Abstract
THE seventeenth report of the Select Committee on National Expenditure for the session 1942–43, containing replies from Government departments to recommendations in reports, includes a memorandum by the Ministry of Labour and National Service commenting on the Committee's recommendations in its tenth report, discussing aircraft production, on the supply of scientific and technical personnel. The memorandum states that the facilities available for training research workers, aeronautical engineers and other technicians are under continuous, review by the Technical Personnel Committee. It is agreed that men with postgraduate research and similar qualifications should not be allowed to enter the Forces, except for special commissioned posts, for example, operational research. The allocation and deferment arrangements of the Ministry of Labour are considered to provide ample safeguards for this purpose. A professional engineering or scientific qualification is, however, essential for many commissioned posts in the Fighting Services, and in view of the recommendations of Sir William Beveridge's Committee on the Use of Skilled Men in the Services, it has been recognized that a substantial proportion of technical officers in the Services in charge of maintenance and repair of equipment should possess technical qualifications of a university degree or professional standard together with extensive practical experience. But the numbers thus made available were insufficient. It has therefore been necessary to allocate a substantial proportion of the university output to the Services, and also to withdraw experienced men from industry; many of the latter have been volunteers, and the Ministry is concerned lest the Select Committee's observations should be misunderstood, with unfortunate effect on such volunteering.
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Scientific Personnel in the Aircraft Industry. Nature 153, 49–50 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153049d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153049d0