11th August 1942

[antarmike]

Apparently Barmes Wallis actually took out a patent on the bouncing bomb, that the RAF would use the following year against the Rhur Dams.

 

In a time of wartime secrecy, this seems a strange fact especially since the number of years the bomb was kept an official secret after the war.

 

Can anyone confirm this factoid?

[Tony B]

can give you a silly bit of info. Opposite Catford Bus garage just to the left of the Sainsbury's is a row of houses. the end one has a blue plaque, Barnes Wallis lived here.

[antarmike]

And apparently the Upkeep mine was fitted with a device that ensured it would self destruct if the Lanc carrying it crashed. The WD were paranoid about the bomb (Mine?) falling into enemy hands and working out its secrets and using it against us.

 

The self destruct mechanism was so sensitive many thought it would destroy the Lanc on take of or in flight, and it was argued that it should not be used.

 

As it was it was not armed until the Lanc was on the runway, ready to take off. The irony is one Upkeep from a crashed Lanc did fall into German hands, who worked out basically what it was about and how it worked, It is thought however they didn't realise it needed back spin from a belt drive hydraulic motor.

[AndyFowler]

 

can give you a silly bit of info. Opposite Catford Bus garage just to the left of the Sainsbury's is a row of houses. the end one has a blue plaque, Barnes Wallis lived here.

Is that the bus garage in New Cross ? :-D

[Tony B]

That's the one. Not my bit of London, bad enough on the edge:sweat:.

[AndyFowler]

I thought it must have been unless he was a bus spotter and lived opposite lots of garages ! Nice houses in there day ! Not sure he'd fancy living there now ! :-D

[AlienFTM]

And apparently the Upkeep mine was fitted with a device that ensured it would self destruct if the Lanc carrying it crashed. The WD were paranoid about the bomb (Mine?) falling into enemy hands and working out its secrets and using it against us.

 

The self destruct mechanism was so sensitive many thought it would destroy the Lanc on take of or in flight, and it was argued that it should not be used.

 

As it was it was not armed until the Lanc was on the runway, ready to take off. The irony is one Upkeep from a crashed Lanc did fall into German hands, who worked out basically what it was about and how it worked, It is thought however they didn't realise it needed back spin from a belt drive hydraulic motor.

 

They had their version of Upkeep designed within ten days of the raid and tried many other variations on the design, including using rockets to give it the speed to bounce, but never got it into service before the end of the war.

 

RN tried to delay the Dams Raid because they wanted to use a smaller "Highball" to sink the Tripitz before the Germans devised an answer to the technique. (A raid on Tirpitz was the usual cover story or guess by the crews for Op Chastise.) Tirpitz was never moored anywhere suitable to be attacked with Highball. Had the Americans not nuked Japan, the RN hoped to use Highballs out of Mosquitos against the Japanese.

[AlienFTM]

At the western end of the Moehne Dam is what the placque claims to be an Upkeep retrieved after the raid, except that it bears no resemblance to Upkeep.

 

Since we have thrown in all the jargon, one last one. The callsign for Op Chastise was "Cooler" thus,

 

"Hello all Cooler aircraft, blah blah blah."