Originally Posted by
langleybaston
Other than the Obit hyperlink quoted upstream, all I can add is that HH was said to be a Quaker. I rest my case, m'lud.
And therein of course is the clue. It seems that the issue in 1940 was that he was tasked with working on the met aspects of the spraying of war gas. Given the imminent fear of invasion this was possibly connected with the spraying of nerve gas (?) on the invasion beaches from any expendable aircraft (and pilots!) available, such as Tiger Moths. The desperation of such suicidal measures reminds us that the first line of defence didn't stop at the Novelty Rock Emporium of Walmington-on-Sea. The job of course was anathema to a conscientious objector, but it is a pity that HH couldn't have been kept on in other work. It rather depended on the extent of his beliefs of course, as all Met Office work was clearly now a part of the War Effort, but the UK lost the services of a brilliant brain just when it needed it most.
I'd add that though there were strong feelings pro and con the war in those early years (there was a story in the WWII pilot brevet thread wherein a young man in civvies, awaiting the call to report to Lords prior to basic training and embarking for flying training in the USA, was waiting for a bus in war torn Liverpool. A woman spotted him from the other side of the street, crossed it, approached him, and spat in his face, accusing him of being a malingerer, despite the small button hole badge he had been given to signify his status. It wasn't Danny but it could so easily have happened to him too). There was tolerance too. No less a person than Butch Harris had as Bomber Command Chaplain one Canon Collins, he of CND fame. His sermons bordered on insurrection but he was allowed to continue regaling Harris's Staff at the height of the Bombing Offensive that he was so opposed to. Speaking of Danny, it is ironic in the circumstances that he was put in charge of a unit doing aerial spraying trials in India prior to what was expected to be the very bloody invasion of Japan. Same job as in 1940, though this time we were to be the invaders. Saved by the bell, or rather the Bomb!
Here is the obituary for Professor H H Lamb, a man ahead of his time who so brilliantly forecast global warming by the in depth study of the past. Like Allan Turing, there were giants around in those days :-
Obituary: Professor H. H. Lamb | The Independent | The Independent
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