Museum awarded £234k to save unique Second World War records

A museum has received lottery funding to create a new exhibition about the floating harbours which helped win the Second World War.

The Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham has been given £233,976 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to save its collection of original plans of the Mulberry harbours and making them accessible to visitors and online users.

This project will focus on the engineering heritage of the war, with a focus on artefacts relating to one of the war’s most audacious engineering achievements – the Mulberry harbours.

These floating harbours were an engineering solution to one of the most pressing challenges facing Allied Commanders in their overall strategy for victory in Europe.

It was accepted by all, that the war against the Nazis would only end when campaigns in the south and east were joined by a major invasion from the UK and push into Germany.

Seaborne invasions were, and remain, one of the most hazardous of military operations and successful landings would need to be quickly resupplied by huge numbers of men, ammunition, food and vehicles.

French ports were too heavily defended for attempted capture in the first assaults.

The solution to this problem sounds simple; if you cannot capture a harbour, you bring your own.

The Royal Engineers led the design, building and post-invasion operation of temporary floating harbours, larger than Dover harbour, off Normandy.

Taking just weeks to build and costing £926 million in today’s money, after five months of operation, the harbours had carried 220,000 soldiers, 40,000 tanks and vehicles and 680,000 tons of stores to the Front.

Over the next two years the National Lottery funded project will enable the conservation and digitisation of 1,000s of original blueprints and plans of the Mulberry harbours, as well as wartime models.

From summer 2025 these can be explored through a temporary exhibition at the museum, which will be complimented by an online exhibition, digital catalogue records, events, talks and social media content.

New volunteer groups will support the work. Visit the museum website for more information on how to get involved.

Major General David Southall CBE, chairman of the Royal Engineers Museum, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“Thanks to the grant, this unique wartime archive will be accessible for the first time since 1944 and be used to tell the inspiring story of engineering innovation and ingenuity.

“The project is a great opportunity for people to get involved with our work, learn new skills and safeguard this internationally significant archive”.