Sir Frank Ewart Smith FRS (31 May 1897 – 14 June 1995), known as Sir Ewart Smith was a scholar, military scientist, and technical director, then Deputy Chairman of

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

National Portrait Gallery
Retrieved 21/5/2009.

Early life

Ewart Smith, the son of a pharmacist, was born in Loughton, Essex, but grew up in Hastings, East Sussex. From the age of nine he was educated at Uckfield Grammar School, then when he was twelve won a scholarship to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

. Gaining a scholarship to

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

, in 1915 to read Natural Sciences, he did not go up to Cambridge until 1919, first joining the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

during the First World War and seeing active service at Messines and Ypres. He went on to gain a first in Mechanical Engineering in an unusually short time, and stayed on as a postgraduate to study phase changes in iron, for which he was awarded the John Wimbolt prize.

Second World War

By 1931, Ewart Smith was Technical Director of ICI's chemical plant at

Billingham Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its o ...

, County Durham. In the lead up to war, ICI had planned for the production of fuel and explosives, with which Ewart Smith assisted.Moore, Keith (2001)
''A life-saving visionary''
Professional Engineering . Retrieved 21/5/2009. During the war itself he served in the Government appointed role of Chief Engineer, & Superintendent of Armament Design (CEAD) for the Ministry of Supply at

Fort Halstead Fort Halstead was a research site of Dstl, an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast of London. Originally constructed in 1892 as part ...

, where he had a leading role in the design of

PIAT The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT) Mk I was a British man-portable anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in 1942 in response to the British Army's need for a more effective infantry anti-tank weapon ...

, for armour piercing, which was the British equivalent to the American

Bazooka Bazooka () is the common name for a Man-portable anti-tank systems, man-portable recoilless Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the ...

in use into the 1950s. His military science experience when reading intelligence reports led him in 1943 to predict the development and deployment of long range rockets by Germany. Fortunately, he had

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

's ear, and

V-2 The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develope ...

launch sites were targeted by Allied forces.

Business career

In 1959 Ewart Smith retired as Deputy Chairman of ICI.

The Beeching cuts

During his time as CEAD, Ewart Smith recruited an able, young metallurgist to work for him,

Richard Beeching Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the e ...

.Hardy, R. (1989
''Beeching, champion of the railway?''
Ian Allan. . Retrieved 21/5/2009. After the war, Beeching went on to continue working for Ewart Smith at ICI. When in retirement Ewart Smith was asked to serve on the Stedeford Committee to recommend a solution to the dire finances of British Transport, Ewart Smith instead recommended Beeching for his powerful ability to analyse problems. Beeching infamously Tom Geoghega
''Britain's most hated civil servant''
Retrieved 29-9-2010 went on to recommend the closure of one-third of the Britain's railway stations.

Awards

He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(FRS) in 1957.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sir Frank Ewart Weapons scientists and engineers Imperial Chemical Industries people People from Loughton 1995 deaths 1897 births Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Christ's Hospital People educated at Uckfield School