The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-19
MAJOR WALPOLE AN IN LINING UNCLE SAM CANNON
Well Known Birmingham Man Back in Civil Life From Duties at Water
 vliet Arsenal.


 Another Birmingham man about whose war work little has been said is Maj. Nathaniel c. Walpole, who is again in civil life and back at his former du- ties as southern sales manager for the
 Pratt & Whitney company and the Niles ! Bement- Pond company. Major Walpole's duties kept him at the Watervliet ar senal at Watervliet N. Y., and his only disappointment was that he did not get to go to France.
 Major Walpole was born in Aiken, s. C., and is a Massachusetts Tech man. He
 was first engaged after his graduation in some of the manufacturing plants of Providence and then went to Dallas as superintendent of the Murray Manufac- turing company, makers Of cotton gin- ming machinery. Several of his cotton ginning inventions are still in use. He
 later became superintendent of the Har- die-Tynes plant in Birmingham He has always taken an interest in military mat ters, having been a member of the Geor. gia National Guard and for four years a member of the first machine gun bat tery of Rhode Island, crack organiza- tion. He also attended six summer train ing camps.
 His work during the war is best shown in the comment of Col Charles G. Nett Ter, commander of the Watervliet ar senal in requesting Major Walpoie's discharge. The order reads in part:
 VALUABLE SERVICES 1, I desire to have the following his tory of Major Walpole's work in the ord nance department filed with his records,
 as his services may again be of great
 value to the department.
 2 The chief of ordnance requested Mai Nathaniel c. Walpole to apply for a commission in the ordnance reserve corps on account of an understanding he had with the commanding officer or the American ordnance base depot Tn France that his services were desired overseas in connection with the refining of cannon in France. He reported for duty in Washington, D. C., at the Ameri- can base depot headquarters on Septem- Der 9. 1917, and here assisted in plan ming the necessary equipment for the re- lining shops in France, and in laying out the work for that depot. AS he had been for considerable period in the machine tool business prior to hls en- trance into the sevice his knowledge and experience were most valuable in ob- taining for the base depot the best ma chine equipment that could be secured in the United States. His intimate rela- tions with the tool manutacturerS through his previous experience assisted in getting the machines built at the earliest practical date. The value of ms services in connection with this work Is we'll known to the department. Having completed his work with the depot offlce | in Washington he was detailed for duty at Watervlet arsenal and placed m l charge of the organization and tralnlnS | Of the enlisted and commissioned person. l nel sent to Watervliet arsenal for train l ing to operate tHe base depot cannon re- ! lining and repair. shops in France. He has been continuously engaged in this work 1 from December i, 1917, to the present date He developed a system of training | of technical troops by using them on actual production work of a character | similar to the work epected in the shops ! in France and within the allotted time thoroughly prepared the personnel for the cannon refining shops. The results
 of his training have been demonstrated by the efficiency oS the troops sent to France from the school.
 | ! B. Major Walpoles services as an as | sistant to the commanding officer at l Watervliet arsenal have been valuable | in an advisory capacity in connection with the shop management and the pur- chase of equipment. He was detailed in | charge of the liner shop at Watervliet arsenal after the large part of the school /, had been sent to France. He organized l the liner shop started the work and | remained in charge of the work until | the present date.
 ! f. Major Wapole's engineering advice l in connection with the refining of artil-
 lery cannon has been of great value. He experimented with and developed a method of electrically welding thin
 liners in place, both at the breech ana
 muzzle end of the liner, and the 75 nm. gun model 1916, refined by his method | has at $500 rounds withstood the firing test as well as a new cannon. He has also applied successfully a breech op- erating device to the 75 nm. gun, model
 1916
 | 5. In view of the fact that he would l lhave less chance of obtaining overseas
 duty as a lieutenant colonel he has re- quested that he be not promoted, al though his promotion has frequently been requested He has always consid- Tered his work at the arsenal in training l the personnel for the cannon refining shops as preliminary to service in France and has nsistently tried to ob- tain service abroad After surrender was l indicated his promotion was recom- mended on account of the impossiblity | of his obtaining overseas service. It is | thought that his excellent work in the ordnance department would entitle him to the grade of lieutenant-colonel. In view of the fact that his business inter | ests are requiring his immediate atten- tion he has asked to be discharged. It | is requested that his discharge be ob-
 tained as early as practicable, and that this letter be filed with his application for discharge in order that his valuable services may not be lost in case they
 are required.
 | CHARLES G. METTLER,
 l Colonel, Ordnance Department, U. $. A, l commanding.
 nAO-A