How engineering feats vital to the success of the Normandy landings are being used to inspire children in Portsmouth

The ‘D-Day Pioneers to Future Innovators’ project plans to develop interactive learning resources to raise awareness of engineering careers and help boost uptake of STEM subjects.

Among the engineering feats that will be explored are the Mulberry Harbours, two huge artificial ports used to keep British and American troops supplied on the Normandy beaches during the Allied invasion. Key components were constructed in Hampshire, before being towed across the Channel.

Workshops will help bring to life the engineering and logistical challenges, which secondary schoolchildren will be able to explore using archive materials and model making. They’ll also look at the post-war development of World War Two landing craft for use as ferries, and the evolution of roll-on roll-off (RoRo) ferries used around the world today.  

The pilot project has been co-designed by local researcher Martin Gegg, alongside Dr Tarek Teba and doctoral candidate Eve Horsfall, both from the University of Portsmouth’s Centre of Excellence for Heritage Innovation (CoE-HI).

CoE-HI Co-Director and Project Lead Dr Tarek Teba said: “Hampshire has remarkable but underused D-Day-related engineering stories, which offer an opportunity to transform heritage into a gateway for engineering engagement and learning.

“We hope that a legacy of this project will be an increased engagement and collaboration with local communities, leading to further exhibitions, interactive workshops and wider roll out of the educational tools.” 

Local researcher Martin Gegg said: “I had spent several years researching Britain’s D-Day heritage and felt that the three Mulberry Phoenix construction sites in Hampshire provided an opportunity to further explore the heritage, and help children and young people to develop an engineering vocabulary. My simple pitch to the University was that I believed we could use D-Day pioneers as the basis to develop future innovators.”   

CoE-HI is working with local researchers, museums and maritime organisations on the project, including The D-Day Story, Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery, The Royal Logistic Corps Museum, Red Funnel, Wightlink, Keel Marine Limited, Portsmouth City Council, Portsmouth Creates and HIVE Portsmouth.

The project, funded by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s Small Grants programme, will continue to raise awareness through pop-up exhibitions around Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.