Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Robert Stuart Macrae TD was an inventor best known for his work at MD1 during 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 opposi ...

, his best known invention being the

sticky bomb The "Grenade, Hand, Anti-Tank No. 74", commonly known as the S.T. grenade or simply sticky bomb, was a British hand grenade designed and produced during the Second World War. The grenade was one of a number of anti-tank weapons developed for u ...

. Macrae was the author of ''

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 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's Toyshop'', a memoir detailing his experiences at MD1.

Early career

Macrae had been a trainee engineer and late in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

worked on a device for dropping grenades as an early form of

cluster bomb A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...

. The war ended before the device was used or he received any commission for his work. Macrae was an editor of ''

Armchair Science ''Armchair Science'' was a UK, British monthly Magazine, journal of topical and popular science articles published from 1929 to 1940; it ceased publication because of wartime paper shortages. The first editor was A. Percy Bradley, a mechanical ...

'' magazine during the period leading up to the Second World War. He was approached by

Millis Jefferis Major-General Sir Millis Rowland Jefferis KBE MC (9 January 1899 – 5 September 1963) was a British military officer who founded a special unit of the British Ministry of Supply which developed unusual weapons during the Second World War. E ...

who was after strong

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nicke ...

s for a secret explosive project. Already security cleared from his previous work, Macrae was able to join in the project.

Second World War

Macrae was called up as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

on the Special List of the Territorial Army on 1 September 1939. with the effect that he had to give up editing ''Armchair Science'' and a gardening magazine at the same publisher. One of Macrae's first weapons inventions was a

limpet mine A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets. It is so named because of its superficial similarity to the shape of the limpet, a type of sea snail that clings tightly to rocks or other hard surfaces. A swimmer or diver ...

. The mine was developed by Macrae and

Cecil Vandepeer Clarke Major Cecil Vandepeer Clarke MC (1897–1961) was an engineer, inventor and soldier who served in both the First and Second World Wars. Early life Clarke was born on 15 February 1897. He grew up in London and was known to his friends as Nob ...

in 1939 using improvised development techniques. Macrae was the administrator of MD1, but also able to continue to be involved in developing weapons and devices. By the end of the war he was a war substantive

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

. His promotion to full colonel, as a result of MD1 being upgraded to a Grade A Establishment, was halted by the end of the war. He remained in the TA after the war, transferring to the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

(REME) as a substantive

major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

on 9 October 1947 (with seniority from 6 October 1942).

Later career

In 1947, Macrae applied to the

Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors A Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors is a periodic Royal Commission of the United Kingdom used to hear patent disputes. On 6 October 1919 a Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors was convened to hear 11 claims for the invention of the tank; ...

with regards to his part in the development of the Sticky Bomb. His application was actively opposed on the basis that he was provided with the concept "on a plate" – the basic concept had been devised by

. Macrae did not contradict this, but emphasised his part in the development of the weapon. He was awarded £500 quivalent to £ in .for his contribution. He was promoted to substantive lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1950, and awarded the

Territorial Efficiency Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the ...

, with clasp on 15 June 1951. In 1953, Macrae was questioned about his possession of certain documents originating from his time at MD1. Matters came to light as he again applied to the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors for his wartime work on a variety of gadgets. Some of the documents were secret or

top secret Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to kn ...

. He explained that he had taken the papers home for safe keeping when ''The Firs'' closed in 1947 because no one else would take them away and they were left lying on the workshop floor and he was soon exonerated of any wrongdoing. As the hearing progressed, Major-General J. F. C. Holland, Major-General Sir

Colin Gubbins Major-General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins (2 July 1896 – 11 February 1976) was the prime mover of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the Second World War. Gubbins was also responsible for setting up the secret Auxiliary Units, a comman ...

gave evidence to the commission explaining the usefulness of the unorthodox weapons. Macrae shared a number of awards from the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors: £600 quivalent to £ in jointly for the L-delay Switch; £400 �for the

, £300 �for an air-pressure switch and £200 �for igniters, detonators and signal flashes. He retired from army service on 1 January 1955, and was granted the honorary rank of colonel. Between 1956 and 1970, Macrae took out a number of patents relating to reflecting road studs. In 1971, Macrae published the book "Winston Churchill's Toyshop," detailing his work at MD1, one of the most famous and successful of all the British secret "back rooms" of World War II. Macrae's book traces his work at the "toyshop," from the

, a delayed action mine, to the

and the

Blacker Bombard The Blacker Bombard, also known as the 29-mm Spigot Mortar, was an infantry anti-tank weapon devised by Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Blacker in the early years of the Second World War. Intended as a means to equip Home Guard units with an anti-tan ...

, to giant, bridge-carrying assault tanks (the '' Great Eastern''). The workshop operated initially out of a tiny basement workshop and later from a country mansion. It produced an astonishing variety of ingenious and secret weapons that destroyed innumerable German tanks, aircraft and ships. Macrae's first wife Mary died at the family home in Beacon Way,

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, south-west of Croydon, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Downs, it is on three of the four main ...

on 24 May 1973.''Deaths''. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' newspaper, 29 May 1973 p24 column A. The Macraes had three children, David, John and Vivien. In 1977, Macrae was engaged to be married to Anne Vivien Hall. The following year, Macrae and his new wife attended a luncheon party given by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on the

Royal Yacht Britannia Her Majesty's Yacht ''Britannia'', also known as the Royal Yacht ''Britannia'', is the former royal yacht of the British monarchy. She was in service from 1954 until 1997. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the thr ...

.''Court Circular – HM Yacht Britannia''. ''

'' newspaper, 14 August 1978 p14 column A.

Notes

References

External links

*
Churchillhouse toyshopThe Papers of Colonel R S Macrae
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macrae, Stuart English inventors Weapon designers British Army personnel of World War II Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers