Barnes Wallis: Dambuster by Peter Pugh

by Peter Pugh

Barnes Wallis is best known for his invention of the Bouncing Bombs which destroyed the Mohne, Eder, Sorpe and Ennepe dams in the Ruhr in May 1943. The mission, carried out by 617 Squadron led by Guy Gibson VC, was a complete success even if some have argued since that the influence on the war was more psychological than physical. It remains one of the most exciting events of the Second World War, with its bold vision, Wallis's persistence in pushing it through against considerable opposition, and its courageous and skilful execution. The attack on the dams was not Barnes Wallis's only achievement in his long career as an engineer and scientist. His first notable contribution was on the R80 airship during the First World War, followed by further work on the airships R100 and R101 during the 1920s. He made valuable design contributions on the Wellesley and, more importantly, on the Wellington bomber which served the RAF throughout the Second World War."

Genres: Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1905

Reviews

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly short but concise book about the engineering achievements of Barnes Wallis, supported by forty photographs. I read this book having previously read lots about Wallis’s wartime projects, and so I was hoping to learn a bit about his other achievements as well, even though the title hinted that the emphasis was likely to be on the ‘bouncing bomb’. Inevitably, more than a third of the text was devoted to the Dambusters raid, followed by quite a lot about Tallboy and Grandslam bombs, but, nevertheless, there was quite a lot of information about his other projects before and after the war. The text was sharply focussed, and the linear chapter layout organised it all very well. An interesting book that places a lot of information into a short space inevitably means that many items only get surface detail, so be prepared to look further at other publications if you need rivet-counting detail.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too dispassionate for my taste. Seemed more like a 'greatest hits' of other works on Operation Chastise, Barnes Wallis, and WWII military history.