Geologists at war, 1914-1918
Under construction
Introduction
This article look at some of the contributions made by the Geological Survey of Great Britain to the United Kingdom's war effort during the period 1914-1918.
Before the war
In 1913 the 12th International Geological Congress was held in Toronto. The attendees included representatives from Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France, Belgium, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. One of the British Geologists was Aubrey Strahan who was soon to become the Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. Neither Strahan nor the other attendees could have know that in a year's time the First World War would break out and that the Geological Survey would play its part in the war effort.
Joining up
By the end of 1914 15 staff from the Geological Survey and Museum had joined the armed forces. By the end of the war the number totalled 29. They consisted of 14 geologists, 3 fossil collectors, 2 general assistants, 3 attendants, 4 draughtsmen, 2 labourers and 1 assistant clerk. Although several were wounded all but one (C H Cunnington) survived the war. The Survey's Summary of Progress for 1918 published a list of those who had joined up.
| Geologists | |||
| Dixon, E. E. L. | Lieutenant | Royal Garrison Artillery (T.) | |
| Bailey, E. B. | Lieutenant | Royal Garrison Artillery | Mentioned in despatches. Military Cross. Chevalier Legion of Honour. Croix-de-Guerre with Palm. Twice wounded. |
| Anderson, E. M. | Sapper | Royal Engineers | Wounded. |
| Carruthers, R. G. | Lance-corporal | Tank Corps | — |
| Bromehead, C. E. N. | Private | Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry | Wounded. |
| Cunnington, C. H. | Lieutenant | Machine Gun Corps | Invalided out of Army, Oct. 1917. Died 26 April, 1918. |
| Richey, J. E. | Captain | Royal Engineers | Military Cross. Wounded. |
| Eastwood, T. | Lance-corporal | Royal Army Medical Corps (Sanitary Section) | — |
| Pocock, R. W. | Lieutenant | Royal Garrison Artillery | — |
| King, W. B. R. | Captain | Royal Welsh Fusiliers (attached to Engineer-in-Chief, G.H.Q.) | Mentioned in despatches. O.B.E. |
| Wray, D. A. | Lance-corporal | Royal Army Medical Corps (Sanitary Section) | — |
| Read, H. H. | Corporal | Royal Fusiliers | — |
| Whitehead, T. H. | Captain | Suffolk Regiment (transferred to General List and attached to Intelligence Corps) | Wounded. |
| Evans, R. du B. | Captain | Shropshire Light Infantry | Wounded. Prisoner of War |
| Assistant Clerk | |||
| Frisby, P. A. | Captain | Suffolk Yeomanry | — |
| Fossil Collectors | |||
| Eckford, R. J. A. | Corporal | Royal Scots and Royal Engineers (Special Brigade) | Wounded. |
| Manson, W. | Deck Hand | Royal Naval Reserve (T.) | — |
| Haldane, D. | Lieutenant | Royal Scots | — |
| General Assistants | |||
| Rhodes, J. | Corporal | Royal Air Force | — |
| Stewart, A. P. | Private | Royal Scots | — |
| Attendants | |||
| Morgan, S.W. | Reg. Qrtr.- Mstr. Sgt. | London Regiment (London Irish Rifles) | — |
| Cooper, G. L. | Corporal | Royal Engineers (Carrier Pigeon Service) | — |
| Hepple, D. W. | Private | 18th Hussars | Wounded. Prisoner of War. |
| Draughtsmen | |||
| Torkington, G. G. | Private | Cameron Highlanders | Wounded. |
| Bruce, W. G. | Lance-Corporal | Royal Engineers (Field Survey Battn.) | ‑ |
| Trowbridge, H. G. S. | Bombardier | Royal Field Artillery | — |
| Kidd, J. | Corporal | Royal Engineers | — |
| Labourers | |||
| Wheaton, E. | Sergeant | 3rd Hussars | — |
| Brooker, J. F. | Corporal | King's Own Scottish Borderers | — |
Water supply
Almost as soon as war broke out the Survey was being asked to give advice on obtaining supplies of drinking water for military personnel. By 1915 there were water supply problems on the western Front andW B R King was sent to help deal with this, becoming what has been described as "the first British military hydrogeologist". At around the same time as King was helping the allied troops, Walther Klüpfel was supplying water to the German troops.
Design of aircraft compasses
In September 1916 the Geological Survey was contacted by the Admiralty Compass Department asking for assistance with the design of aircraft compasses. The problem was with the compass point and cup which were part of the bearing that allowed the compass needle to move. Herbert H Thomas, a petrographer at the Survey, was given the task of finding a solution. The point and cup were both made out of sapphire, which caused the point to develop flaws and cracks. The answer was to still have the cup made out of sapphire but to use agate for the point.
Analysis of concrete
In September 1917 it was noticed that German concrete pill-boxes on Vimy Ridge, which had been captured by Canadian troops, were made with gravel which could not have come from Belgium. It was suspected that the Germans had transported the gravel through the neutral Netherlands. If this was the case then it was in contravention of the Netherland's neutrality declaration as the Dutch were supposed to prevent the belligerent powers from transporting military materials across neutral territory. By October samples of the suspect concrete had been received by the Geological Survey and analysed. One of these samples was F2397.
Museum damaged by bomb
J Allen Howe was the Curator and Librarian of the Museum of Practical Geology. In a memo book he wrote a few war-related entries, for example "Aug 1914 - War". Slightly more detailed was "20 Oct 1917. Museum damaged by concussion from bomb dropped from a Zeppelin outside Swan & Edgars in [Piccadilly] Circus”. This explosion may have caused several roof beams in the museum to fracture but this was not discovered until later.