Corkscrew Thinkers Won World War II: It’s Time to Bring Them Back
In Corkscrew Thinkers Won World War II: It’s Time to Bring Them Back, Dr Richard Milburn argues that the creative, unorthodox problem-solvers once championed by Winston Churchill — “Corkscrew Thinkers” — are essential to revitalising innovation within UK Defence. During World War II, such thinkers were instrumental in success stories like the creation of the SAS, the Enigma breakthrough, and Operation Mincemeat. Today, however, Defence’s capacity for such ingenuity has diminished under the weight of bureaucracy, risk aversion, and incrementalism.
Richard draws on Safi Bahcall’s Loonshots framework to propose small, agile “Moonshot” teams — autonomous units dedicated to bold experimentation without disrupting core operations. He introduces the concept of a Corkscrew Teamworking under a “peacetime war-footing”: a small, low-cost, high-creativity methodology empowered to develop transformational ideas across Defence and society. His proposed pilot, Project Mosquito, would focus on environmental security — demonstrating how sustainability can strengthen military capability, resilience, and national security rather than constrain them.
The paper critiques Defence’s perception of sustainability as a constraint or “nuisance” and calls for a new kind of environmentalist — pragmatic, security-minded, and capable of reframing climate action as a strategic advantage. Using examples from Ukraine’s “war-wilding” tactics to digital anti-poaching operations under Operation CORDED, Richard illustrates how environmental adaptation can yield tactical and operational gains.
He proposes forming a tri-service Reservist Corkscrew Team, supported by senior Defence leadership, to generate, assess, and implement ideas through Defence blogs and podcasts, emulating the US Army’s Mad Scientist initiative. Richard concludes with a direct challenge to Defence leaders — to “take the bet” and establish the team — pledging his own Army pension that it would deliver innovations worth at least ten times its cost within three years.
This paper is both a strategic call to action and a cultural challenge: to rediscover the audacity, adaptability, and intellectual courage that once defined Britain’s wartime innovation, and to apply it to the climate and security challenges of the 21st century. See full paper here.