continue this industry after the war, nearly the entire optics industry was closed down at the end of the war.

It is not surprising that the optics industry did not continue in Australia. Chance Brothers and other overseas optics firms were not encouraging the Australians to continue. The Australian Government did not support any further work in this field - it felt there was not enough demand for an optics industry in the domestic market - and did not consider export opportunities.

The glass furnaces were shut down in Sydney in 1945 and the Hobart Annexe was sold to Waterworth. Some scientists involved in the Panel's wartime work did remain in the optics field, although most wished to return to their own areas of research; but some optical research continued in universities, the CSIR/O and the Munitions Supply Laboratories.

References
(1) Sir Laurence Hartnett (1973), Big Wheels and Little Wheels, 2nd edn, Gold Star Publications, Hawthorn, Victoria, p. 133.
(2) H.C. Bolton (1990), 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist, vol. 27, no. 3, March, pp. 37.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - Tropic Proofing Committee
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/tropicproof.htm

The Australian defence forces encountered an unforeseen problem when they began to use the optical instruments in tropical areas; fungus would grow inside the instruments and water would condense on the optics more easily than in non-tropical areas. This fungal growth would fog binoculars, cameras and other equipment, and this moisture would encourage further fungal growth. Thus, research into an anti-fungal treatment was required to enable the optical instruments to be effectively used in the tropics.

The Tropic Proofing Committee was established by the Optical Munitions Panel in 1943 and carried out this research quite successfully. Over 15,000 binoculars were tropic proofed with 'MTS anti-mould' or 'Merthiosal' (ethyl mercury thiosalicylate) - a fungicide found to be particularly effective in the fight against mould. This chemical was introduced to the paint, cements and waxes used in the optical instruments to inhibit mould growth.

The work of the Tropic Proofing Committee was based in the Department of Botany at the University of Melbourne, and was headed by Professor J.S. Turner.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - University of Adelaide

The optical munitions work undertaken in the Physics Department at the University of Adelaide was headed by Kerr Grant, an original member of the Optical Munitions Panel. The University was given the task of designing and producing spirit level bubbles, which were needed in large quantities.

'After a comparatively short time, by amazingly simple methods, bubbles of all types were made in this laboratory. As the method was simple, the bubbles were comparatively cheap, and, at maximum production, the laboratory produced bubbles at a rate of 10,000 per year.' (1)

Near the end of the University's war-time work, Kerr Grant asked the South Australian Board of Area Management to help the University establish an annexe to continue the production of bubbles, but this application was refused. As a result, this small industry was discontinued. However, to ensure that the knowledge, methods and techniques developed by the University were not lost, the information was passed on to two industrial firms (one located in Adelaide, the other in Melbourne).

The Physics Laboratory at the University also completed the reconditioning and tropic proofing of over 1,000 binoculars.

References
(1) J.S. Rogers, The History of the Optical Munitions Panel: July 1940 - December 1946, Australian Archives, Brighton, Melbourne, MP 730/11, Box 3, p. 37.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - University of Melbourne
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/umelb.htm

'There had always been under Professor Laby a very active research school at the Physics Laboratory, and, when the Panel was started, Laby directed that all research work other than that of optical munitions should cease, so that all efforts could be devoted to optical investigations for the Panel.' (1)

The University of Melbourne played a major part in the work of the Optical Munitions Panel. Three Departments at the University were involved in its work:

* The Department of Natural Philosophy (i.e. Physics), under the directorship of Professor Laby, was the headquarters of the Panel;

* The Chemistry Department was where Professor Hartung worked on the production of optical glass; and

* The Botany Department, under the leadership of Professor J.S. Turner, worked on graticules, reconditioning binoculars, and tropic proofing.

The majority of Optical Munitions Panel meetings, including the first, were held at the University of Melbourne. E.O. Hercus, J.S. Rogers, and P.G. Law were all based at the University of Melbourne.

Many students at the University became involved with the wartime optical munitions work undertaken at the University. Many women workers also contributed, including Laby's own daughter.

The optical munitions tasks undertaken in the Department of Physics at the University of Melbourne included:

* optical computations and designs;
* construction of prototype optical instruments;
* fulfilment of small optical instrument orders;
* development of methods and equipment for testing optical instruments;
* undertaking analyses of optical instruments;
* making and testing optical components;
* tropic proofing;
* assisting and advising contractors;
* assisting and advising the armed services and the Optical Munitions Panel;
* preparation of drawings; and
* testing abrasives.

Some of the optical instruments that were designed at the University of Melbourne included introscopes, binoculars, sighting telescopes, wide angle eyepieces, flask spotters, stereoscopes, periscopes and the simplified dial sight.

