# Alwyn Crow

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British scientist

Crow talking with [Winston Churchill](/source/Winston_Churchill) at a demonstration of a secret anti-aircraft device.

**Sir Alwyn Douglas Crow** [CBE](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) [FInstP](/source/Fellow_of_the_Institute_of_Physics) (10 May 1894 – 5 February 1965) was a British scientist involved in research into ballistics, projectiles and missiles from 1916 to 1953. At [Fort Halstead](/source/Fort_Halstead) he developed the [Unrotated Projectile](/source/Unrotated_Projectile) an antiaircraft weapon for the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy), used in the early period of World War II when the supply of anti-aircraft guns was limited. His obituary in *[The Times](/source/The_Times)* called him a *Rocket Projectile Pioneer*.

He was born in London, and educated at [Queens' College, Cambridge](/source/Queens'_College%2C_Cambridge). In World War I he was commissioned in the [East Surrey Regiment](/source/East_Surrey_Regiment), was injured in 1916, and Mentioned in Despatches.

In 1917, he was appointed to the staff of the [Royal Arsenal](/source/Royal_Arsenal), Woolwich. He served as Director of Ballistics Research at Woolwich 1919–1939. In 1934 British received intelligence reports about [German developments in rocket weapons](/source/Aggregat), and two years later Crow led a new research team specializing in the topic.[1] He later was Chief Superintendent of Projectile Development 1939-40, then Director and Controller of Projectile Development 1940-45, then Director of Guided Projectiles at the [Ministry of Supply](/source/Ministry_of_Supply) 1945–1946. He was in Washington, D.C. as Head of Technical Services to the British Joint Services Mission to Washington from 1946 to 1953. He retired in 1953, became a consultant and in 1960 settled in the United States with his second wife.

## Honours

He was appointed an Officer of the [Order of the British Empire](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) in the [1918 Birthday Honours](/source/1918_Birthday_Honours) and made a Commander of the Order in the [1937 Coronation Honours](/source/1937_Coronation_Honours).[2][3] He was knighted in 1944.[4]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Knight, R. C. (1965). ["Sir Alwyn Crow, C.B.E."](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F206346a0) *Nature*. **206** (4982): 346–347. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1965Natur.206..346K](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1965Natur.206..346K). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/206346a0](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F206346a0). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [4264245](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4264245).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["No. 30730"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30730/supplement/6698). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)* (Supplement). 7 June 1918. p. 6698.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["No. 34396"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34396/supplement/3089). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)* (Supplement). 11 May 1937. p. 3089.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["No. 36544"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36544/supplement/2565). *The London Gazette* (Supplement). 2 June 1944. p. 2565.

## Sources

- Obituary *A Rocket Projectile Pioneer* in *The Times*, London of 6 February 1965 p.10.

- *Who was Who 1965* (A&C Black, London)

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