John Holmes Jellett Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE),

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

, MA (20 April 1905 – 17 June 1971) was a British civil engineer. Jellett started his career as a bridge and canal engineer before joining the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

, where he specialised in docks. He made improvements to the Royal Navy dockyards and depots at Chatham, Singapore, Devonport, Gibraltar and Milford Haven in the 1930s. 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 opposi ...

Jellett was responsible for works in Egypt and Malta as superintendent civil engineer for the Eastern Mediterranean. After service in the Mediterranean, he was superintending engineer for Mulberry Harbour B that supplied the allied forces in France after the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

. Jellett was appointed an OBE for this work in late 1944. After the war he worked for the Southern Railway and then the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...

Southampton Docks The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and op ...

. Jellett served as president of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

in 1968–69.

Early life and career

Jellett was born on 20 April 1905 in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

, India. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

in England and graduated with a first class Bachelor of Arts degree in the mechanical sciences

tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

, from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

in 1927. Jellett joined the drawing office of Rendel,

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

and Tritton and spent the next three years designing railway girder bridges for the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

, principally in India and the colonies. His designs included the

Rewa Bridge The Rewa Bridge is a four-lane concrete girder road bridge over the Rewa River joining Suva and Nausori in Fiji. The bridge has a length of , comprising seven internal spans of 49.5 m and end spans of 39.25 m. It is the longest bridge in Fiji an ...

in Fiji and the Dhaleswari Bridge in Eastern Bengal. He also completed a preliminary design for a crossing of the River Thames at Charing Cross. Jellett joined the firm of

Robert Elliott-Cooper Sir Robert Elliott-Cooper (29 January 1845 – 16 February 1942) was a British civil engineer. He spent much of his career as a railway engineer with projects in his native Yorkshire, India and West Africa. Elliott-Cooper was members of the com ...

in 1932 to become assistant

resident engineer In general, a resident engineer is a person who works at or from the clients' side of a project. He or she possess a high degree of technical and social skills. One of the main goals of the designated role is to foster knowledge transfer. The role e ...

for the construction of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

in Warwickshire, including the construction of 52 new locks and widening and deepening the canal.

Admiralty civil engineer

Jellett was appointed assistant civil engineer to the

on 22 June 1933, with responsibility for maintenance of

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century ...

. Jellett installed a new main drainage system and began reclaiming nearby marshland. In 1935, he transferred to the

Singapore Naval Base His Majesty's Naval Base, Singapore, also Her Majesty's Naval Base, Singapore (HMNB Singapore), alternatively known as the Singapore Naval Base, Sembawang Naval Base and HMS Sembawang, was situated in Sembawang at the northern tip of Singapore ...

as deputy to the divisional officer in charge of construction of a new armaments depot with associated stores and workshops, on a reclaimed mangrove swamp. Jellett was responsible for underground reinforced concrete

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

, sewerage, drainage, water supply, roads and a

metre-gauge railway Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

. Jellett was promoted to civil engineer of the naval base in 1936 and to Civil Engineer to the Admiralty in 1938, working from

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

. He was involved in planning dredging operations, construction of

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

stations and widening dry docks in HMNB Devonport and

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. Jellett became officer-in-charge of the final part of the construction of the Naval mine depot at

RNMD Milford Haven RNMD Milford Haven is a decommissioned Royal Naval Armaments Depot located on the north shore of Milford Haven Waterway, Milford Haven between Milford Haven and Llanstadwell, Llanstadwel in the County of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The area is known as ...

in 1939, which included workshops for the manufacture of explosives, safety moats and protective measures for fuel oil at the fuelling depots.

Second World War

Jellett was promoted to superintendent civil engineer in 1940, working from the temporary Admiralty offices in Bath, Somerset. He was responsible for motor torpedo boat bases, minefield control towers, sea forts, shipyard and naval armament factories. In 1942, he was superintendent civil engineer for the Eastern Mediterranean and carried out dredging and widening works on the Great Pass in Alexandria, renovating dry docks and constructing new slipways. He became superintendent for civil engineering works at the

Malta Dockyard Malta Dockyard was an important naval base in the Grand Harbour in Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. The infrastructure which is still in operation is now operated by Palumbo Shipyards. History Pre-1800 The Knights of Malta established dockyard ...

in 1943, where he carried out works to repair bomb damage from the two-year Siege of Malta. Jellett was commissioned as a Temporary Captain in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

in 1944 and appointed superintending civil engineer of Mulberry Harbour B, a temporary concrete harbour built at

Arromanches Arromanches-les-Bains (; or simply Arromanches) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arromanchais'' or ''Arromanchaises''. Geography Arromanches-le ...

, France to support the

. He was responsible for siting the

blockship A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914 ...

s and

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. They were constructed by civil eng ...

that protected the harbour. Mulberry B was in use for five months after the invasion and landed two million men, half a million vehicles and four million tons of supplies for the

Liberation of Europe The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf ...

. Mulberry A, under control of American forces and more exposed to the weather, was wrecked by a storm in late June and abandoned, leaving Jellett's harbour as the main landing point for supplies to the allied forces in France. In recognition of Jellett's work with the Mulberry harbour he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 28 November 1944. The citation in the '' London Gazette'' referred to his "distinguished service in operations which led to the successful landing of allied forces in Normandy".

Post-war work

From October 1945 to February 1946 Jellett was superintending civil engineer at Chatham and from 1946 to 1948 was deputy docks engineer for Southern Railway at

. After the

Transport Act 1947 The Transport Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6 c. 49) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under the terms of the Act, the railway network, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were nationalised and came under ...

which nationalised the railways, he was promoted to docks engineer for the

at Southampton and to chief docks engineer in 1958, a position he held until his retirement in December 1965. His primary concerns at Southampton were with repairing war damage, reclaiming 450 acres of salt marsh and diverting the

River Test The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. Below the village of ...

. After retirement he entered private practice as a consulting engineer in conjunction with EWH Gifford & Partners in Southampton. Jellett returned to the armed forces on 3 July 1957 when he was appointed a major in the

Engineer and Railway Staff Corps The Engineer and Logistic Staff Corps is a part of the Royal Engineers in the British Army Reserve. It is intended to provide advisers on engineering and logistics to the British Army at a senior level. Following its work creating the NHS Nighti ...

, a part-time volunteer unit of the Territorial Army that offered advice to the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

on engineering matters. In 1966 he was elected a first class engineer member 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 ...

. Jellett served as President of the

from November 1968 to November 1969. He had been a member of the institution since 1932 and a member of its council since 1956. Jellett was the third former chief engineer of Southampton Docks to become president, after Alfred Giles and

Francis Wentworth-Shields Francis Ernest Wentworth-Sheilds OBE (also spelt Shields; 16 November 1869 – 10 May 1959) was a British civil engineer.. Francis Ernest Sheilds was born in London in 1869, the younger son of engineer Francis Webb Sheilds. Rev. Wentworth We ...

and was unusually young to be selected as president in that era. Jellett was awarded an honorary doctorate of science degree by

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

in July 1968. He authored the ''Harbours and Sea Works'' article entry in ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

''.Encyclopædia Britannica author entry
/ref> Jellett lived in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, from 1946 until his death on 17 June 1971. He was married with two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jellett, John Holmes British civil engineers Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1905 births 1971 deaths Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Navy officers Engineer and Railway Staff Corps officers Harbour engineers British people in colonial India Military personnel of British India 20th-century British Army personnel