References
(1) J.S. Rogers, The History of the Optical Munitions Panel: July 1940 - December 1946, Australian Archives, Brighton, Melbourne, MP 730/11, Box 3, p. 38.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - University of Sydney
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/usyd.htm

During the Second World War, the Physics Department at the University of Sydney was headed by Professor Vonwiller. Perhaps the most notable achievement of the Physics Laboratory at the University was the design and manufacture of the ring-sight telescope, a very complex optical instrument used as an anti-aircraft gun accessory:

'an instrument which when trained on a moving target indicated (at least in theory) to the gun crew the correct point of aim and fuse setting to cause a shell to explode on the target ... [it is] mechanically and optically one of the most complicated of military instruments, [and includes] twenty-eight lenses and prisms and several intricate moving parts.' (1)

Other work undertaken by the Physics Department included the reconditioning and tropic proofing of approximately 10,000 binoculars (of differing types), donated to the war effort by the Australian people; the manufacture of various optical instruments; investigation and development of blooming techniques for glass ('a method of treating glass surfaces to increase the amount of light passing through the glass by reducing losses by reflection' (2) - thus increasing the effectiveness of optical instruments such as telescopes and cameras in poor light); and investigation of desiccating agents, such as silica gel and alumina, which absorb water and could be used to fight mould problems experienced by Australian defence forces in the tropics.

The University was also used as a location for lectures on optical design principles. Following the formation of the Optical Munitions Panel, N.A. Esserman, from the Munitions Supply Laboratories, gave a series of lectures on optical computations. Other University of Sydney physicists, including Vonwiller and G.A. Harle, also presented courses on geometrical optics.

References
(1) D.P. Mellor (1958), 'Optical Munitions', Australia in the War of 1939-1945: The Role of Science and Industry, ch. 12, series 4: civil, vol. 5, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, p. 274-5.
(2) D.P. Mellor (1958), 'Optical Munitions', Australia in the War of 1939-1945: The Role of Science and Industry, ch. 12, series 4: civil, vol. 5, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, p. 275.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - University of Tasmania
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/utas.htm

'McAulay got this enquiry about whether we knew how to make any optical instruments in Tasmania, a most unlikely enquiry. The moment he got the telegram [on July 25, 1940], the first thing he did was to discuss it with me and Cruickshank. Cruickshank was his senior - well, his only - lecturer in the department. We said that if they liked to send us 100 pounds we'd see what we could do. Hartnett wired back straight away, saying to get on with it.' - Eric Waterworth (1)

The Physics Department at the University of Tasmania was headed by Professor McAulay, assisted by his Senior Lecturer F.D. Cruickshank, and the Department literally worked side-by-side with Waterworth, a local privately owned industrial firm; as the Waterworth Hobart Annexe was built on University land immediately next door to the Physics Department.

The Waterworth brothers, Eric and Phillip, were part of the small but effective optical munitions team located in Hobart; they designed the machinery required for optical production, while the physicists (including Hans Buchdahl) and students at the University designed the optical components. Both organisations worked extremely well together and provide a good example of successful collaboration between Australian science and industry during the Second World War.

The major items produced in Hobart were optical flats, high-precision roof prisms (a very difficult task), several other types of prisms, and camera lenses. The University also produced aluminised mirrors and bloomed glass, and developed an ingenious way to fuse pieces of optical glass to form a uniform lump. At the height of prism production during the war, the Hobart Annexe employed 189 people, most of whom were women.

The work of the University of Tasmania is a tribute to all involved, especially considering that Professor Laby was not convinced initially that Tasmania could help at all, and wondered 'whether these half-wits in Tasmania should be trusted with this tremendously valuable asset [optical glass] ... it was absolutely unbelievable to Melbourne University that anybody in Tasmania could be doing [these] things'. (2)

All Laby's doubts proved to be unfounded, as the men and women in Tasmania achieved remarkable things. Even Hartnett later said that:

'the greatest feat that Australia performed during the war in the way of munitions was the development of a local optical munitions industry, arising out of Physics Departments in the Universities of Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and pre-eminently Hobart.' (3)

References
(1) Interview by Jill Cassidy (1990), Eric Waterworth: an inventive Tasmanian, Exhibition Catalogue, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, p. 8.
(2) Interview by Jill Cassidy (1990), Eric Waterworth: an inventive Tasmanian, Exhibition Catalogue, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, p. 12.
(3) Clive Coogan (1989), 'The Rise and Rise of the Australian Scientific Instrument Industry', Search, vol. 20, no. 3, September/October.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - University of Western Australia
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/uwa.htm

The University of Western Australia, in Perth, was very isolated from the rest of the Australian states and universities involved in work with the Optical Munitions Panel. Professor Ross could only attend meetings of the Panel occasionally, and did not become a full Panel member until 1944.

