- Ralph Alger Bagnold
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name = Ralph Alger Bagnold
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birth_date =April 3 1896
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death_date =May 28 1990
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known_for =desert exploration
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footnotes = Ralph Alger Bagnold, FRS (April 3 1896 –May 28 1990 ) was the founder and first commander of theBritish Army 'sLong Range Desert Group duringWorld War II . He is also generally considered to have been a pioneer ofdesert exploration , an acclaim earned for his activities during the 1930s. These included the first recorded east-west crossing of theLibyan Desert (1932). Bagnold was also a veteran ofWorld War I . He held a degree inengineering . He laid the foundations for the research on sand transport by wind in his influential book "The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes" ("1941"), which is still a main reference in the field. It has, for instance, been used byNASA in studyingsand dune s on Mars. He was a fellow of theRoyal Society from 1944.Early life
Bagnold was the son of an officer in the British
Royal Engineers . His father participated in the rescue expedition 1884 - 1885 to save General Gordon inKhartoum . His sister was the novelist and playwrightEnid Bagnold . In 1915 the younger Bagnold followed in his father's footsteps and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. He spent three years in the trenches in France. After the war he studied at Cambridge University before returning to active duty in 1921. He served inCairo and India, and in both of these locations he spent much of his leave exploring the local deserts. One such expedition in 1929 was mounted usingFord Model T automobiles to search for the mythical city ofZerzura in the desert west of theNile . He left the Army in 1935.Desert innovation
He is credited with developing a
sun compass , which is not affected by the large iron ore deposits found in thedesert areas or bymetal vehicle s as amagnetic compass might be. During the 1930s his group also began the practice of reducingtire pressure whendriving 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 thespeedometer told us we were still moving fast. It was incredible..." However, notedFitzroy 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 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 theLong Range Desert Group .Bagnold left the unit on
July 1 1941 to serve in Cairo as a colonel.Later life
He was the 1969 recipient of the
G. K. Warren Prize from the National Academy of Sciences. [cite web| title =G.K. Warren Prize| work =Awards| publisher =National Academy of Sciences| url =http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_warren| accessdate = 2007-06-04] In 1971 he received theWollaston Medal , the highest award granted by theGeological Society of London [cite web| |work=Award winners since 1831|title=Wollaston Medal|publisher=The Geological Society|url= http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/gsl/null/lang/en/page750.html |accessdate = 2008-03-08] and in 1981 the David Linton Award of the British Geomorphological Research Group. [Warren A. (1990), Obituary: Brigadier R. A. Bagnold 1896-1990, "Geographical Journal" Vol. 156 No. 3 (Nov. 1990), pp. 353-354]See also
*
Pat Clayton
*Bill Kennedy Shaw
*Bagnold formula
*Bagnold number References
External reference
* [http://home.imf.au.dk/oebn/blownsand.mpg A short film containing an interview with R.A. Bagnold] .
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