Ralph Alger Bagnold
Encyclopedia
Brigadier
Ralph Alger Bagnold, FRS OBE, (3 April 1896 – 28 May 1990) was the founder and first commander of the British Army
's Long Range Desert Group
during World War II
. He is also generally considered to have been a pioneer of desert exploration
, an acclaim earned for his activities during the 1930s. These included the first recorded east-west crossing of the Libyan Desert
(1932). Bagnold was also a veteran of World War I
. He laid the foundations for the research on sand transport by wind in his influential book The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes
(first published 1941; reprinted by Dover in 2005), which is still a main reference in the field. It has, for instance, been used by NASA
in studying sand
dune
s on Mars
.
, England. His father, Colonel Arthur Henry Bagnold (1854 - 1943) (Royal Engineers
), participated in the rescue expedition 1884 - 1885
to rescue General Gordon
in Khartoum
. His sister was the novelist and playwright Enid Bagnold
, who wrote the 1935 novel National Velvet
.
After Malvern College
, he attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In 1915, Ralph Bagnold followed in his father's footsteps and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. He spent three years in the trenches in France
, being Mentioned in Despatches in 1917 and receiving the Belgian Order of Leopold in 1919.
After the war Bagnold studied engineering at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University
, obtaining an MA before returning to active duty in 1921. He served in Cairo
and the North West Frontier, India, where he was again mentioned in despatches. In both of these locations he spent much of his leave exploring the local deserts. After having read Hussein Bey's "Lost Oasis" he spent one such expedition in 1929 using a Ford Model A automobile and two Ford lorries exploring the vast swathe of desert from Cairo to Ain Dalla which was an area reputed to contain the mythical city of Zerzura
. After a brief period of half-pay
, he left the Army in 1935 but rejoined upon the outbreak of World War II
.
He is credited with developing a sun compass, which is not affected by the large iron ore deposits found in the desert
areas or by metal
vehicle
s as a magnetic compass might be. During the 1930s his group also began the practice of reducing tyre pressure
when driving
over loose sand.
In addition, Bagnold is credited with discovering a method of driving over the large sand dunes found in the "sand seas" of the Libyan Desert
. He wrote, "I increased speed... A huge glaring wall of yellow shot up high into the sky. The lorry
tipped violently backwards - and we rose as in a lift, smoothly without vibration. We floated up on a yellow cloud. All the accustomed car
movements had ceased; only the speedometer
told us we were still moving fast. It was incredible..." However, noted Fitzroy Maclean, "too much dash had its penalties. Many of the dunes fell away sharply at the far side and if you arrived at the top at full speed, you were likely to plunge headlong over the precipice...and end up with your truck upside down on top of you."
When Italy
declared war on Britain, Bagnold was in Cairo by the pure accident of a troopship collision. He requested an interview with General Wavell and asked permission to create a mobile scouting force. Wavell asked him what he would do if he found the Italians were not doing anything in the desert, Bagnold then suggested that his unit might be able to commit acts of "piracy". Bagnold was given six weeks to form his unit under the conditions that any request he might make of "should be met instantly and without question." This unit would become the Long Range Desert Group
(LRDG). In 1941, Bagnold was promoted and oversaw the successes of the LRDG from a more senior position eventually achieving the temporary rank of Brigadier
.
in 1944 and, on 7 June 1944 he retired from the army permanently with the honorary rank of Brigadier and returned to his scientific interests.
On 8 May 1946, Bagnold married Dorothy Alice Plank at Rottingdean
, Sussex (daughter of A.E. Plank). The couple had a son and a daughter.
Bagnold's passion for science never left him and he continued to publish scientific papers into his nineties. Bagnold's scientific career was no less spectacular than his military one or his desert explorations. He made significant contributions to the scientific understanding of desert structures such as sand dunes, ripples
and sheets
. He developed the dimensionless Bagnold number
and Bagnold formula
for characterising sand flow. He also proposed a model for singing sands and made contributions to the science of sedimentology
. His efforts were rewarded by a large number of awards, prizes and honorary degrees. He was the 1969 recipient of the G. K. Warren Prize
from the National Academy of Sciences
. In 1971 he received the Wollaston Medal
, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London
and in 1981 the David Linton
Award of the British Geomorphological Research Group. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1974. Other awards included the 1970 Penrose Medal
by the Geological Society of America
; and the Sorby Medal from the International Association of Sedimentologists. He also received honorary D.Sc. degrees from both the University of East Anglia
and the Danish University of Aarhus
.
Mentioned in Despatches 2 January 1917, 1 September 1931, 30 December 1941
Knight, Order of Leopold with palm (Belgium), 5 April 1919, etc.
