Joan Curran | |
|---|---|
 Joan Curran at Newnham College | |
| Born | Joan Elizabeth Strothers (1916-02-26)26 February 1916 Swansea, Wales |
| Died | 10 February 1999(1999-02-10) (aged 82) Glasgow, Scotland |
| Alma mater | Newnham College ofUniversity of Cambridge (B.A., M.A.) |
| Known for | Invention ofchaff Work onproximity fuses |
| Spouse | SirSamuel Curran (m. 1940) |
| Awards | Honorary degree ofDoctor of Laws by theUniversity of Strathclyde |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Cavendish Laboratory Telecommunications Research Establishment Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
Joan, Lady Curran (bornJoan Elizabeth Strothers; 26 February 1916 – 10 February 1999) was a Welsh physicist who played important roles in the development ofradar and theatomic bomb during theSecond World War. She devised a method of releasingchaff, a radar countermeasure technique credited with reducing losses among Alliedbomber crews. She also worked on the development of theproximity fuse and the electromagneticisotope separation process for the atomic bomb.
In 1954 she became a founding member of theScottish Society for the Parents of Mentally Handicapped Children.
Joan Elizabeth Strothers was born on 26 February 1916 inSwansea, Wales, the daughter of anoptician, Charles William Strothers, and his wife, Margaret Beatrice, née Millington.[1] She was educated at Swansea Girls' High School, and in 1934 won an open scholarship toNewnham College,Cambridge.[2] In 1935, she rowed for theladies' university eight,[3] in the first realWomen's boat race againstOxford.[4] She gained anhonours degree inphysics,[5] which was not awarded because it was before women were allowed Cambridge degrees.[6] In her seventies, in 1987, she was honoured with the degree ofDoctor of Lawshonoris causa by theUniversity of Strathclyde.[5]
Strothers, who "had the scientific equivalent of gardening green fingers",[2] was awarded a government grant to study for a higher degree, and elected to go to theCavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, where she joinedSam Curran in a team under the direction ofPhilip Dee.[2] She soon established a reputation for "extreme dexterity and being outstandingly neat and skilful in the deployment of equipment."[2] In 1939, Dee proposed that the team spend a month at theRoyal Aircraft Establishment atFarnborough Airfield. They arrived on 1 September 1939. Two days later,Britain declared war on Germany and thus entered the Second World War.[7]
Instead of returning to the Cavendish, the team moved toExeter, where Dee and three others worked on developing rockets as anti-aircraft weapons, while Strothers and Curran joined a group under John Coles working on the development of theproximity fuse.[7] Strothers was based atLeeson House andDurnford School.[8] She and Curran developed a workable fuse, which was codenamed VT, an acronym of "Variable Time fuse". The system was a small, short-range, Doppler radar that used a clever circuit. However, Britain lacked the capacity to mass-produce the fuse,[7] so the design was shown to the United States by theTizard Mission in late 1940.[9] The Americans perfected and mass-produced the fuse.[10] In due course, these proximity fuses arrived in the United Kingdom, where they played an important part in the defence of the kingdom against theV-1 flying bomb.[7]
Strothers married Curran on 7 November 1940. Soon afterwards they were transferred to theTelecommunications Research Establishment nearSwanage, where Sam worked oncentimetric radar, while Joan joined the Counter Measures Group in an adjoining lab.[11] It was with this group, at Swanage, and later atMalvern, that Joan devised the technique that was codenamed Window, which is also known aschaff.[12] She tried various types of radar reflectors, including wires and sheets, before settling on strips oftin foil 1 to 2 centimetres (0.39 to 0.79 in) wide and 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long that could be scattered from bombers, thus disrupting the enemy's radar.[13] Window was first employed inOperation Gomorrah, a series of raids onHamburg, and resulted in a much lower loss rate than usual.[14] As part ofOperation Taxable on 5–6 June 1944, Window was dropped byAvro Lancasters of617 Squadron to synthesise a phantom invasion force of ships in theStraits of Dover and keep the Germans unsure as to whether the brunt of the Allied assault would fall onNormandy or in thePas de Calais area.[15]R. V. Jones later declared: "In my opinion, Joan Curran made an even greater contribution to victory, in 1945, than Sam."[2]
In early 1944 the Currans were part of a group of British scientists invited to go to the US to take part in theManhattan Project – the Allied project to develop anatomic bomb.[16] They joined theBritish Mission at theBerkeley Radiation Laboratory in California, headed byMark Oliphant,[17] a distinguished Australian scientist that Joan knew from the Cavendish Laboratory.[7] Oliphant also acted asde facto deputy toErnest Lawrence, the director of the Radiation Laboratory.[17] The mission of the laboratory was to develop the electromagneticisotope separation process to createenriched uranium for use in atomic bombs.[18][19]
While at Berkeley, Joan gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Sheena, who was born severely mentally handicapped.[2] They later had three sons, all of whom went on to complete aPhD.[1]
After the war ended, Sam took up an offer from Dee to become Professor of Natural Philosophy atGlasgow University.[18] InGlasgow, the Currans, together with a few friends, in 1954 set up theScottish Society for the Parents of Mentally Handicapped Children (Enable), which eventually grew to 100 branches and more than 5000 members. Later, when Joan was a member of theGreater Glasgow Health Board and theScottish Special Housing Association, the needs of thedisabled were always at the forefront of her mind, and she did much to promote their welfare. She took a close interest in the work of theCouncil for Access for the Disabled and helped improve the range of facilities, especially for disabled university students.[2][5]
Sam worked at theAtomic Weapons Research Establishment atAldermaston on the development of the Britishhydrogen bomb from 1955 to 1959. He returned to Glasgow in 1959 as principal of theRoyal College of Science and Technology. When it became theUniversity of Strathclyde in 1964, the first new university in Scotland in 384 years, he became its first Principal and Vice Chancellor.[20] While her husband was Principal, Joan founded the Strathclyde Women's Group and became its president.[5] Joan Curran was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Strathclyde in 1987.[21][22]
During the war thePolish 1st Armoured Division had been based in Scotland, establishing ties between the community and Poland. Joan promoted a special relationship with theTechnical University of Lodz, and also devoted care and attention to the children's hospital of that city. Later she established the Lady CurranEndowment fund for overseas, particularly Polish, students.[2]
Sam died on 25 February 1998.[1] While gravely ill with cancer in 1998, Joan unveiled amemorial plaque inBarony Hall, Glasgow, to commemorate her husband, and it was announced that the walled garden atRoss Priory, onLoch Lomondside, was to be named in her honour, and the Joan Curran Summer House would be built there.[2] Joan died on 10 February 1999, and was cremated at the Daldowie Crematorium. Her daughter, Sheena, three sons and three grandsons survived her.[1]
In 2025, Curran was one of ten women "who played vital roles during World War II" to be commemorated in a silhouette statue created byStanding with Giants for theWomen of War exhibition at Lincoln'sInternational Bomber Command Centre.[23]
