174 ORGANIZING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR WAR 



American military establishments made frequent calls upon the Mission for 

 copies of OSRD reports. 



The exchange of visitors between the British and American groups grad- 

 ually increased throughout the war, reaching its peak in the spring of 1945. 

 It became increasingly evident that the best and most rapid method of co- 

 ordinating research on specific problems in the two countries was by per- 

 sonal visits. This was, of course, a supplement to the exchange of reports. 

 The permanent staff members of the London Mission and of the British 

 Central Scientific Office were of great help in many cases on specific prob- 

 lems. In no case, however, was sufficient staff available to provide coverage 

 for a field of activities. 



Those NDRC divisions which solved their problems in particular in- 

 stances by dispatching visitors to England were always ready to duplicate 

 the procedure when the need arose. In many cases, however, the divisions 

 placed the need for a key man in the United States above the value they 

 might derive from his visit abroad. In these cases the divisions were de- 

 pendent upon reports received from the British research group or from 

 OSRD staff members in London. While the staff performed its own func- 

 tions well, it was unable to substitute completely for specialists familiar 

 with the latest developments in their fields. Both were desirable. 



By the end of 1943 a satisfactory plan was developed for the exchange 

 of information supplementing the visits of specialists. It involved an in- 

 crease in the technical staff of the Liaison Office, particularly in Washing- 

 ton, and the exchange of Washington and London staff members at regu- 

 lar intervals. The Field Technical Aides (as the staff members respon- 

 sible for following particular fields of activity came to be called) rapidly 

 became acquainted with all the work of the NDRC divisions to which 

 they were assigned. They had free access to British reports and soon ac- 

 quired at least a reading knowledge of all the work going on in England 

 in the specific fields in which they were interested. In most cases they 

 established excellent relations with the divisions and attended their meet- 

 ings and demonstrations. Many of them wrote special reports which were 

 forwarded to staff members of the London Mission for their guidance and 

 for distribution to the interested British groups. After acquainting them- 

 selves with the work being conducted under the NDRC, they visited Eng- 

 land where they studied the organization of the specific fields of research 

 which were being emphasized there. This knowledge of the organization 

 and work being carried on in England and the particular problems of the 

 staff members of the London Mission was invaluable to the members of 

 the Washington staff and to NDRC in furthering the co-ordination of 

 their work. 



Because of its broad knowledge of OSRD operations the Liaison Office 

 was assigned in the summer of 1942 a continuing function with respect to 