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Ralph Alger Bagnold, FRS OBE, (3 April 1896 – 28 May 1990) was the founder and first commander of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's Long Range Desert Group
Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commander of the German Afrika Corps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, admitted that the LRDG "caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength".Originally called...
during 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...
. He is also generally considered to have been a pioneer of desert exploration
Desert exploration
Desert exploration is the deliberate and scientific exploration of deserts, the arid regions of the earth. It is only incidentally concerned with the culture and livelihood of native desert dwellers....
, an acclaim earned for his activities during the 1930s. These included the first recorded east-west crossing of the Libyan Desert
Libyan Desert
The Libyan Desert covers an area of approximately 1,100,000 km2, it extends approximately 1100 km from east to west, and 1,000 km from north to south, in about the shape of a rectangle...
(1932). Bagnold was also a veteran of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He laid the foundations for the research on sand transport by wind in his influential book The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes
The Physics of Blown Sand
The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes is a science book, written by Ralph A. Bagnold. The book laid the foundations of the scientific investigation of the transport of sand by wind. It also discusses the formation and movement of sand dunes in the Libyan Desert...
(first published 1941; reprinted by Dover in 2005), which is still a main reference in the field. It has, for instance, been used by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
in studying sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s on Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
.
Early life
Bagnold was born in DevonportDevonport, Devon
Devonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889...
, England. His father, Colonel Arthur Henry Bagnold (1854 - 1943) (Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
), participated in the rescue expedition 1884 - 1885
Nile Expedition
The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition , was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to the Sudan to help Egyptians evacuate from Sudan after Britain decided to abandon the country in the face of a...
to rescue General Gordon
Charles George Gordon
Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....
in Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
. His sister was the novelist and playwright Enid Bagnold
Enid Bagnold
Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones, CBE , known by her maiden name as Enid Bagnold, was a British author and playwright, best known for the 1935 story National Velvet which was filmed in 1944 with Elizabeth Taylor....
, who wrote the 1935 novel National Velvet
National Velvet
National Velvet is a novel by Enid Bagnold , first published in 1935.-Plot summary:"National Velvet" is the story of a 14-year-old girl named Velvet Brown, who rides her horse to victory in the Grand National steeplechase...
.
After Malvern College
Malvern College
Malvern College is a coeducational independent school located on a 250 acre campus near the town centre of Malvern, Worcestershire in England. Founded on 25 January 1865, until 1992, the College was a secondary school for boys aged 13 to 18...
, he attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In 1915, Ralph Bagnold followed in his father's footsteps and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. He spent three years in the trenches in France
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
, being Mentioned in Despatches in 1917 and receiving the Belgian Order of Leopold in 1919.
After the war Bagnold studied engineering at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, obtaining an MA before returning to active duty in 1921. He served in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
and the North West Frontier, India, where he was again mentioned in despatches. In both of these locations he spent much of his leave exploring the local deserts. After having read Hussein Bey's "Lost Oasis" he spent one such expedition in 1929 using a Ford Model A automobile and two Ford lorries exploring the vast swathe of desert from Cairo to Ain Dalla which was an area reputed to contain the mythical city of Zerzura
Zerzura
-The rumor:Zerzura was long rumored to have existed deep in the desert west of the Nile River in Egypt or Libya. In writings dating back to the 13th century, the authors spoke of a city which was "white as a dove" and called it "The Oasis of Little Birds". In the Kitab al Kanuz, Zerzura is said to...
. After a brief period of half-pay
Half-pay
In the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, half-pay referred to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service....
, he left the Army in 1935 but rejoined upon the outbreak 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...
.
Desert innovation
Bagnold and his travelling companions were early pioneers in the use of motor vehicles to explore the desert. Bagnold wrote of his travels in the book Libyan Sands: travels in a dead world (1935).He is credited with developing a sun compass, which is not affected by the large iron ore deposits found in the desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
areas or by metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
vehicle
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
s as a magnetic compass might be. During the 1930s his group also began the practice of reducing tyre pressure
Pressure
Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
when driving
Driving
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, such as a car, truck or bus.Although direct operation of a bicycle and a mounted animal are commonly referred to as riding, such operators are legally considered drivers and are required to obey the rules of the road...
over loose sand.
In addition, Bagnold is credited with discovering a method of driving over the large sand dunes found in the "sand seas" of the Libyan Desert
Libyan Desert
The Libyan Desert covers an area of approximately 1,100,000 km2, it extends approximately 1100 km from east to west, and 1,000 km from north to south, in about the shape of a rectangle...
