Colonel Sir Frederic Lewis Nathan, KBE, (1861–1933) was a chemical engineer who played a major part in the supply of munitions in the UK during the First World War.
[1][2] Being a Jew, he did not have access to leading British public schools, so was educated privately,[3] before entering the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
[1] Nathan joined the Royal Artillery in 1879, serving in Britain and India[4] specialising in ordnance, helping to develop the magazine rifle[4] and rising eventually to the rank of Brevet Colonel,[5] his last post being Superintendent of the Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham Abbey.
[5][1][3] The factory produced more than just gunpowder, and Nathan was responsible for the first production batches of cordite and a patent for equipment for the manufacture of nitroglycerine.
[2][1][3] During the First World War, Nathan was responsible for building factories for the production of TNT and cordite.