Who invented what, when?
In Spring,’41 DH Engines, repairer of Merlin and supplier of Gipsy for ragwings, was funded by Bulman, MAP into reaction; their design consultant F.Halford, onlie begetter of Sabre, designed H.1(Goblin) “from first principles,entirely independently of the Whittle concept” G.P.Bulman,An Account of Partnership,RRHT,2001,P.324 (pace: H.1 “would not have been designed but for the stimulus and information provided by (W.1” 2/10/47,Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors).
AA Griffith had moved, 1/6/39, from RAE to be newly designated Chief Scientist at RR, where engineers, not impractical boffins, reigned. His work on C.R.1/2 Internal Combustion Turbines did not move at the pace of Power Jets (nor, as we now know, of v.Ohain).
None of them "invented" reaction thrust. Each one applied mind to the "what if..:" the basic metals industry could "invent" discs and blades that would stay where they should, while spinning dementedly in a continuous explosion.
Quite sensibly Ministries tasked with putting weapons into young men's hands concentrated on reliability, longevity and power in pistons. Contemplate your day, Air Minister Lord Swinton, after Anschluss, when the writing was on the wall: there you are trying to kick reciprocating teams to cause enhanced Merlins to work well, "Hyper" Sabre, Centaurus, Deerhound...to work at all; you have just sequestered the entire auto industry to stop earning and start spending to build interim Mercury, Pegasus, onway to Hercules when/if that works. An eccentric, difficult engineer (oddly a serving RAF officer - how can that be?) claims his gyre will deliver sci-fi dash speed...if only it would stop exploding on the rig.
The wonder is not that UK, Germany, US took awhile before throwing vast sums into reaction, but that any of them ever did, at all.
Neither Griffith, nor Whittle, nor v.Ohain, nor RAE scientists, nor Gottingen academics "invented" jet propulsion...alone. They all did.. and all needed a Eureka from obscure grafters in metallurgy. Just as $100Bn. for nerds in Silicon Valley derived from some sandy fellow unsung by history.
