ABSTRACT
Captain Basil Schonland RE was discharged from the British Army on 15 January 1919, but not before some effort had been made to retain his services [1]. When the fighting ended he was commended by the Chief Signals Officer, Colonel H T G Moore, for the energy, resourcefulness and ability with which he had controlled the wireless communications throughout the British 1st Army as it advanced from Arras to Mons [2]. This was high praise indeed and must have marked Schonland out for serious attention, for it was soon followed by the offer of the post of Chief Instructor in Wireless in the Army and with it the rank of Major. Others had noticed his all-round ability as well. The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company offered him a position in their Chelmsford Works. Both were tempting but he declined them. It had always been Schonland’s intention to return to Cambridge and to resume the academic career he had left in abeyance four years earlier in order to do his duty as a soldier. Though flattered by the offers made to him he remained resolute in his intention to become a scientist [3].
