Robert Lochner (1904–1965) was the inventor of the Bombardon breakwater, an integral part of the

Mulberry harbour The Mulberry harbours were two temporary portable harbours developed by the Admiralty (United Kingdom), British Admiralty and War Office during the Second World War to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches during the Allies of ...

, which helped the successful invasion of the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

beaches in June 1944.

Background

Before the war, Lochner was a qualified

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, he worked for 14 years for Crompton Parkinson Ltd in design, production and sales positions, before taking up an appointment as

sales manager Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales, through the sale of products and ...

for Laurence, Scott & Electromotors Ltd, moving to Rats Castle at about the same time. He was also a keen amateur sailor, and proud owner of his own sailing boat, the Odette. Amongst other achievements, he successfully completed the 208-mile RORC race in 1939.

War research

With war imminent, on 30 August 1939, he wrote to Admiral Lawrence volunteering his services as an experienced sailor and successful manager and was commissioned within 18 days. His days at sea came to an abrupt end when he was spotted in his glasses on board ship, and reassigned to research efforts. With the onset of war the Admiralty was seriously concerned by Germany's

magnetic mines A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

, which did not attach to ships' hulls but which detected the metal of the ships' hulls disrupting their

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

s, and sank 15 ships in short order. However, the defusing of a mine dropped by aircraft at

Shoeburyness Shoeburyness ( ), or simply Shoebury, is a coastal town in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England; it lies east of the city centre. It was formerly a separate town until it was absorbed into Southend in 1933. I ...

in November allowed a solution to be developed within one week. Lochner was assigned to the research efforts. Together with a team of fellow scientists, he invented the

degaussing Degaussing, or deperming, is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not ...

girdle, a skirt fitted to the hulls of ships, and energised by a special electric current which countered the threat from these mines, securing the future of the north Atlantic

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s on which Britain's war effort depended. In 1944 France was occupied by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s, the Allied Forces hatched a plan to attack the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

on French soil.

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

would not have been possible, due to the rough seas if it wasn't for one major element, the

Mulberry Harbour The Mulberry harbours were two temporary portable harbours developed by the Admiralty (United Kingdom), British Admiralty and War Office during the Second World War to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches during the Allies of ...

. One of the major challenges facing the

landings was to secure a European port for the delivery of essential supplies, but instead of capturing an existing port, the Allies decided on an audacious plan to build temporary harbours off the coast of

. The big challenge in the rough seas of the English Channel was to create a breakwater to protect the concrete landings from the vicious waves and Robert Lochner was the man chosen by Churchill to lead a group of scientists known as The Wheezers And Dodgers to solve this challenge. The Wheezers And Dodgers, under Lochner's leadership were to play a critical role in winning the war.

Bombardon breakwater

Recovering from flu at the family home in

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south-west Surrey, England, around south-west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise ...

in Surrey in the spring of 1943, he had an inspiration. While sitting in the bath playing with his hand flannel he noticed that when he made waves on one side of the

flannel Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of varying fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fiber. Flannel is commonly used to make tartan clothing, blankets, ...

, on the other side the waters were calm. He jumped out of the bath, dressed and grabbed an old rubber lilo and formed a 'keel' by bending it lengthways and sewing the two sides together. Then, with the help of his wife, Mary Lochner, they made waves on one side with a spade and experimented all day in the family pond until he found that waves only exert their force to a relatively shallow depth, completely revolutionising the approach to the solution. By July 1943 a mathematical theory to support the approach had been evolved and in August 1943 experiments began in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. The breakwaters were , , and , with gigantic airbags divided into three compartments separated by canvas walls proofed with rubber. Later that summer, Lochner and his fellow scientists flew to Canada for the Quebec Conference to report the progress of the harbours to

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

and

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. The decision to go ahead was taken and full-scale trials of the floating breakwater started in April 1944. During the trial, an onshore gale produced heavy seas, but Robert's bombardons calmed the waves effectively. Assembling two

s, beginning on 7 June 1944 (the day after the landings), was one of the most remarkable engineering feats in history. A total of 1,500,000 tons of harbour equipment had to be taken across the channel in an operation involving 150 Allied tugs, and by

plus 12, most of Lochner's floating steel breakwaters were in position. Lochner's bombardons were effectively temporary structures liable to storm damage, and should not be confused with the heavy concrete

Phoenix breakwaters The Phoenix breakwaters were a set of reinforced concrete caissons built as part of the artificial Mulberry harbours that were assembled as part of the preparations for the Normandy landings during World War II. A total of 213 were built, with ...

which can still be seen at

Arromanches Arromanches-les-Bains (; or simply Arromanches) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. Geography Arromanches-les-Bains is 12 km north-east of Bayeux and 10 km west of Courseulles-su ...

. On 23 July, Churchill visited the harbours and on his return stated: "This miraculous port has played and will continue to play a most important part in the liberation of Europe". As a reward for his war efforts contributing to the Mulberry harbours, he received the remarkable sum of £5,000.

Later career

After the war, Lochner had a third career, qualifying and practicing as a successful patent and trademark barrister. He was due to be appointed as a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

at the time of his death.

References

External links