How It Works-Amazing Vehicles

The

bouncing

bomb

One of the most famous parts of the

Lancaster’s heritage is its role in carrying and

releasing the ‘bouncing bomb’ payload, as

glamorised in the 1955 fi lm The Dam Busters.

The bomb was designed by Barnes Wallis –

who was also the creator of the Grand Slam

and Tallboy bombs – and was special in its

abilit y to bounce along the top of a surface of

water, much akin to skimming a stone. It was

designed to counteract and evade German

defences below and above the waterline,

allowing Allied forces to target German

hydroelectric dams and fl oating vessels.

In May 1943 the bouncing bombs were

utilised in Operation Chastise, an allied

mission to destroy German dams in the Ruhr

Valley. The aircraft used were modifi ed Avro

Lancaster Mk IIIs, which had much of their

armour and central turret removed in order to

accommodate the payload. Despite eight of

the Lancasters being lost during the

operation, as well as the lives of 53 crew, a

small number of bouncing bombs were

released and they caused t wo dams to be

breached, one to be heav ily damaged and

1,296 civilians to be killed.

Powerplant

The Lancaster bomber was

powered by four Rolls-Royce

Merlin V12 engines. These were

chosen by the Lancaster’s chief

designer Roy Chadwick due to

their reliability, as the incumbent

bomber – the Avro Manchester –

had adopted the Rolls-Royce

Vulture and had been troubled by

engine failure consistently when

in service.

Over 7,000 bombers

were built

© John Batchelor / w w w.johnbatchelor.com

That’s a real

dam buster...

© Bluemoose

bomber

DID YOU KNOW? A single Lancaster bomber cost £50,000 in 1942, roughly £1.5 million in today’s currency