The creation of the cavity magnetron in February 1940 couldn’t prevent the fall of France in June and Australian scientist Mark Oliphant, leading the team in England developing the magnetron, sent his family home to Australia. Yet throughout 1941, Japan and the U.S. remained at loggerheads over oil and the Japanese invasion of China. On December 7, Japanese forces attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbour and the following day, Australia joined a coalition of nations, including the U.S. and U.K., in declaring war on Japan. War was set to transform Australian science and technology.
"Australia was not only a recognised leader in valve technology, we were also pioneering new research in radio-direction
