 After the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 , the Physics Department worked on the development of optical munitions , particularly aluminised mirrors for aerial photography . In February 1942 , Oliphant persuaded Laby to release Burhop and Leslie Martin to work on microwave radar at the Radiophysics Laboratory in Sydney . Burhop and Martin produced a laboratory model of a cavity magnetron on 23 July 1942 . Their magnetron was based on an overseas design , but made entirely from local components so that it could be manufactured in Australia . In September 1942 he returned to the University of Melbourne as the officer in charge of the Radar Research Laboratory , an outpost of the Radiophysics Laboratory , where his task was turning his cavity magnetrons and reflex klystrons from prototypes into production models . Eventually , over 2 @,@ 000 radar sets were produced in Australia . 
