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Barnes Wallis, English Engineer and Inventor

Barnes Neville Wallis (September 26, 1887 - October 30, 1979), was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during WWII. A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-determined, in a similar fashion to a regular naval depth charge. Wallis did much pioneering engineering work to make the swing-wing concept functional. Among his other inventions were the geodetic airframe and the earthquake bomb. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1945 and was knighted in 1968. He died in 1979 at the age of 96.

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Title:

Barnes Wallis, English Engineer and Inventor

Caption:

Barnes Neville Wallis (September 26, 1887 - October 30, 1979), was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during WWII. A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-determined, in a similar fashion to a regular naval depth charge. Wallis did much pioneering engineering work to make the swing-wing concept functional. Among his other inventions were the geodetic airframe and the earthquake bomb. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1945 and was knighted in 1968. He died in 1979 at the age of 96.

Personalities:

WALLIS

Credit:

Album / Science Source / New York Public Library

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Image size:

2976 x 3626 px | 30.9 MB

Print size:

25.2 x 30.7 cm | 9.9 x 12.1 in (300 dpi)

Keywords:

1887 • 1979 • 19TH CENTURY • 20 XX TWENTIETH CENTURY • 20TH CENTURY • 20TH • AMMO • AMMUNITION • ARMS • ARTILLERY • BARNES NEVILLE WALLIS • BARNES WALLIS • BOMB • BOUNCING BOMB • BW • CELEBRITIES • CELEBRITY • DESIGN • ENGINEER • ENGINEERING • ENGLISH • EUROPEA • EUROPEAN • FAMOUS • FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY • FIGURE • HISTORIC • HISTORICAL • HISTORY • IMPORTANT • INVENTOR (MALE) • INVENTOR • KNIGHTED • MALE • MAN • MEN • MUNITION • MUNITIONS • NOTABLE • PEOPLE • PERSOANLITIES • PERSON • PERSONALITY • PHOTO • PHOTOGRAPH • SCIENCE • SECOND WORLD WAR • SIR • SWING-WING CONCEPT • SWING-WING • TWENTIETH CENTURY • UPKEEP BOUNCING BOMB • VICKERS TYPE 464 • WALLIS • WEAPON • WEAPONARY • WEAPONRY • WEAPONS • WELL-KNOWN • WORLD WAR 2 • WORLD WAR II • WORLD WAR TWO • WW II • WW2 • WWII