The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to achieve combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneered by Frank Whittle and his company, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, although work on the engines had been under way since 1936.
So apparently they did strap Sir Whittle's gizmo to the underside of a British plane.
They also strapped them to American planes, as the P80 Shooting Star actually was used for a few recon missions in Italy during the war.