Morgan Cyprian McMahon O'Brien

Morgan Cyprian McMahon O'Brien (1886–1968) was born in New Zealand to Irish parents, and was an engineer and inventor with numerous patents particularly in the area of high-street and bank security, alarm systems, and ciphers.

Although O'Brien finished high in the New Zealand civil service examinations in 1904 aged 17, by 1911 he had become a miner at the infamous Waihi mine in the Hauraki District.

In 1914 O'Brien enlisted as a field artillery gunner in the main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force headed for Egypt and Gallipoli.

He survived the war and was discharged in 1919 with rank of sergeant, however his brother Daniel died in hospital of wounds on 15 Nov 1918, just days after the armistice.

The prototypes weren't complete until Autumn 1931, and there were teething troubles that revealed the machines to depend on "absolute accuracy of the timing, registering or meshing of certain parts".

This let to problems with the prototypes, and in-spite of continued development and a further patent in 1935 (GB453660[6]), it appears to be this that ultimately led to the failure to secure orders, although there were some commercial difficulties also.