In 1940 in their darkest hour Britain and the Commonwealth Nations were alone in facing the might of the all conquering German forces in the Battle for Britain.  This air war was not going well as England did not have enough pilots to defend the skies, but an invention called Radar helped turn things around.

This was from a team led by Australian Scientist Mark Oliphant, who then went on a couple of weeks later to provide the proof required for an atomic bomb to be created.

Around the same time, his boyhood friend Howard Florey – also in England in 1940 – developed Penicillin – a game changer against infection.

Within 100 days these two Australian Scientists from Adelaide led remarkable teams in separate disciplines that changed the outcome of the Second World War.

Following the war, they joined to found the Australian National University

Image: Image: NewSouth

Produced By: Roderick Chambers

Featured In Story: Brett Mason, former Queensland Senator and Author of Wizards of Oz – NewSouth Press

First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 2 November 2022