 Edward Terrell was a successful barrister and magistrate with a flair for invention; by 1940 he had registered a number of patents relating to pens, ink bottles and peeling knives.When war came, he volunteered for the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve and when he was accepted he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Special Branch of the Volunteer Reserve, the highest possible rank permitted by fleet orders under the circumstances.Terrell was brought into the Admiralty to run an information gathering section, concerned with the manner in which small ships were attacked by aircraft.