Barnes Wallis 'Highball' practice bombs recovered from Scottish sea loch

[Phil Perry]

Divers find Barnes Wallis' famous bouncing bombs which starred in the Dambusters movie at the bottom of a Scottish loch

 

( The 'Highball' bomb was NOT used on the Dams raid - just correcting the headline a little )

 

 

[onetrack]

Hoots, mon! 'Tis only a wee thingy! I always imagined them as being around 2 or 2.5M in diameter.

 

I'm also surprised that it was pulled up from only 50M down. I always thought all those Scottish lochs were 200M and more, deep!

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Hoots, mon! 'Tis only a wee thingy! I always imagined them as being around 2 or 2.5M in diameter.I'm also surprised that it was pulled up from only 50M down. I always thought all those Scottish lochs were 200M and more, deep!

Och Aye ! tis a wee thingy indeed. . . . . there is a photo of a German official standing next to an unexploded 'Highball' which probably skipped over a dam wall and ended up in the woods. . . without the water pressure at the the dam wall, the barometric fuse would not have activated. . . That bomb was cylindrical rather than spheroid and considerably larger than those recovered from the Loch. . . ( See picture )

 

Loch Ness ( another Sea Loch ) is considerably deeper than 50m in places. . . .

 

Good article that. . . . ( I noticed that in the list of divers that there was some bloke from Cannock, where I live. I wonder who that is. . . . )

 

 

[dac104y]

 

I always thought it looked more like this.......maybe some of the British forum users or expats such as myself will remember this advert

 

 

[old man emu]

Hear his grandson keeps goal for Bayern München

 

 

[allowera]

The 618 Squadron was based in Australia, (Temora?) until the end of the war.

 

As the above article said, the Highball bomb was designed for large ships. The Japanese Navy had been terrorising the Pacific and the 618 (with their highly modified Mosquitoes) were dispatched here to help.

 

The battle of the Coral Sea took place before they were able to engage the Japanese Carrier Fleet.

 

I think the book was called "a most secret Squadron".

 

 

[onetrack]

Allowera, you may want to re-check your information source/s.

 

618 Squadron was not formed until 1st April 1943 - the Battle of the Coral Sea took place between the 4th and 8th May 1942 - long before any thought of designing the Wallis bombs was entered into, by the British military forces.

 

The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first decisive WW2 naval battle by combined RAN, and USN naval and USN air forces, against the Japs - and this battle resulted in victory for the Allies, with the Japs forced to retreat from further Southern advances.

 

Furthermore, 618 Sqdn did not move to Australia until mid-Dec 1944, whereby Mosquito re-assembly and training took up until February 1945.

 

618 Sqdn was then posted to the British Pacific Fleet base at Manus Island in March 1945 - but they were unable to go into action against any Japanese enemy shipping because the entire SW Pacific Area was under USN control - and it would have taken a lot more time to integrate the RAF aircraft into USN air operations.

 

RAF - 618 Squadron

 

The Battle of the Coral Sea

 

 

[allowera]

Most terribly sorry for any misinformation.

 

I was merely adding to the story of the recovered practice bombs with my (obviously limited) memory.

 

I questioned Temora? as the final base. It was in fact Narromine.

 

My mentioning the book was to encourage further (more accurate) research into a fascinating chapter in OUR history.

 

As for the Coral Sea, the 618 certainly missed the boat (pun intended). :-)

 

 

[old man emu]

The aviation museum at Narromine has a photo or two of surplus Mosquitoes being towed off by farmers as a source of nuts and bolts for farm machinery. Such inglorious endings for so many of our wartime tools, but that's what happens when you beat your swords into ploughshares.

 

OME

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Allowera, you may want to re-check your information source/s.618 Squadron was not formed until 1st April 1943 - the Battle of the Coral Sea took place between the 4th and 8th May 1942 - long before any thought of designing the Wallis bombs was entered into, by the British military forces.

 

The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first decisive WW2 naval battle by combined RAN, and USN naval and USN air forces, against the Japs - and this battle resulted in victory for the Allies, with the Japs forced to retreat from further Southern advances.

 

Furthermore, 618 Sqdn did not move to Australia until mid-Dec 1944, whereby Mosquito re-assembly and training took up until February 1945.

 

618 Sqdn was then posted to the British Pacific Fleet base at Manus Island in March 1945 - but they were unable to go into action against any Japanese enemy shipping because the entire SW Pacific Area was under USN control - and it would have taken a lot more time to integrate the RAF aircraft into USN air operations.

 

RAF - 618 Squadron

 

The Battle of the Coral Sea

Thanks Onetrack Sir.

 

THIS. . . .Is one of the man reasons that I tend to post these historical snippets. they always elicit some really good replies and discussions thereby increasing my own tiny knowledge of the various subjects. It is a shame that we do not have a '?' option in the response Icons at the bottom of a comment page though. As this would ( in my view anyway ) draw immediate attention and annotate a query of some kind to the comment responded to, rather than a 'Caution' sign . . . which is a 'Warning'. I would expect to get one of these if I suggested an incorrect medicinal solution which was likely to cause someone harm . . . :-) Perhaps Uncle Ian could consider a' ?' in the next control panel review ( as if the poor bloke has nothing better to do with his time ! )

 

I have been in receipt of a few of these 'Cautions' myself, but after re-reading my comments, could not see what element was being referred to.as the reason for same . .

 

Some bloody good historians on here.. . . .RESPEK !

 

 

[onetrack]

Thanks, Phil. Just felt the need to correct the timeline, and to caution against incorrect information.

 

Yes, the icons do need something extra to provide additional opinion. However, my understanding is that the "caution" icon should really only be used in two situations - one, when the information provided is not correct in the opinion of the person posting the caution - and two, when someone posts something that is defamatory or slanderous, and which statements are entering dangerous territory.

 

In the first case, I believe it behoves the person posting the caution to immediately post a refute or correction, so the balance is maintained.

 

In the second case, it should serve as a warning for the OP to "pull their head in", as defamation and slander lawsuits are just as easily launched with regard to internet postings, as they are against public utterings from the persons mouth.

 

As the old saying goes, if you want to smear someone, you'd better have the incontestable evidence ready, and be prepared to put your money where your mouth is.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Thanks, Phil. Just felt the need to correct the timeline, and to caution against incorrect information.Yes, the icons do need something extra to provide additional opinion. However, my understanding is that the "caution" icon should really only be used in two situations - one, when the information provided is not correct in the opinion of the person posting the caution - and two, when someone posts something that is defamatory or slanderous, and which statements are entering dangerous territory.

 

In the first case, I believe it behoves the person posting the caution to immediately post a refute or correction, so the balance is maintained.

 

In the second case, it should serve as a warning for the OP to "pull their head in", as defamation and slander lawsuits are just as easily launched with regard to internet postings, as they are against public utterings from the persons mouth.

 

As the old saying goes, if you want to smear someone, you'd better have the incontestable evidence ready, and be prepared to put your money where your mouth is.

Agree entirely Cobber. I like to see accuracy too.

 

Phil.

 

 

[IBob]

"in perfect condition........"

 

hm...makes note: remember not to buy a used car off that lot............

 

 

[facthunter]

I though it was the Giraffe that said " The HIGHBALLS are on Me" but I could be wrong. It was only bar room talk. Nev