Lorna Arnold facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lorna Arnold
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Arnold in Washington, D.C., 1947
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Lorna Margaret Rainbow
7 December 1915 Harlesden, Middlesex, England
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| Died | 25 March 2014 (aged 98) Cumnor, Oxfordshire, England
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| Known for | History of the UK nuclear weapons programme |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | History of science |
| Institutions | United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority |
Lorna Margaret Arnold (born Rainbow; 7 December 1915 – 25 March 2014) was a British historian. She wrote many books about the British nuclear weapons programs.
She studied at Bedford College, London and became a teacher. In 1940, she stopped teaching. During World War II, she worked for the British Army. Later, she joined the Foreign Office and helped plan for Germany after the war. She also worked in Berlin with other countries to manage the city. In 1946, she went to Washington, D.C., to help combine the British and U.S. zones in Germany.
In 1959, she started working for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). There, she helped investigate the 1957 Windscale fire, a nuclear accident. Later, she joined Margaret Gowing to write the history of Britain's nuclear weapons programs. She had access to secret documents and knew many people involved. She wrote books about the Windscale fire, nuclear tests in Australia, and the British hydrogen bomb program.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Lorna Margaret Rainbow was born in Harlesden, England, on 7 December 1915. She was the oldest of five children. Her father served in the First World War. After the war, he became a farmer, and her family moved to a farm near Guildford.
Lorna went to Wanborough Primary School. In 1927, she won a scholarship to attend secondary school. She started at the Guildford County School for Girls. In 1931, her family moved to another farm, but she stayed at Guildford. She became the first student from her school to win a scholarship to university.
In 1934, she chose to go to Bedford College, London, a college for women. It was the first college in the UK to give degrees to women. She studied English and graduated in 1937. After college, she trained to be a teacher at the Cambridge Training College for Women. In 1938, she started teaching English at Belper School. She returned home in 1940 due to health issues.
Working During and After World War II
During World War II, Lorna worked for the Ministry of Pensions in Cambridge. Soon after, she was asked to work for the War Office. She helped with supplies and planning for the war. She lived in London and experienced German air raids. She also helped as a neighborhood fire warden.
In 1944, she moved to the Foreign Office. She helped prepare for how Germany would be managed after the war. In June 1945, she moved to Berlin. After the war, Germany was divided into four zones. Berlin was also divided. Lorna worked with French, American, and Russian officials. They worked together to manage the districts and provide food for the people in Berlin.
Britain had limited money after the war. The British zone in Germany was very expensive to manage. So, the British government decided to share the costs with the United States. Lorna went to Washington, D.C., in 1946 to help with these talks. The US and British zones were combined into "Bizonia," and they shared the costs. Lorna stayed in Washington until 1949, working at the Pentagon. She tried to get the best deals for Britain.
Marriage and Family Life
After returning to England, Lorna worked for the Family Planning Association. On 26 July 1949, she married Robert Arnold, an American choirmaster. She changed her name to Lorna Arnold. They had two sons, Geoffrey (born 1950) and Stephen (born 1952).
The family first lived in an apartment in Chelsea. Robert worked part-time restoring old musical instruments. Later, they moved to other homes in London. Robert worked for the BBC and then for EMI, where he helped develop stereophonic sound and LP records. In 1955, her husband returned to the United States. Lorna became a single mother. She returned to work, taking various clerical jobs.
Working on Nuclear History
In 1958, Lorna Arnold learned about a job at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). She was hired in 1959. Her skills in writing and organizing reports were exactly what the UKAEA needed. She worked in the Authority Health and Safety Branch.
In 1967, Arnold became the UKAEA Records Officer. She joined Margaret Gowing, who was writing the history of the British nuclear weapons program. The government was planning to make many secret records public. So, it was important to organize them and check for sensitive information. Lorna moved near Oxford to be closer to the nuclear research sites.
Gowing and Arnold published their two-volume book, Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy, 1945–52, in 1974. This book covered Britain's atomic bomb program after the war. Lorna wrote six chapters. For her work, she was honored as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1977.
They then started writing about the British hydrogen bomb program. In the 1980s, there was a lot of interest in the nuclear weapons tests in Australia. Lorna wrote a book about these tests called A Very Special Relationship: British Atomic Weapon Trials in Australia. She later updated it in 2005.
In 1987, Lorna wrote a book about the 1957 Windscale accident. It was called Windscale 1957: Anatomy of a Nuclear Accident (1992). Margaret Gowing retired in 1993. Lorna continued working on the hydrogen bomb book, even after she was over seventy years old. She finally published Britain and the H-Bomb in 2001.
Later Life and Legacy
Lorna Arnold was recognized for her important work. She became a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, which is rare for someone who is not a physicist. In 2009, she received an honorary degree from the University of Reading for her work in nuclear history.
She became involved in the movement for nuclear disarmament, which aims to get rid of nuclear weapons. She also worked on television documentaries about nuclear issues, including two BBC shows about Windscale.
In 2002, Lorna became legally blind. But in 2012, at age 96, she published her life story called My Short Century. She wrote about her life, from growing up on a farm to her friendships with important people in nuclear research. The book also showed how many women like her were not fully recognized because of their gender.
Lorna Arnold passed away on 25 March 2014, after having a stroke. She was 98 years old.
Published Works
- (1974). Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy, 1945–52: Volume 1: Policy Making. (With Margaret Gowing). London: Macmillan. ISBN: 0-333-15781-8.
- (1974). Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy, 1945–52: Volume 2: Policy Execution. (With Margaret Gowing). London: Macmillan. ISBN: 0-333-16695-7.
- (1987). A Very Special Relationship: British Atomic Weapon Trials in Australia. London: HMSO Books. ISBN: 0-11-772412-2.
- (2001) Britain and the H-Bomb. London: Palgrave Macmillan ISBN: 0-312-23518-6 (with Katherine Pyne)
- (2005) Britain, Australia and the Bomb: The Nuclear Tests and Their Aftermath. (International Papers in Political Economy) (with Mark Smith) London: Palgrave Macmillan ISBN: 1-4039-2101-6
- (2007) Windscale 1957: Anatomy of a Nuclear Accident. London: Palgrave Macmillan ISBN: 0-230-57317-7
- (2012) My Short Century. Palo Alto, California: Cumnor Hill Books ISBN: 978-0-9837029-0-0
