Lieutenant Colonel Brian Duncan Shaw, (10 February 1898 – 7 November 1999) was a British chemistry lecturer at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

,"The Career of Lt. Col. Brian Duncan SHAW MM TD BSc PhD DSc"
''

''. Retrieved on 30 January 2015. known for his demonstrations on explosives.

Early and personal life

Shaw was born in

Ilkeston Ilkeston is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name, with a population at the 2011 census of 38,640. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/texti ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, the fourth and youngest child of Samuel Shaw and Lydia Emma Shaw, his brothers and sisters being named Lydia Emma, Mabel and Clarence Gordon. His father was a brick manufacturer and his mother had been working as a teacher. He started working at

Boots the Chemist Boots UK Limited (formerly Boots the Chemists), trading as Boots, is a British health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom and other countries and territories including Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand an ...

in 1914 as an apprentice pharmacist. In May 1916, he married his first wife, Margaret Elsie Wheldon. After her death in 1990 he married Alice Maud on 5 June of the same year; she died in 1998, a year before Shaw himself.

Career

Military service

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, with the

Royal Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regimen ...

, he fought on the battles of

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

and Passchendaele. In July 1917 Cpl Shaw was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

(MM) for bravery at Beaucamp near Cambrai. He served with the 5th Battalion,

Sherwood Foresters The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to f ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. At the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

, on 10 June 1940, he was cut off in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

by German tanks, and was separated from the battalion he was with. After that, he got a bike and spent ten weeks hiding from the Nazis, while trying to reach

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, eventually cycling . Near

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

, a French gendarme stopped him because the bicycle lacked a plaque used for annual tax, and phoned the Germans, who made him prisoner. He was sent to Germany and spent the rest of the war in five

POW camps A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

, including at

Tittmoning Tittmoning () is a town in the district of Traunstein, in Bavaria, Germany. Geography It is situated in the historic Rupertiwinkel region, on the left bank of the river Salzach, which forms the border with the municipality of Ostermiething in th ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and Spangenburg bei Kassel. As a prisoner of war, Shaw took part in theatrical productions. Among other things h
played
the part of the ghost in Hamlet in a production at Tittmoning.

Academic career

Apart from a brief period as a Lecturer at the East London College, ending in 1923, B.D. Shaw spent his entire career as a lecturer in chemistry at University College in Nottingham, which from 1948 onwards was the

. From 1930, he became known for the "Explosives Lecture" which demonstrated a large variety of ways to produce flashes and bangs using chemistry, including the

Barking dog reaction The "Barking Dog" is an exothermic chemical reaction that results from the ignition of a mixture of carbon disulfide and nitrous oxide. When ignited in a cylindrical tube, the reaction produces a bright flash and a loud " woof" - reminiscent of a ...

. He would continue to provide this lecture for a total of 60 years, extending long past his official retirement. In 1969, the Explosives Lecture was filmed by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. He published several articles on pyridines, mainly in the

Journal of the Chemical Society The ''Journal of the Chemical Society'' was a scientific journal established by the Chemical Society in 1849 as the ''Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society''. The first editor was Edmund Ronalds. The journal underwent several renamings, splits ...

. After his retirement in 1965, he continued giving lectures and worked as an expert witness in several court cases, such as the defence of the

Angry Brigade The Angry Brigade was a far-left British terrorist group responsible for a series of bomb attacks in England between 1970 and 1972. Using small bombs, they targeted banks, embassies, a BBC Outside Broadcast vehicle, and the homes of Conservati ...

. A blue plaque was installed on 16 November 2012 at his home. As a part of the Periodic table of videos, Prof.

Martyn Poliakoff Sir Martyn Poliakoff (born 16 December 1947) is a British chemist, working on gaining insights into fundamental chemistry, and on developing environmentally acceptable processes and materials. The core themes of his work are supercritical fluid ...

and

Brady Haran Brady John Haran (born 18 June 1976) is an Australian-British independent filmmaker and video journalist who produces educational videos and documentary films for his YouTube channels, the most notable being ''Periodic Videos'' and ''Number ...

filmed the event.

The Shaw Medal

In 1988, the University of Nottingham created a medal in his honour called the Shaw Medal. Shaw himself was the first recipient of this prize.

Gallery

File:Lt Colonel Dr Brian Duncan 'BD' Shaw MM 1898-1999 (blue plaque).jpg, The

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

located at the front door of its former residence at Queens Road, Beeston. Brian Shaw and Henry W King.JPG, Shaw (left), 5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters at Bisley 1947, firing a Bren light machine gun. The 5th Battalion team won the 'China Cup', 'Velongdis Cup' and 'Lewis 9mm' cup at Bisley in 1947 File:Brian Shaw Explosives lecture IEE Savoy Place 1986.JPG, Rare image of Dr Brian Duncan Shaw giving a practical demonstration of explosive chemistry at the age of 88.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Brian Duncan 1898 births 1999 deaths People from Ilkeston Academics of the University of Nottingham English centenarians Men centenarians British Army personnel of World War I Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers Recipients of the Military Medal British Army personnel of World War II Sherwood Foresters officers British World War II prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany