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The secret D-Day scientists and engineers
The Gaza Pier debacle and the necessary homework not done. BLUF: [BBC] Being able to predict sea conditions - especially the type of waves hitting beaches - would be critical. "If you have a landing craft, it's much shorter than the length of the big swell waves that come off the Atlantic Ocean, so there was a risk that if it dived down in a swell wave it wouldn't come back up," explained the physical oceanography professor. "Understanding whether there were going to be swell waves or just small choppy water was really important, so they could do the landing at the right time." It was here that Darbyshire excelled within what was known as the top secret Group W in Teddington. He came up with a way to model wave patterns using iron buoys in the sea, and measuring their magnetic movements. His team even developed a computer, the first of its kind for rapid analysis of wave types. They discovered they were able to predict wave patterns linked to weather events, even storms happening hundreds of miles away. Armed with that information and weather forecasts, the allied forces were able to pick their day. Or in the case of D-Day - as actually happened - delay it by 24 hours because of the predictions. "It was absolute genius what they did," said Prof Rippeth. Posted by: Besoeker 2024-06-01 |
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