Institution news
Engineers at War: From Home Front to Battle Front is a collaborative exhibition using the archives of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). The skills of all these branches of engineering were used to aid the war effort, in defence and infrastructure and on the home front.
Running from 2014 to 2018, the exhibition will also highlight in-depth stories on specialist areas. The partnership is led by the Imperial War Museum, which is bringing together cultural institutions of all sizes in commemoration of the First World War. Archivists of the three engineering institutions have uncovered previously unseen material, which tells the stories of the achievements of industry, and honours the victims of war.
Carol Morgan, archivist for the ICE commented: “The First World War was a time of huge engineering developments and innovations, often at short notice, with limited materials. The collaboration of the engineering institutions for this exhibition echoes the collaborative efforts across the various engineering fields a hundred years ago.”
Karyn Stuckey, archivist at the IMechE, outlines the involvement of members and staff at the Institution in the war effort: One Birdcage Walk was also employed for the cause.
She said: “Discussion papers show that both during and after the conflict members were debating the effects of the war, both on technology and on society, often due to the huge growth of the female workforce that accompanied the war.”
War brought with it huge advances in all sectors of engineering: from the development of the tank to the creation of communication lines to the front. Engineering’s contributions on the home front included the development of artificial limbs and the manufacture of munitions: in wartime, the role of women in manufacturing became undeniable. Members worked on new technologies and behind the scenes; all sectors applied their expertise to the war effort.
Wartime also produced an impulse for invention and a technological battle, on both sides. As well as a beautifully illustrated and informative timeline of the key events, developments and battles of the war, articles and photographs explain the accelerated development of elements such as bridge infrastructure, gun wagons, airships and tanks. Two examples of new inventions which impacted the war effort are outlined below.
Paravanes
Mines were used extensively to defend coastlines, shipping, ports and naval bases across the world. The Germans laid mines in shipping lanes to sink merchant and naval vessels serving the Allies, leading to the destruction of vital food supplies, as well as the lives of seamen. They were powerful psychological weapons: even if mines were not present, fear of them prevailed. Soon, the North Sea became a place of immense danger.
Paravanes were a new weapon in the battle to secure both military and civilian shipping. Small vessels were normally used to drag them because they were more manoeuvrable than larger boats. As one machine was pitted one against the other it was also a relatively safe way of clearing mines. The design drawings held by the IMechE, from HM Dockyards Portsmouth, show the different designs for using the device, as well as their effectiveness.
New machine-gun mount
Further inventions were offered up by their creators to increase the efficiency of soldiers at war. Lieutenant Walter Maughan invented a new mounting for medium/heavy machine guns. The mount automatically changed the plan of the area to be swept by fire from arc, to straight, curved or irregular without alternation to the guns’ range or having to cease fire.
Maughan was injured in the tank assault at Cambrai but from his convalescent bed he fought to have his invention tested. Tested it indeed was, to good effect. It was put into production by Sir WG Armstrong Whitworth & Co and used by the American Expeditionary Force, among others.
Visit the online exhibition Engineers at War: From Home Front to Battle Front.