The Anonymous Widower

Sir Sydney Camm

How many people know who Sir Sydney Camm was?  According to the Telegraph there is now a campaign to remember the designer of the legendary Hurricane in his home town of Windsor.

Camm was one of a small group of engineers, scientists and an odd-ball who were responsible for providing the tools that enabled the RAF to win the Battle of Britain.

• R. J. Mitchell was the designer of the Spitfire, who had died in 1937 at the age of only 42.
• Henry Royce is credited with the initial design of the Merlin engine, following on as it did from the successful R type engine, that had won the Schneider Trophy in 1929 and 1931.
• Ernest Hives was the engineer at Rolls-Royce, who had the forethought to create the production lines for the Merlin engines that powered the Hurricanes and Spitfires.
• Robert Watson Watt may not have been the sole inventor of radar, but he made it work, so that fighters could be used efficiently and directed towards targets in the battle.

And then there was the odd-ball, Lady Houston.

December 28, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | World | Second World War, Technology