‘This war has produced a woman who can keep a secret!'1: The mulberry harbour exhibitions, the young woman and the contested meanings of a british wartime invention

In 1944, the British government was looking for ways to convince the public at home and abroad that the nation’s status as a world power was undiminished. To this end, the Ministry of Information developed a propaganda campaign for revealing the portable Mulberry Harbour that had been designed and built in Britain, and used in that June’s invasion of Normandy. The official narrative was overshadowed, however, by public incredulity about a young woman’s work on the project, while a touring exhibition demonstrated that the British story had little resonance overseas.

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