Its the 70th anniversary of the dambusters raid today. For those that don't know the story - Get with it!!! When I was a lad, the book was read over and over again and I can recall most details even now. The book covered all of Barnes Wallis's other achievements such as his work with what he called 'earthquake' bombs that penetrated the ground before exploding and setting off seismic pressure waves that broke up the reinforced concrete of e.g. U-boat shelters.
The bouncing bombs used the same principle - hitting the top of the dam wall then sinking down before exploding with (I think) a hydrostatic detonation device. This meant that the explosion happened well down the wall and was directed towards the concrete by the water rather than exploding in the air. I haven't heard any of this being mentioned in the news articles. I'm pretty sure I have not made it up so come on BBC, let's have some decent technical reports.
The 'bouncing' aspect of the bomb was just to make sure it hit the dam wall accurately without sailing over - although a couple of them did. The theory was that they needed at least 2 or 3 to detonate at the right spot to weaken the wall and break it up. Even today I still think it was one of the most interesting stories of the war. This, of course, ignores the harsh realities of war and something that has to be considered (but not here).
I managed to get out on my bike last night for a decent 57 miles. Avoided most of the hail/snow that was flying around and didn't even take a drink with me. My knees started to ache a bit, but on the whole had a good ride even though I couldn't feel my toes for half an hour after finishing. Its far too cold for May.
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