Frank Arthur Brock
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Frank Arthur Brock, OBE | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 29 June 1884 South Norwood, Surrey, England |
| Died | 23 April 1918 (aged 33) Zeebrugge Port, Belgium |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Branch | Royal Naval Air Service Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1914–1918 |
| Rank | Wing Commander |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards |  Order of the British Empire Mentioned in dispatches |
Wing Commander Brock F. A. O.B.E.
Lieutenant Commander Harrison A. L. V.C.
Lieutenant Hawkings C.E.V. Mechanic Second Class F/50269 Rouse J"[1]
Wing Commander Frank Arthur Brock OBE (29 June 1884 – 23 April 1918) was a British officer commissioned into the Royal Artillery, the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and finally, when the RNAS merged with the RFC, the Royal Air Force. He invented the explosive bullet that destroyed the German Zeppelins and he devised and executed the smoke screen used during the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918, an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge during the First World War.
Brock was born in South Norwood, Surrey, the son of Arthur Brock of Haredon, Sutton, Surrey, of the famous C.T. Brock & Co. fireworks manufacturers.[2][3] He was educated at Dulwich College[4] where he blew up a stove in his form room.[5] Brock joined the family business in 1901 (later becoming a director)[6] where he remained until the outbreak of the First World War.[7]
He joined the Royal Artillery, being commissioned as a temporary lieutenant on 10 October 1914 but within a month was loaned to the Navy, to which he transferred, becoming a temporary sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on 27 October 1914.[8][9] He was promoted to lieutenant on 31 December 1914, becoming a flight lieutenant of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) on 1 January 1915.[10][11][12] Brock was a member of the Admiralty Board of Invention and Research and founded, organized and commanded the Royal Navy Experimental Station at Stratford.[13]
Among his many developments were:[13]
- The Dover Flare – used in anti-submarine warfare.
- The Brock Colour Filter
- The Brock Bullet (or Brock Incendiary Bullet or Brock Anti-Zeppelin Bullet) – the first German airship to be shot down was destroyed by this bullet.[14] Most British fighter aircraft machine guns used a mixture of Brock, Pomeroy and Buckingham bullets when attacking Zeppelins.[15]
- Working with Archibald Low and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) Experimental Works in Feltham on wireless triggered bombs for the Zeebrugge Raid.[16][17] and the guided rocket.[18]
By the time the RNAS merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918, Brock had risen to the rank of wing commander, and in January 1918 had been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1918 New Year Honours.[19]
