Council Minutes 1941-1945

Minutes signed by successive Presidents. Includes discussion on post-war planning for mechanical installations/training and status of engineers in the various forces. Also, recording of the decision not to engage with trade unions (1943). Routine discussions include: financial accounts; elections, resignations and decease of members; engineering papers discussed; and publications received, purchased or exchanged.

Items of note include (by meeting date):

24 Jan-19 Dec 1941. Adaptation of Schemes and Certificates, discussed with Board of Education. Engineering Advisory Committee drawn up, summary of letter from Ernest Bevin (Minister of Labour and National Service). Henry Lewis Guy (1887-1956) appointed as Institution Secretary. Permission for members in service to sit examinations. Monitoring standards in Vocational Correspondence Courses. Evidence given to William Beveridge's Committee on Skilled Men in the Services, with Memorandum by the War Office. Prisoners of War to sit examinations.

23 Jan-18 Dec 1942.  Engineering societies to produce joint educational document for young engineers and lectures. Standing Committees to admit non-Council Members. Magnus Mowat (former Secretary) appointed Honorary Secretary. Possible common Section A of examinations with Institution of Civil Engineers and Board of Education. Discussions with Ministry of Works on future post-war planning of mechanical installations. Centenary Memorial volume proposed and R.H. Parsons appointed. Repatriation of Mechanical Engineers from China. Portrait of George Stephenson offered by the Institution of Civil Engineers. Institution to support Engineering Cadetships in the services. Summary report from Special Purposes Committee on status of Mechanical Engineering in the Navy.

22 Jan-17 Dec 1943. Legacy from Frederick William Bridges for Students' Aid Fund. Ministry of Works requests Codes of Practice on various installations. Rule of H. Stacey Cattermole Trust Fund. Institution not to associate itself with trade unionism. Opposition to members of the Institution of Automobile Engineers to Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineer Corps. Establishment of joint Committee of Presidents. Ministry of Labour (Ernest Bevin and Lord Hankey) decline taking Institution Member onto Committee of Enquiry into technical staff in the service. Terms established for accepting gifts or bequests.

28 Jan-15 Dec 1944. Record increase in membership of Institution. Cornish Engines Preservation Society request assistance to purchase old engines. Bequest from James Clayton to provide fellowship. Henry Lewis Guy (1887-1956) to chair Committee on Research and Development into Armaments for Aircraft, correspondence with Sir Stafford Cripps (1889-1952). War Office correspondence on Course Scheme. Lord Hanky requests standards on post-war training. James Clayton bequest, relatives challenge legality of charitable status [see 1945 also]. Future of National Certificate Scheme following Butler's Education Act. Reply to letter from Royal Commission on Equal Pay requesting information on engineering institutions' practices.

26 Jan 1945-14 Dec 1945. Standing Order adopted on retired members' subscriptions. Completion of research into aircraft armaments [see 1944 also]. Proposed amalgamation (copy of proposal publication) of Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Institution of Automobile Engineers, draft documents, constitutional procedures on amalgamation (especially with regard to the Charter) and discussions. Proposed publication of papers and proceedings which had accumulated during war. Institution bequests confirmed as having charitable status [see 1944 also]. Joint Overseas Activities Committee established, some discussion of individual countries. James Clayton Prize established.