. He wrote, "I increased speed... A huge glaring wall of yellow shot up high into the sky. The lorry
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
tipped violently backwards - and we rose as in a lift, smoothly without vibration. We floated up on a yellow cloud. All the accustomed car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
movements had ceased; only the speedometer
Speedometer
A speedometer is a gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a land vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the 1900s, and as standard equipment from about 1910 onwards. Speedometers for other vehicles have specific names...
told us we were still moving fast. It was incredible..." However, noted Fitzroy Maclean, "too much dash had its penalties. Many of the dunes fell away sharply at the far side and if you arrived at the top at full speed, you were likely to plunge headlong over the precipice...and end up with your truck upside down on top of you."
World War II
Bagnold wrote, "Never in our peacetime travels had we imagined that war could ever reach the enormous empty solitudes of the inner desert, walled off by sheer distance, lack of water, and impassable seas of sand dunes. Little did we dream that any of the special equipment and techniques we had evolved for very long-distance travel, and for navigation, would ever be put to serious use."When Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
declared war on Britain, Bagnold was in Cairo by the pure accident of a troopship collision. He requested an interview with General Wavell and asked permission to create a mobile scouting force. Wavell asked him what he would do if he found the Italians were not doing anything in the desert, Bagnold then suggested that his unit might be able to commit acts of "piracy". Bagnold was given six weeks to form his unit under the conditions that any request he might make of "should be met instantly and without question." This unit would become the Long Range Desert Group
Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commander of the German Afrika Corps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, admitted that the LRDG "caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength".Originally called...
(LRDG). In 1941, Bagnold was promoted and oversaw the successes of the LRDG from a more senior position eventually achieving the temporary rank of Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
.
Scientific research and later life
Ralph Bagnold became a Fellow of the Royal SocietyRoyal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1944 and, on 7 June 1944 he retired from the army permanently with the honorary rank of Brigadier and returned to his scientific interests.
On 8 May 1946, Bagnold married Dorothy Alice Plank at Rottingdean
Rottingdean
Rottingdean is a coastal village next to the town of Brighton and technically within the city of Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, on the south coast of England...
, Sussex (daughter of A.E. Plank). The couple had a son and a daughter.
Bagnold's passion for science never left him and he continued to publish scientific papers into his nineties. Bagnold's scientific career was no less spectacular than his military one or his desert explorations. He made significant contributions to the scientific understanding of desert structures such as sand dunes, ripples
Ripple marks
In geology, ripple marks are sedimentary structures and indicate agitation by water or wind.- Defining ripple cross-laminae and asymmetric ripples :...
and sheets
Sheets
Sheets is a surname, and may refer to:* Andy Sheets , a former shortstop in Major League Baseball* Ben Sheets , a pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers* Bob Sheets, meteorologist...
. He developed the dimensionless Bagnold number
Bagnold Number
The Bagnold number is the ratio of grain collision stresses to viscous fluid stresses in a granular flow with interstitial Newtonian fluid, first identified by Ralph Alger Bagnold.The Bagnold number is defined by...
and Bagnold formula
Bagnold Formula
The Bagnold formula, named after Ralph Alger Bagnold, relates the amount of sand moved by the wind to wind speed by saltation. It states that the mass transport of sand is proportional to the third power of the friction velocity...
for characterising sand flow. He also proposed a model for singing sands and made contributions to the science of sedimentology
Sedimentology
Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, mud , and clay, and the processes that result in their deposition. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of modern processes to interpret geologic history through observations of sedimentary rocks and sedimentary...
. His efforts were rewarded by a large number of awards, prizes and honorary degrees. He was the 1969 recipient of the G. K. Warren Prize
G. K. Warren Prize
The G. K. Warren Prize is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for noteworthy and distinguished accomplishment in fluviatile geology and closely related aspects of the geological sciences." Named in honor of Gouverneur Kemble Warren, it was first awarded in 1969 and has been awarded...
from the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
. In 1971 he received the Wollaston Medal
Wollaston Medal
The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London.The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831...
, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth"...
and in 1981 the David Linton
David Leslie Linton
Professor David Leslie Linton , British geographer and geomorphologist, was professor of geography at Sheffield and Birmingham, best remembered for his work on the landscape development of south-east England with S.W.Wooldridge, and on the development of tors.-Early life and education:David Linton...
Award of the British Geomorphological Research Group. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1974. Other awards included the 1970 Penrose Medal
Penrose Medal
The Penrose Medal was created in 1927 by R.A.F. Penrose, Jr. as the top prize awarded by the Geological Society of America to those who advance the study of geoscience.-Award winners:* 2011 Paul F. Hoffman* 2010 Eric J. Essene* 2009 B. Clark Burchfiel...
by the Geological Society of America
Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...
