CHAPTER XI 



LIAISON WITH ALLIED GOVERNMENTS 



X 



.HE exchange of research information dealing with war 

 weapons was initiated by the British after the fall of France and at the 

 height of the German night raids on Britain. The first step was a visit to 

 Washington in September 1940 of a British Technical Mission headed by 

 Sir Henry Tizard, and including representatives of the British Ministries, 

 which came empowered to disclose secret weapons on which the British 

 were working for the defense of their island. The British had already con- 

 cluded exchange arrangements with Canada, and had sent Professor R. H. 

 Fowler to the National Defense Council of Canada to serve as Liaison 

 Officer between England and Canada. 



Early discussions indicated the value to the American weapons program 

 of a full exchange of information and arrangements for future collaboration 

 in research. With Army and Navy approval, a number of conferences be- 

 tween the personnel of NDRC and the British mission were held during 

 September. At the NDRC meeting on September 27, 1940, Sir Henry 

 proposed a continuing exchange of information regarding research on and 

 plans for weapon development, and also a procedure under which reports 

 and information would be passed between NDRC and Professor Fowler 

 serving as British Liaison Officer for both Canada and the United States. 

 The desirability of this arrangement was confirmed by an exchange of 

 letters between Bush and the Secretaries of War and Navy. This decision 

 to pool research information, supplemented by a later decision to divide 

 research effort, was the starting point for Allied supremacy in new weapons, 

 notably radar and subsurface warfare devices. 



Establishment of the London Mission 



Later in 1940, after preliminary discussions with members of the British 

 Technical Mission, NDRC decided to send a Mission to Great Britain to 

 investigate the scope of military research being carried on in that country 

 and to report the fields which appeared most promising as well as most 

 necessary to successful defense. An invitation was forthcoming from the 

 British Government, and President Roosevelt designated Conant to head 

 the Mission. F. L. Hovde, Assistant to the President of the University of 

 Rochester, was selected as Resident Secretary of the Mission. Carroll L. 

 Wilson, then serving as Assistant to Bush, was appointed Liaison Officer; 



