Peter Arthur Cox (30 October 1922 – 17 November 2018) was a British

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

Early life

He was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in October 1922 and held a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in engineering..

Military career

Cox served as a

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, being promoted from

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

with

591st (Antrim) Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers The Antrim Fortress Royal Engineers was a coast defence unit of the UK's Territorial Army formed in Northern Ireland in the late 1930s. During World War II it was converted to a parachute role and dropped into Normandy on D Day and across the Rhi ...

, on 15 August 1943. He was wounded on 17 January 1945 when a pile of mines exploded. He served at the crossing of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

( Operation Varsity) on 24 March 1945 when his

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

was the only one to arrive at the correct position at the bridges over the

River Issel The Oude IJssel (Dutch, , literally ''old IJssel'') or Issel (German, ) is a river in Germany and the Netherlands approximately long. It is a right tributary of the river IJssel. ''Oude IJssel'' is Dutch for "Old IJssel"; the Oude IJssel was the ...

. He and his small party of Sappers were engaged in heavy fighting before the infantry captured the bridge and they could prepare it for demolition. Cox's party then moved to another bridge, which was under fire and he had to crawl out on his stomach, carrying one explosive charge at a time. The bridge was successfully destroyed before a German armoured counter-attack reached it. Cox was

Mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for his exploits.Cox at 591 (Antrim) Para Sqn site.
/ref> His war emergency commission was confirmed on 17 November 1948 with seniority of 30 October 1945. He continued in the Territorial Army after the war, and reached the rank of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in 1981.

Engineering career

Cox ended his career as the last senior partner of Rendel, Palmer and Tritton, the consulting firm which under his leadership designed the Thames Barrier. The firm had been founded in 1838 by

James Meadows Rendel James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and was re-established as Rendel Ltd within the Ingérop group ( fr) in 2015. He was also a fellow of the

City and Guilds of London Institute The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...

. He was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers for the November 1980-1 session and was president of the

Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers was founded in England in 1771. It was the first engineering society to be formed anywhere in the world, and remains the oldest. It was originally known as the Society of Civil Engineers, being renamed fo ...

for 1999.

References

Bibliography

* 1922 births 2018 deaths British civil engineers Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Royal Engineers officers {{civil-engineering-stub