Biographical entry Coombes, Lawrence Percival (1899 - 1988)

Summary

Lawrence Percival Coombes was the first Chief Superintendent of the Aeronautical Research Laboratories firstly under CSIR 1938-48 and then under the Department of Supply 1949-64. During part of 1919 he was a pilot with Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith.

Details

Born 9 April 1899. Died 3 June 1988. CBE 1964, DFC ca 1918. Educated City and Guilds Engineering College, London (BScEng). Royal Navy Air Services and Royal Air Force 1917-19, C.A.Parsons & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne 1920-24, Scientific Officer, Aerodynamics Department, Royal Aircraft Establishment 1924-25, first scientific officer, Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment, Felixstowe 1925-30, in charge of Seaplane Tank, Royal Aircraft Establishment 1930-38, Chief, Division of Aeronautics, CSIR 1938-48, Chief Superintendent, Aeronautical Research Laboratory, Department of Supply, Melbourne 1949-64. Lawrence Hargrave Memorial Medal 1957, Kingsford-Smith Memorial Medal 1962, Kernot Memorial Medal 1968.

Related entries

Archival resources

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Corporate Records and Archives Strategies

• Lawrence Percival Coombes - Records, 1938 - 1948; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Corporate Records and Archives Strategies. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• Lawrence Percival Coombes - Records, 1900 - 1988; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Johnson, Mandy; Scillio, Mark; Taylor, Angela; Buchanan, Rod; O'Sullivan, Lisa; McCarthy, Gavan, A Guide to the Records of Lawrence Percival Coombes, Australian Science Archives Project, Melbourne, 1993, 86 pp. Also available at http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/coom/coombes.htm. Details

Resource Sections

• McCarthy, Gavan, Career Outline, Guide to the Records of Lawrence Percival Coombes, Australian Science Archives Project, Melbourne, 1993. Also available at http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/coom/COOMP01.htm. Details

Online Resources

• Guide to the Records of Lawrence Percival Coombes, Australian Science Archives Project, 1993, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/guides/coombes/. Details
• 'Speech by Ditta Bartels at launch of the Guide to the Records of Laurence Percival Coombes', HASN, vol. 32, 1994, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/hasn/no32/feats32.htm#coombes. Details
• Johnson, Mandy , Mark Scillio, Angela Taylor and Rod Buchanan with Lisa O'Sullivan and Gavan McCarthy, Lawrence Percival Coombes Guide to Records, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 2004, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/coom/coombes.htm. Details
• National Library of Australia, 'Coombes, L P', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-837572. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/scripts/tia-dynindex.php3?EID=P000322. Details
• Mellor, D.P., 'Optical Munitions', Chapter 12 in Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 4: Civil, volume 5 'The Role of Science and Industry', Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1958, 1958, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/mellor.htm. Details
• Wisdom, John, A History of Defence Science in Australia, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Melbourne, 1995, 267 pp. Details