Joan Curran
Encyclopedia
Lady Joan Strothers Curran (26 February 1916 – 10 February 1999) was a Welsh
scientist
. She and her husband, Sir Samuel Curran, played important roles in the defense of the allied forces
of World War II
.
where her father was an optician
. She won an open scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge
, where, in 1935, she rowed for the ladies' university eight
in the first real Women's boat race
against Oxford
. She gained an honours degree in physics
which was not awarded since this was in the days before women were allowed Cambridge degrees. In her seventies, in 1987, she was honoured with the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa by the University of Strathclyde
.
Joan Strothers was awarded a government grant to study for a higher degree and elected to go to the Cavendish Laboratory
where she joined Sam Curran in a team under the direction of Philip Dee
. In the autumn of 1939, Dee and his team were in Exeter
, involved in the development of the proximity fuse when war broke out. Joan and Sam married on 7 November 1940. Soon afterwards they were transferred to the Telecommunications Research Establishment
near Swanage
, where Sam worked on centimetric radar while Joan joined the Counter Measures Group in an adjoining lab.
It was with this group, at Swanage and later at Malvern
, that Joan devised the technique, later to be known as 'Window'
('chaff
' is another name for it). She did so, as reported by R.V. Jones in his book Most Secret War, by cutting up strips of tinfoil which would be scattered in the path of enemy planes, thus disrupting their radar. Perhaps Window's most spectacular success was when it was dropped with great precision by Lancasters of 617 Squadron to synthesise a phantom invasion force of ships in the Straits of Dover on the night of 5-6 June 1944
. This kept the Germans unsure of whether the brunt of the Allied assault would fall on Normandy
or in the Pas de Calais.
In June 1944, the Currans were invited to go to the University of California at Berkeley to take part in the Manhattan Project
- the development of the atomic bomb. It was there that she gave birth to a daughter, Sheena, who was born severely mentally handicapped.
When they returned to Glasgow
, the Currans, together with a few friends, set up the Scottish Society for the Parents of Mentally Handicapped Children (Enable) which now has nearly 100 branches with more than 5000 members. Later, when Joan was a member of the Greater Glasgow Health Board and of the Scottish Special Housing Association, the needs of the disabled were always at the front of her mind and she did much to promote their interests. She took a close interest in the work of the Council for Access for the Disabled and helped improve the range of facilities, especially for disabled university students.
While her husband was Principal of Strathclyde University, Joan Curran founded the Strathclyde Women's Group and became its president. She promoted the special relationship with the Technical University of Lodz
, Poland
, and also devoted much care and attention to the children's hospital of that city. Later she established the Lady Curran Endowment fund for overseas, particularly Polish
, students.
When gravely ill with cancer in 1998, she unveiled a plaque
in Barony Hall, Glasgow
, in her husband's honour and it was revealed to her that the walled garden at Ross Priory
, on Loch Lomond
side, was to be named in her honour and that the Joan Curran Summer House would be built there.
Her daughter, Sheena, three sons and three grandsons survived her.
's novel Deception Point
, her invention of the radar countermeaure Chaff
is attributed to the "savvy british airman" who first put it into practice, and summarised as "throwing bales of hay wrapped in tinfoil out of his plane while on bombing runs".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
. She and her husband, Sir Samuel Curran, played important roles in the defense of the allied forces
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Biography
Joan Elizabeth Strothers was born in SwanseaSwansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
where her father was an optician
Optician
An optician is a person who is trained to fill prescriptions for eye correction in the field of medicine, also known as a dispensing optician or optician, dispensing...
. She won an open scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, where, in 1935, she rowed for the ladies' university eight
Cambridge University Women's Boat Club
Cambridge University Women's Boat Club is the University rowing club for women at the University of Cambridge. CUWBC field three crews to race against Oxford in the Henley Boat Races, these are the Blue Boat — the women's heavyweight VIII, the Lightweight Boat — the women's lightweight VIII and...
in the first real Women's boat race
Henley Boat Races
The Henley Boat Races are a number of rowing races between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. Taking place on the River Thames at Henley, they are for crews that do not compete in the main University Boat Race on the 6,779m Championship Course in London:* Women's Boat Race *...
against Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. She gained an honours degree in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
which was not awarded since this was in the days before women were allowed Cambridge degrees. In her seventies, in 1987, she was honoured with the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa by the University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
.
