A Note On The History Of The Westcott Establishment, 1946-1977

W. R. Maxwell. (1993), JBIS, 46, pp.286-288

Refcode: 1993.46.286

Abstract:

At the end of World War II British interest in rocket technology was stimulated by the awareness of the German achievement in this field. As a result, the Guided Projectile Establishment was set up in April 1946, by Sir Alwyn Crow and Sir William Cook of the Ministry of Supply, to be responsible for research and development in ground-launched guided missiles. The site, at Westcott, was a disused RAF training base. Many of the original buildings were utilised and because these had been intended to last only for the duration of the war, extensive conversion and modernisation was necessary. The main workshop, for instance, was fabricated from a hangar. Specialised facilities and test beds for firing rocket motors were also constructed. The first test beds were designed for liquid propellant rocket engines; mainly for combustion system research and development. The work was organised in sections on Heat Transfer, Combustion Chamber Design, Fuel Supply, Materials, and Instrumentation.