Very little changes, even in three quarters of a century.
In WW2, Britain sent three top Rolls-Royce engineers to America to assist Packard in setting up production of Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in the USA.
The work was impossibly stressful, Colonel Barrington was dead within 18months, the 2nd was sent back to Britain and hospitalised in 1944, he died at just 57, the third retired soon after his last colleage died.
Colonel Barrington, formerly Chief Designer at Rolls-Royce, who had been moved to the USA, began talking with his Packard contacts with whom he reguarly talked.
Many of these were "simple" test technicians, Barrington (Chief designer of the most important Allied aviation powerplant firm in Europe), who was struggling to just make basic ends meet in the USA, one day casually asked one of the American test technicians how much he earned, as he was puzzled as to how, if HE, a former Chief Designer was struggling - was it even concievable that a test technician survived ?
Barrington was staggered to discover that he was paid LESS than a fairly menial test technician in America.
Packard, were no less stunned, and immediately offered Barrington money, "we will pay whatever the difference is" they told the Briton.
Barrington, sensing that perhaps he ought to seek approval, wrote to the Ministry of Aircraft Production, who were acting as the defacto employer as they had "seconded" these British engineers to America, and so were effectively now state employees and not Rolls-Royce personell anymore. The Ministry scorned his request, and considered that his salary was commeasurate with other Ministry personell, they made Barrington refuse the offer of Packards money as they were embarrased to be shown up by the Americans.
A year of wrangling followed, after the letter requesting the pay rise was sent.
A year later, Barrington was stone-dead, literally killed by the pure stress of his position.
To this day, Britain`s attitudes to monetary reward for "grubby" people like engineers remains relatively unchanged as a whole.
But these men did not flinch, quit, or hesitate - they still carried on despite their own nation not rewarding them toward the end of destroying Fascism - and died, sprawled over their drawing boards.
In Britain at home it was the same, at Bristol Aeroplanes, Roy Feddens military aero engine designers were dying, his closes parter since WW1, in 1941 at Paddington Rail station, simply collapsed and died.
We need a memorial to the Forgotten Engineer, who, without any fuss, worked so hard that one day, he simply died, and his drawing board fell silent, without a shot being fired.
Many such men drove themselves to death in WW2 by simply concentrating and working so hard their hearts stopped.