Letter from Admiralty to Geological Museum, 1917

BGS Archive Ref: GSM/DR/St/A/20

 

This letter relates to materials suitable for making compasses for aeroplanes. Such compasses would have to be reliable,  able to survive the rigours of flight and not wear out. The letter is an example of the more unusual subjects that the Geological Survey was consulted about during the First World War.

Posters relating to the Survey's contribution to the war effort 1914-1918 can be viewed here

Andrew L Morrison

 

 

 

 

Letter about C B Wedd being a German spy

BGS image ID: P842013

This letter is from W H Spaull who was a magistrate at Oswestry. He is enquiring about geologist Charles Bertie Wedd (1868-1945) who was allegedly up a tree sketching near an army camp and mistaken for a German spy and almost lynched! This letter as well as showing some of the dangers a field geologist may face also demonstrates the fear of German spies less than two months after the outbreak of World War 1.

Posters about the Geological Survey and World War I

Andrew L Morrison