New Zealanders and Science

1940

Storage TZB OCI J

Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs

The steel industry was essential during WWI for the manufacture of ships and munitions. However, the importation of refractory linings from Germany and Austria, used in steel-making furnaces in England, was banned. Mellor offered his services to the government and quickly developed alternatives to enable the continuation of the steel industry’s output. Jenkinson, in his New Zealanders and Science, outlines how a ‘well-known English technical magazine’ posited that Mellor could almost be credited with winning the war. Mellor was offered a peerage for his services to the country but the modest, unpretentious chemist graciously declined.