PLUTO

To many of those consulted it seemed a preposterous idea... an undersea pipe-line laid across the bed of the English Channel to fuel the advance of the Allied armies from the Normandy beaches. Nothing like it had ever been attempted before. It would have to be carried out in the utmost secrecy - concealed from friend and foe alike. The experts shook their heads. It was surely impossible.

Fortunately, not everyone shared that view. The project called for the highest levels of engineering prowess and ingenuity - and an abundance of endeavour, enthusiasm and energy. It needed a flair for the unorthodox and a determination to succeed against the odds. That there were people who were both able and willing to fulfil such a formidable mixture of requirements, and turn this 'impossible' idea into astonishing reality, speaks volumes for the indomitable British wartime spirit.

They produced one of the greatest of Britain's wartime secret projects. In the words of Eisenhower, "it was second in daring only to the artificial (Mulberry) harbours." It ran - initially at least - for 70 miles from the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg, and then on the shorter route between Dungeness, in Kent, and Boulogne. They called it Operation PLUTO - the Pipe-Line Under The Ocean. And it worked!