How did Barnes Wallis come up with the idea behind his famous bouncing bomb? Wallis was the scientist-inventor behind the Dam Busters raid on German dams in the Second World War.
Well, like many children, he had noticed that throwing stones flat on to water causes them to skip. So early in 1942 in his back garden in England he started practicing this effect using his young daughter’s marbles on tin bowls of water.
When he had firmed up his idea, he took it to the authorities (including the now infamous leader of the RAF, “Bomber” Harris), who, typically with breakthrough new ideas, were quite unconvinced. The concept was that a bomb would bounce over water, sinking next to the target – for example a battleship or perhaps a dam ‒ and exploding with great force.
But, convinced that he was on to a major innovation, Wallis pressed on, having to solve a host of consequent engineering and other problems on the way.
Even young people in Britain still seem to know how the dams of the Ruhr were destroyed on 16-17 May 1943 (69 years ago this last week), leading to the flooding and major disruption of the German industrial war machine.
Paul Brickhill’s 1951 book graphically captured the story, later turned into a memorable film ‒ dealing not only with the creative development of the bomb, but also with the courage and skill of the flyers of 617 Squadron.
Perhaps it could be required viewing for all young innovators, covering as it does so many of the issues that are faced by them today.
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