John Holmes Jellett

Who was John Holmes Jellett?

John Holmes Jellett OBE, DSc, MA was a British civil engineer.

Jellett was appointed assistant civil engineer to the Admiralty on 22 June 1933. He served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War and was commissioned as a Temporary Captain. His engineering talents were called upon during the Invasion of Normandy where he was made Superintending Civil Engineer of Mulberry Harbour B, a temporary concrete harbour built at Arromanches. Mulberry B was in use for five months following the invasion and landed two million men, half a million vehicles and four million tons of supplies for the Liberation of Europe.

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. His citation in the London Gazette referred to his "distinguished service in operations which led to the successful landing of allied forces in Normandy".

After the war from October 1945 to February 1946 he was Superintending Civil Engineer, HM Dockyard, Chatham. From 1946-48 he was Deputy Docks Engineer, Southern Railway, Southampton Docks. After nationalisation of the railway companies he was Docks Engineer, Southampton Docks, British Transport Commission from 1948-58 and he was Chief Docks Engineer, Southampton Docks from 1958 until his retirement in 1966.