Rocket Propulsion Establishment

From The Space Library

The Guided Projectile Establishment opened at Westcott in April 1946 and was used as an internment site for captured German rocket scientists until 1948.

The site was chosen because it had good road access and was on the RAF base. The first chief superintendent was W.R. Cook, his subordinates were F. Elstub, an RAF rocket expert, and A.D. Baxter a propulsion expert from Farnborough.

In 1947 Dr Johannes Schmidt, who invented the rocket for the ME163 interceptor, was in charge of 12 internee German rocket scientists at Westcott. Other Germans voluntarily employed at Westcott in 1946-47 included: Herman Treutler (physicist), Friedrich Jessen (engineer), Heinz Walder (engineer), Jurgen Diedrichen (chemist), Gustav Fiedler (designer, draftsman) Johannes Frauenberger (design draftsman), Carl Meier (engineer), and Walter Kolterman (foreman fitter).

It was renamed the Rocket Propulsion Department, part of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in the late 1940s. In the mid 1950s work was undertaken to develop a large sounding rocket named Skylark. In the late 1950s the liquid propellant motor for the Blue Streak missile (the RZ2) was developed at Westcott and went on to be used in the Europa-1 space rocket launch vehicle.

Rockets such as Blowpipe, Seawolf, Blue Steel, Polaris and Chevaline were undertaken at the facility.

In 1977 Westcott and the Waltham Abbey research station were merged to form the Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment.