Review of 'A Nuclear Scientist’s War' by Terry Dean (July 2022)

Alexander Smith Russell was born in Scotland in 1888 and was educated at Glasgow, Berlin and Manchester universities, working, for amongst others, with both Soddy & Rutherford, giants in their field.

While in Glasgow (1909) he joined the university OTC and, in 1915, requested a temporary commission in the RGA. He went to France the same year as a Lieutenant with 59 Battery, 7th Siege Brigade of the RGA. Their guns were howitzers from the Boer War era. His brigade served with I Corps at the battle of Loos, which began on September 25, initially centred at Vermelles. On September 26, 59 battery was involved in shelling the German lines for four days.

William Lawrence Bragg, co-recipient of the Nobel prize for Physics in 1915, enlisted to fight in the war and joined the Royal Horse Artillery. In the summer of 1915, Bragg was sent to the Royal Engineers and assigned the task of developing a sound ranging system to locate enemy artillery. This involved microphones specially designed to be protected against the wind but capable of detecting the low frequency of sound emitted by artillery. Until Corporal WS Tucker came up with a solution, the microphones were too unreliable. Tucker realised that the pressure wave of wind caused by the gun firing and not by the shell passing could be detected by the cooling effect on a metal wire held in an empty ammunition box. A sound detecting section consisted of officers, linesmen, wire repairers and six microphones. The platinum wire was heated and the cooling effect of the pressure wave caused the electrical resistance to increase. This in turn was recorded on photographic film and the calculations from a set of microphones identified the position of the gun firing.

In April 1916, Russell, now promoted to captain, was assigned to T section Sound Ranging section of 3rd Field Survey Company of Third Army. Initially he was in the Arras sector but was wounded on 27th April when his position was hit with shrapnel. He was sufficiently recovered to return to the front in June. His unit was using the new improved Tucker microphones and their howitzers had been replaced with more recent models (26cwt in place of 13cwt). It was at this time his portrait was painted by Muirhead Bone, a Scottish artist who specialised in watercolours, who had recently been appointed as an official British war artist. This was one of several pictures he drew of the officers of T section sound ranging unit.

Also in 1917, the General Staff produced a pamphlet on Sound Ranging and the Fixing of the Position of Hostile Guns, to which Captain Russell had contributed. When the German Army withdrew to the Hindenburg Line, the Sound Ranging unit moved forward. In April, Russell’s unit was moved to the Arras sector in order to take part in the counter battery offensive during the Arras campaign. Russell was also involved in the Cambrai offensive where the artillery survey of hostile guns was considered excellent. Unfortunately, this did not prevent the German counteroffensive and the withdrawal of the part of the troops after the German counter attack.

In the spring of 1918, Russell was involved in a survey of rear line defence just as the German Spring Offensive started. His sound ranging unit was withdrawn as the Allied troops pulled back. In March his unit was involved in the successful Arras defence during the German Mars attack. By June, Russell’s T section was assigned to 1sr Army and he was awarded the MC. His pamphlet ‘Notes on Ranging Our Own Guns’ dates from this time.

Unfortunately, he was taken ill in August and was evacuated back to the UK. 
After being passed fit, he was demobbed in April 1919 and took up a post to teach at Oxford University (Christ Church College). His subject was the Chemistry of Radioactive Substances. By 1920 his position was confirmed as Dr Lee’s Reader in Chemistry (a form of associate professorship which is research focused). Russell retired in 1955 and he died in March1972.

Report by Peter Palmer