Operation PLUTO: Pipe Line Under The Ocean, and Eric Middleton's book

Eric's wartime service included a spell with Mountbatten's Combined Operations Headquarters. A lot of his time was taken up with managing the design and experimental work for operation PLUTO. After the war he researched and wrote a book on the subject, though it was not published at the time.

Synopsis and short articles

There is a short synopsis of the book, which Eric sent out to potential publishers. 8 quarto pages.

There is also an article titled "OPERATION PLUTO: Force PLUTO and the Naval Involvement". 19 quarto pages.

Scanned typescript of the book

This was scanned from a carbon copy, though chapter 1 may have been top-copy.

PLUTO chapter 1: The Essence of Victory (14 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 2: Combined Operations Headquarters (20 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 3: The Steel Pipe Conundrum (13 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 4: Making the HAIS Cable (12 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 5: PLUTO Ships and Craft (11 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 6: Force 'PLUTO' (17 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 7: Trials and Training (13 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 8: The Underworld and Overlord (22 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 9: The Dungeness Network (Operation Dumbo) (18 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 10: Operation Dumbo (continued) (16 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 11: Pipelines to the Battlefields (10 quarto pages)
PLUTO chapter 12: Conclusions (11 quarto pages)

Other PLUTO material

Explosive Charges for Operation Pluto - Report on the use of explosive charges to cut and seal HAMEL pipes. The Inter-Services Research Bureau was asked to investigate this idea. They produced a proof-of-concept cutting/sealing charge and tested it, but the Admiralty decided that it would not be used.
Copy of archived report supplied by Lieutenant Colonel Norman Bonney.

Contact: Andrew Findlay <andrew@findlay.org>
Eric Middleton was my maternal grandfather.

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