V
The towing of all components across the
Channel was a Naval commitment. Once they
were sited in final position, the Phoenix units
for the breakwaters were sunk down by parties
of Royal Engineers especially trained in the
operation of the flooding valves, but the final
siting and aligning of the units immediately
prior to sinking was an Admiralty responsi
bility.
Our Department had previously designed the
layout of the harbours, which included the
alignment of the breakwaters, and the positions
and widths of the entrances, and we had pre
pared all the plans required for this. Accord
ingly, it was arranged that a Civil Engineering
Adviser should be seconded to the Naval Stall',
and Mr. j. H. Jellett (now Chief Docks Engin
eer, Southampton Railway Docks) was flown
home from Malta, where he was Superintending
Civil Engineer, for this duty which he carried
out as Captain J. H. Jellett, R.N.V.R. I shall
always remember two little personal incidents
connected with Jellett at the time: when he
landed in this country he found that he had
got shingles and was very worried in case he
should not be fit on "D" Day. After a long
day pouring over plans together, he came home
with me for an evening meal. My wife was not
expecting him, but by a happy coincidence we
had Dover soles! A few days later Jellett
was on the first ship of the mighty invasion
procession to establish Mulberry B at Arro-
manche.
A fortnight after "D" Day there occurred a
storm of very rare intensity for the summer.
Unfortunately, some of our fears were sub
stantiated. No Phcenix units were bowled com
pletely over but quite a number were shifted
bodily, and many collapsed because their sides
were not strong enough. As a result, the
whole of the American harbourMulberry A
was abandoned as a 100% loss and some
50% of Mulberry B was destroyed, although
this did not prevent the harbour from being
used.
The Mulberry projects as a whole have been
very properly acclaimed as a marvel of Military
Engineering, but it is important to appreciate
the distinction between Military Engineering,
carried out as a matter of life and death under
the stress of war, and Civil Engineering, which
as its name literally implies, has to be carried
out in time of peace as a means of living. Two
weeks after "D" Day, upwards of £40 million
had been spent on Mulberries A. and B. Two
days later, as a result of a storm which was
only severe judged by summer standards, over
£30 million of this effort had disappeared.
As an example of Military Engineering
which, of course, was what it was designed
to be. Mulberries were a 25°,, success and,
therefore, an outstanding Military achievement.
Considered as a piece of Civil Engineering,
however, they were a 75%, failure, and one
of the biggest recorded.
Continued on page 29)
