BRAIN-WAVES WANTED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 September 1940, Page 6

BRAIN-WAVES WANTED

IDEAS TO HELP WIN THE WAR. APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC. The unusual appeal has been addressed to the public; “Brainwaves wanted! If you have any ideas, suggestions or inventions, which will help to win the war, write to the Defence Force Liaison Committee, 12 Quartz Street, Johannesburg.” To the average person it may seem incomprehensible that the Defence Force, an organisation which has at its command the inventive genius, knowledge and experience of the world’s best military scientists, should appeal to the public for ideas. On reflection it is not so incomprehensible as laymen think. Some people are inclined to discount the value of brain-waves, those sudden and enlightening inspirations. Consider the powerful fighting planes —armed with eight guns, some of them, and cannon, too. At the beginning of the last war in 1914, aerial combat was fought with revolvers —the pilot and observer leaning out of the cockpit hoping for a lucky pot shot! That ineffective way of air fighting didn't last long. In December of 1914 a French flying officer had the brain-wave: “Why not take a machine gun up with us?” He did and aerial combat was revolutionised.

A few weeks ago. in the Transvaal, a farmer was observing some of our armed forces manoeuvring in the fields. He has no military training. He knew nothing of mechanics. Yet his native ingenuity and commonsense told him at once that if a certain bit of equipment was built in such and such a way, the effectiveness and striking power of our troops would be increased. He sent his suggestion to the Defence Force Liaison Committee. Today he has the satisfaction of knowing that his idea has been adopted and will do much to help win the war. From squrces least expected come practical ideas, suggestions and inventions which help defeat the enemy.