Joan Strothers was awarded a government grant to study for a higher degree and elected to go to the Cavendish Laboratory
Cavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory....
where she joined Sam Curran in a team under the direction of Philip Dee
Philip Dee
Philip Ivor Dee was a British physicist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1941 and won its Hughes Medal in 1952...
. In the autumn of 1939, Dee and his team were in Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, involved in the development of the proximity fuse when war broke out. Joan and Sam married on 7 November 1940. Soon afterwards they were transferred to the Telecommunications Research Establishment
Telecommunications Research Establishment
The Telecommunications Research Establishment was the main United Kingdom research and development organization for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force during World War II and the years that followed. The name was...
near Swanage
Swanage
Swanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is situated at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, approximately 10 km south of Poole and 40 km east of Dorchester. The parish has a population of 10,124 . Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks,...
, where Sam worked on centimetric radar while Joan joined the Counter Measures Group in an adjoining lab.
It was with this group, at Swanage and later at Malvern
Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
, that Joan devised the technique, later to be known as 'Window'
Chaff (radar countermeasure)
Chaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the Second World War era German Luftwaffe , is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of aluminium, metallized glass fibre or plastic, which either appears as a cluster of secondary...
('chaff
Chaff (radar countermeasure)
Chaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the Second World War era German Luftwaffe , is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of aluminium, metallized glass fibre or plastic, which either appears as a cluster of secondary...
' is another name for it). She did so, as reported by R.V. Jones in his book Most Secret War, by cutting up strips of tinfoil which would be scattered in the path of enemy planes, thus disrupting their radar. Perhaps Window's most spectacular success was when it was dropped with great precision by Lancasters of 617 Squadron to synthesise a phantom invasion force of ships in the Straits of Dover on the night of 5-6 June 1944
Operation Taxable
Operation Taxable was the codename for one of the deception operations used by the Allied forces during World War II in connection with the Normandy landings...
. This kept the Germans unsure of whether the brunt of the Allied assault would fall on Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
or in the Pas de Calais.
In June 1944, the Currans were invited to go to the University of California at Berkeley to take part in the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
- the development of the atomic bomb. It was there that she gave birth to a daughter, Sheena, who was born severely mentally handicapped.
When they returned to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, the Currans, together with a few friends, set up the Scottish Society for the Parents of Mentally Handicapped Children (Enable) which now has nearly 100 branches with more than 5000 members. Later, when Joan was a member of the Greater Glasgow Health Board and of the Scottish Special Housing Association, the needs of the disabled were always at the front of her mind and she did much to promote their interests. She took a close interest in the work of the Council for Access for the Disabled and helped improve the range of facilities, especially for disabled university students.
While her husband was Principal of Strathclyde University, Joan Curran founded the Strathclyde Women's Group and became its president. She promoted the special relationship with the Technical University of Lodz
Technical University of Lódz
The Technical University of Łódź was created in 1945 and has developed into one of the biggest in Poland. Originally located in an old factory building, today covering nearly 200,000 sq. meters in over 70 separate buildings, the majority of them situated in the main University area. Approximately...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and also devoted much care and attention to the children's hospital of that city. Later she established the Lady Curran Endowment fund for overseas, particularly Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, students.
When gravely ill with cancer in 1998, she unveiled a plaque
Memorial Plaque
The Memorial Plaque was issued after the First World War to the next-of-kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of the war....
in Barony Hall, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, in her husband's honour and it was revealed to her that the walled garden at Ross Priory
Ross Priory
Ross Priory is a category A listed building located west of Gartocharn, West Dunbartonshire, on the south shore of Loch Lomond. Although the term "Priory" implies some ecclesiastical provenance, this is not the case, being simply a 19th century romantic affectation.- History :The history of Ross...
, on Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...
side, was to be named in her honour and that the Joan Curran Summer House would be built there.
Her daughter, Sheena, three sons and three grandsons survived her.
In popular culture
In chapter 107 of Dan BrownDan Brown
Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...
's novel Deception Point
Deception Point
Deception Point is a 2001 techno-thriller novel by Dan Brown. The plot concerns a meteorite found within the Arctic Circle that may provide proof of extraterrestrial life, and attempts by dark forces to prevent this finding from becoming public.-Plot:...
, her invention of the radar countermeaure Chaff
Chaff (radar countermeasure)
Chaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the Second World War era German Luftwaffe , is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of aluminium, metallized glass fibre or plastic, which either appears as a cluster of secondary...
is attributed to the "savvy british airman" who first put it into practice, and summarised as "throwing bales of hay wrapped in tinfoil out of his plane while on bombing runs".