; and the Sorby Medal from the International Association of Sedimentologists. He also received honorary D.Sc. degrees from both the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
and the Danish University of Aarhus
University of Aarhus
Aarhus University , located in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, is Denmark's second oldest and second largest university...
.
Honours and awards
Officer of the Order of the British Empire 8 July 1941Mentioned in Despatches 2 January 1917, 1 September 1931, 30 December 1941
Knight, Order of Leopold with palm (Belgium), 5 April 1919, etc.
See also
- Aeolian processes
- Bagnold formulaBagnold FormulaThe Bagnold formula, named after Ralph Alger Bagnold, relates the amount of sand moved by the wind to wind speed by saltation. It states that the mass transport of sand is proportional to the third power of the friction velocity...
- Bagnold numberBagnold NumberThe Bagnold number is the ratio of grain collision stresses to viscous fluid stresses in a granular flow with interstitial Newtonian fluid, first identified by Ralph Alger Bagnold.The Bagnold number is defined by...
- Bill Kennedy ShawBill Kennedy ShawMajor William Boyd Kennedy Shaw OBE was a British desert explorer, botanist, archaeologist and founding member of the Long Range Desert Group during World War II...
- Guy Lenox PrendergastGuy Lenox PrendergastGuy Lenox Prendergast was an Saharan explorer and officer in the British Army during the Second World War.-History:Guy Lenox Prendergast was one of a group of British Saharan explorers in the late 1920s and early 1930s. These men included Ralph Alger Bagnold, Pat Clayton and Bill Kennedy Shaw. they...
- Pat ClaytonPat ClaytonPatrick Andrew Clayton DSO MBE was a British surveyor and soldier. He was the basis for the character of Peter Madox in The English Patient....
External reference
- A short film containing an interview with R.A. Bagnold
- The Bibliography of Aeolian Research
- Biography of Ralph Bagnold (1896 - 1990). www.bagnallvillage.com.
- British Army Officers 1939-1945
- Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of Brigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold, FRS, 1896-1990. The National Archives.
List of publications
- Bagnold, R.A. 1931. Journeys in the Libyan Desert, 1929 and 1930. The Geographical Journal 78(1):13-39; (6):524-533.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1933. A further journey through the Libyan Desert. The Geographical Journal 82(2):103-129; (3):211-213, 226-235.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1935. The movement of desert sand. The Geographical Journal 85(4):342-365.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1935. Libyan Sands. London: Travel Book Club, 351 pp.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1936. The movement of desert sand. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 157(892):594-620.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1937. The transport of sand by wind. The Geographical Journal 89(5):409-438.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1937. The size-grading of sand by wind. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 163(913):250-264.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1938. Grain structure of sand dunes in relation to water content. Nature 142(3591):403-404.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1938. The measurement of sand storms. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 167(929):282-290.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1939. A lost world refound. Scientific American 161(5, November):261-263.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1939. Committee on wave pressures: interim report on wave-pressure research. Journal of the Institute of Civil Engineers 12:201-226.
- Bagnold, R.A., Myers, O.H., Peel, R.F. and Winkler, H.A. 1939. An expedition to the Gilf Kebir and 'Uweinat, 1938. The Geographical Journal 93(4):281-313.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1940. Beach formation by waves: some model experiments in a wave tank. Journal of the Institute of Civil Engineers 15(5237):27-53.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1941. The physics of blown sand and desert dunes. London: Methuen, 265 pp.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1945. Early days of the Long Range Desert Group. The Geographical Journal 105(1-2):30-42.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1946. Motion of waves in shallow water. Interaction between waves and sand bottoms. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 187:1-18.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1947. Sand movement by waves: some small-scale experiments with sand of very low density. Journal of the Institute of Civil Engineers 27(5554):447-469.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1951. Measurement of very low velocities of water flow. Nature 167:1025-1027.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1951. The movement of a cohesionless granular bed by fluid flow over it. British Journal of Applied Physics 2(2):29-34.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1951. Some problems of desert physics. Bulletin de l'Institut Fouad premier du désert 1(2):27-34.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1951. The sand formations in southern Arabia. The Geographical Journal 117(1):78-86.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1953. Navigating ashore. Journal of the Institute of Navigation 6:184-193.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1953. Forme des dunes de sable et régime des vents. In: Actions éoliennes, phénomènes d'évaporation et d'hydrologie superficielle dans les régions arides, Centre national de la Recherche scientifique (CNRS), Paris, Colloques internationaux 35, pp. 23-32.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1953. The surface movement of blown sand in relation to meteorology. In: Desert Research, Proceedings of the International Symposium, Jerusalem, 7-14 May 1952, Research Council of Israel, Special Publication 2, pp. 89-93.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1954. Physical aspects of dry deserts. In: Cloudsley-Thompson, J.L. (ed). Biology of Deserts, Proceedings of a symposium held in London, 1952, Institute of Biology, London, pp. 7-12.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1954. Experiments on a gravity-free dispersion of large solid spheres in a Newtonian fluid under shear. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 225(1160):49-63.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1955. Some flume experiments on large grains but little denser than the transporting fluid, and their implications. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers 4(3):174-205.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1956. The flow of cohesionless grains in fluids. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A 249(964):235-297.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1960. The re-entrainment of settled dust. International Journal of Air Pollution 2(3):357-363.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1960. Some aspects of shape of river meanders. United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper 282-E, pp. 135-144.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1960. Sediment discharge and stream power; a preliminary announcement. U.S. geol. Surv. Circular 421.
