British D-Day engineer honoured in France
Wartime necessity occasionally inspires moments of genius and one of the great marine civil engineering innovations of World War 2 was the Mulberry Harbour, the landing bridges critical to success of the D-Day landings at Normandy in June 1944.
A memorial to the engineer who designed the floating bridge system connecting the Mulberry pierhead to the shore, and the kite anchor system which kept it in place, was unveiled on the 6th of this month in ceremonies at the French town of Arromanches-les-Bains, site of the Mulberry Harbour which supported the invasion of northern France.
Engineer Allan Beckett was given a week by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to design a floating roadway system strong enough to withstand constant wave action. First tested in harsh winter conditions off Scotland, it was proven in action by staying in place throughout a three day storm which struck Normandy on 19 June 1944. Key to the Mulberry Harbour’s success was Beckett’s incredibly effective ‘kite anchor’, which dug itself into the sand to hold the floating harbour in position.
In recognition of his essential contribution to D-Day’s success, and representing a generous French accolade to British engineering, the Mayor of Arromanches honoured Allan Beckett by renaming the town square Espace Beckett during the 65th anniversary celebrations this month. A memorial to his work includes a full size replica of his kite anchor, made by K & N Welding of Kent UK and sitting on a plinth in the square featuring two bronze bas reliefs of Beckett by sculptor Richard Clarke.
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