Epilogue

The extraordinary story of RDX during World War II is composed of many striking chapters, one of which is the unprecedented collaboration between Britain, Canada, and the United States. At each stage, however, the proponents of RDX had to surmount formidable technical and human obstacles before the super-explosive and its offspring, Composition B and Torpex, could make an impact on the Allies’ war effort. Although researchers at the Woolwich Arsenal had desensitized the dangerous explosive by mixing it with TNT and some beeswax, the Ministry of Supply was unable to supply the vast quantities that were needed for total war....

The Aftermath

World War II had been over for five years. The incredible saga of RDX and the phenomenal accomplishments of the Tennessee Eastman Company and Holston Ordnance Works were fading into the recent past. Public attention turned to the Cold War with the Soviet Union; however, a case involving espionage at Holston Ordnance Works in 1943 would make newspaper headlines in 1950. In June 1950, a former employee of Holston Ordnance, Alfred Dean Slack, was arrested by the FBI, charged with a 1943 act of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union, and sentenced to ten years in prison.

RDX and the Army Air Forces

The Air Force requested the explosive Composition B filling for all of its bombs. The production capacity of RDX and Comp B was insufficient to meet this demand. The controversy over the Comp B2 bomb, which did not have the 1 percent wax additive found in the regular Comp B bomb. The suspicion surrounding the Comp B2 bomb, and the mishandling of bombs generally, led to the issue of air crews jettisoning their bombs. The Metfield incident seriously compromised the use of Comp B2 bombs.

Torpex and the Air War

Lord Cherwell was critical of the bombing effort, particularly the deficiency of British bombs—like “carting old iron to Germany.” Cherwell pushed for the adoption of aluminized bombs filled with Torpex. “Tallboy” 12,000-pound bombs were not to be wasted due to the scarcity of aluminium and RDX.

The Vexed Question of RDX Supply

In the spring of 1941, Britain began an active campaign to persuade the United States to manufacture RDX. The RAF case for RDX was presented in Washington by Air Marshal Sir Arthur “Bert” Harris. With strong support from Admiral “Spike” Blandy, chief of the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Ordnance, the first British request was approved. The second “staggering” request for RDX came as a “bombshell.” The U.S. Army Ordnance Department authorities preferred to rely on the existing high explosive TNT.

Lord Beaverbrook, RDX, and the Ministry of Supply

By the spring of 1940, Germany had won an overwhelming victory. The battle for France was lost, and in the summer of 1940 the Battle of Britain raged between the Luftwaffe and “The Few” for supremacy in the skies over Britain. Winston Churchill looked to the bomber as Britain’s only offensive weapon; however, British Bomber Command lacked numbers, and its bombs were small and deficient in explosive power. Lord Beaverbrook made strenuous efforts to obtain the explosive RDX developed at the Woolwich Arsenal, but the Ministry of Supply was unable to provide the huge quantities needed by Bomber Command.

1945 and the Atomic Bomb

World War II ended with unexpected suddenness. The dropping of two atomic bombs appeared to make conventional explosives obsolete; however, RDX and Composition B played a critical role in creating the detonation shockwave that “squeezed” the plutonium core of the “Fat Man” bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

Torpex and the Battle of the Atlantic

At the start of World War II, Allied aircraft lacked an effective airborne weapon to use against U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic. The importance of the Operational Research Section at RAF Coastal Command. Initially, the commander-in-chief of RAF Coastal Command and his civilian scientists were in agreement, but differences over weapon size almost led to the abandonment of the most promising aerial anti-U-boat weapon, the 250-pound Torpex-filled airborne depth charge. The Hedgehog antisubmarine weapon would also fire Torpex-filled projectiles.

The Wexler Bend Pilot Plant

One of the epic industrial and scientific achievements of the United States during World War II was accomplished at the Wexler Bend Pilot Plant, Kingsport, Tennessee, where fifty hand-picked (their finances were investigated, and all the operators were married with at least one child) Tennessee Eastman employees, working at a phenomenal pace, developed a process for large-scale production of the world’s most powerful explosive, RDX. The success at Wexler Bend opened the door to the next phase: the mass production of RDX.

The Battle for RDX Production

The Bachmann “combination” process was a breakthrough toward large-scale production of RDX. The spectacular achievement of Tennessee Eastman Company in developing a continuous method of RDX production. Both physical and human obstacles had to be surmounted by the proponents of RDX. The issue of increased production of the explosive reached the desk of President Roosevelt.