- Leopold, L.B., Bagnold, R.A., Wollman, M.G. and Brush, L.M. 1960. Flow resistance in sinuous or irregular channels. United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper 282-D, pp. 111-134.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1962. Saltation (air and water). In: Thewlis, J. (ed), Encyclopaedic dictionary of physics, Volume 6, Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 370-371.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1962. Transport of sand by wind. In: Thewlis, J. (ed), Encyclopaedic dictionary of physics, Volume 7, Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 436-440.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1962. Auto-suspension of transported sediment; turbidity currents. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 265:315-319.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1963. Beach and nearshore processes - Part 1, Mechanics of marine sedimentation. In: Hill, M.N. (ed.), The sea - ideas and observations on progress in the study of the sea. New York and London: Interscience Wiley, vol. 3, pp. 507-528.
- Inman, D.L. and Bagnold, R.A. 1963. Beach and nearshore processes - Part 2, Littoral processes. In: Hill, M.N. (ed), The sea - ideas and observations on progress in the study of the sea. New York and London: Interscience Wiley, vol. 3, pp. 529-553.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1966. The shearing and dilation of dry sand and the "singing" mechanism. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 295(1442):219-232.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1966. An approach to the sediment transport problem from general physics. United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 422-I, 37 pp.
- Smith, W.O., Olsen, H.W., Bagnold, R.A. and Rice, J.C. 1966. Certain flows of air and water in sands during infiltrations. Soil Science 101(6):441-449.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1968. Deposition in the process of hydraulic transport. Sedimentology 10(1):45-56.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1971. Response to presentation of the 1970 Penrose Medal. Geological Society of America Bulletin 82:xiii-xvii.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1971. Singing sands. In: Thewlis, J. (ed), Encyclopaedic dictionary of physics, Volume 4, Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 408-410.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1973. The nature of saltation and of "bed-load" transport in water. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 332(1591):473-504.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1974. Fluid forces on a body in shear-flow: Experimental use of 'stationary flow'. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 340(1621):147-171.
- Sagan, C. and Bagnold, R.A. 1975. Fluid transport on Earth and aeolian transport on Mars. Icarus 26(2):209-218.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1977. Bed load transport by natural rivers. Water Resources Research 13:303-312.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1979. Sediment transport by wind and water. Nordic Hydrology 10(5):309-322.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1980. An empirical correlation of bedload transport rates in flumes and natural rivers. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 372(1751):453-473.
- Bagnold, R.A. and Barndorff-Nielsen, O.E. 1980. The pattern of natural size distributions. Sedimentology 27(2):199-207.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1983. The nature and correlation of random distributions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 388(1795):273-291.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1985. Transport of granular solids by wind and water compared. In: Barndorff-Nielsen, O., Møller, J.-T., Rasmussen, K.R. and Willetts, B.B. (eds), Proceedings of the International Workshop on the Physics of Blown Sand, 28-31 May, University of Aarhus, Department of Theoretical Statistics, Institute of Mathematics, Memoir 8, pp. 1-8.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1986. Transport of solids by natural water flow: evidence for a worldwide correlation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 405(1829):369-374.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1988 Concluding remarks. In: Thorne, C.R., MacArthur R.C. and Bradley, J.B. (eds), The Physics of Sediment Transport, A Collection of Hallmark Papers by R. A. Bagnold. New York: American Society of Civil Engineers, Hydraulics Division, Book number 665, pp. 352-353.
- Bagnold, R.A. 1990. Sand, Wind, and War; Memoirs of a Desert Explorer. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, ISBN 0-8165-121-6, 202 pp.