Initially, there was little opportunity for optical munitions production in Western Australia, so Professor Ross directed the Physics Department to manufacture lens test plates, which were shipped to lens manufacturers in the eastern states of Australia.

Binocular reconditioning and tropic proofing was also carried out by the University, and advice was also given to local Perth firms who were contracted to make parts for the optical munitions. Later in the war, flash spotters, directors, angle of sight instruments, jungle sights and microscopes were produced in Western Australia and assembled in Professor Ross' laboratory.

The University of Western Australia also undertook to repair and calibrate the optical instruments from any ships in port at Fremantle - including the instruments from Australian, American, British and Dutch ships. The Perth physicists also trained servicemen who wanted to learn how to do these repairs themselves.


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Optical Munitions Exhibition - Waterworth
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/org/waterworth.htm

In the 1920s, Eric Newham Waterworth started his own one-man business in Hobart, designing and making scientific equipment. His main source of work was Professor McAulay at the University of Tasmania. Several years later, Eric's brother, Phillip, completed his optometrist training in London and returned to Tasmania to become a partner in his brother's firm.

In July 1940, Hartnett asked McAulay if he knew of any firm in Tasmania that could possibly produce precision optics. Waterworths was the only firm that could undertake this work and they were asked to commence work immediately. The production of about 7,000 roof prisms (containing an exact right angle, and used in binoculars and other optical instruments) for the Frankford Arsenal in the USA was one of Waterworth's first tasks.

'McAulay proved to be brilliantly quick at solving the fundamental problems of optical design. It was then passed on to Cruickshank for further refinement. Meanwhile, the two Waterworths designed and made the necessary machinery.' (1)

The four men initially employed at Waterworths required further assistance to meet production demands, and so many physics students and previously untrained women workers were recruited to work on optical munitions as well. By May 1942, Waterworths had outgrown their accommodation and a new building was constructed adjacent to the Physics Building at the University of Tasmania; and another floor was added within a year! This building became known as the 'Waterworth Hobart Annexe' and Eric Waterworth was the manager.

'The staff of the annexe grew from 6 to 200 within a year ... In its four years of operation the annexe turned out some 14,000 prisms, valued at about £250,000.' (2)

In 1942 the Annexe began to make aircraft camera lenses for the RAAF. McAulay and Cruickshank did the design work, and the Waterworth brothers manufactured the lenses. By 1945 the group in Hobart was working on fourteen Ministry orders, as well as reconditioning binoculars!

In December 1944, the Optical Munitions Panel met in Hobart. At this meeting McAulay asked the Panel to think about the future of the Hobart Annexe, as the end of the war was in sight. The Panel agreed in principle that optical glass production should continue in Australia, but made no definite decisions concerning the Hobart Annexe.

The Hobart Annexe showed perhaps the best combination of industry and science achieved through the Optical Munitions Panel; as the Waterworth firm worked alongside the Department of Physics, advised by McAulay and Cruickshank. Waterworths and the Hobart Annexe is remembered fondly by people who worked there at the time:

'It's interesting that we [have] had three reunions of the people who worked at the Annexe, and the thing that impressed me very much was how obviously everyone was excited by the activities at the time, and looked back with really great pleasure at the associations they made there and the work they were doing and the excitement of it all. It's this feeling that you are doing something that's worthwhile.' - Eric Waterworth (3)

After the war, Waterworths continued to develop many different optical products, ranging from slide projectors and eyepieces, to stereoscopes and lenses and prisms. The Waterworth brothers also diversified, designing medical equipment, such as the Infant Respirator, in 1950. They continued to design equipment for various people at the University of Tasmania, and in 1962 their price list showed ninety-four different items.

In 1988 Eric Waterworth was awarded an Honorary Master of Science degree by the University of Tasmania in recognition of his incredible scientific achievements and innovative designs.

References
(1) Jill Cassidy (1990), Eric Waterworth: an inventive Tasmanian, Exhibition Catalogue, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, p. 8.
(2) D.P. Mellor (1958), 'Optical Munitions', Australia in the War of 1939-1945: The Role of Science and Industry, ch. 12, series 4: civil, vol. 5, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, p. 277.
(3) Interview by Jill Cassidy (1990), Eric Waterworth: an inventive Tasmanian, Exhibition Catalogue, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, p. 14.


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