Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development
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| Department overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1941 |
| Dissolved | 1945 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of the United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | Admiralty Building Whitehall London |
| Parent Department | Admiralty |
The Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD), known colloquially as the Wheezers and Dodgers, was a department of the Admiralty responsible for the development of various unconventional weapons during World War II.
The Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapon Development was a temporary wartime body which developed in 1941 from the Inspectorate of Anti-Aircraft Weapons and Devices, set up in 1940 (an office of Admiral James Somerville) which was corrupted to "Instigator of Anti-Aircraft Wheezes and Dodges" to advance radar and other devices for anti-aircraft and other purposes. Charles Goodeve was responsible for its expansion from an Inspectorate and widening of its role.
Its research and experiments were carried out by officers based in universities, in research establishments, and in the directorate's own experimental establishment, HMS Birnbeck at Weston super Mare, and the Frythe at Welwyn, which it took over from the Inter-Service Research Bureau in 1945. It undertook anti-aircraft research, providing devices such as vertical rocket mountings; anti-submarine research, producing radar deflectors and decoys among other things; and amphibious assaults research, producing nets for landing craft etc. It also investigated camouflage for vessels.
In 1944 some of its staff were detached to set up a Directorate of Admiralty Research and Development in India, which undertook liaison between the East Indies Fleet and technical Admiralty departments, and provided some scientific and technical advice. After the war the directorate amalgamated with Coastal Forces Material and Combined Operations Material Departments to form the Craft and Amphibious Material Directorate. Responsibility for the Admiralty Experimental Station, Welwyn, was transferred to the Director of Aeronautical and Engineering Research in 1946.
Among the staff were Lieutenant-Commander N. S. Norway, RNVR (better known by his pen name, Nevil Shute); Lt-Cdr Edward Terrell RNVR, who developed plastic armour for ships and tanks and who left in late 1941 to join the First Sea Lord's staff; renowned motor racing photographer Louis Klemantaski; and Barnes Wallis.
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