Barnes Wallis

Sir Barnes Neville Wallis was a British engineer whose work ranged from airship and aircraft structures to specialised wartime weapons. During the Second World War he developed the rotating mine popularly known as the bouncing bomb, designed to skip across water and explode against major German dams.

Barnes Wallis was the British engineer who developed the bouncing bomb used by 617 Squadron during Operation Chastise. Barnes Wallis also worked as Aeronautical engineer and Inventor. Barnes Wallis was born in Ripley, England and died in England.

In Sir Max Hastings’ Chastise, Max Hastings follows Barnes Wallis’s development of the bouncing bomb and Guy Gibson’s formation and training of the squadron, then traces the low-level flight into Germany and the attacks on the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams. In James Holland’s Dam Busters, Barnes Wallis develops the bouncing bomb as a means of attacking the dams that supply water and power to Germany’s Ruhr industries. Wing Commander Guy Gibson forms RAF 617 Squadron and trains crews to fly Lancasters at extremely low altitude during a night operation requiring new equipment and precise timing.