Barnes Wallis

Barnes Wallis
Wallis as a sub-lieutenant in the
Royal Naval Air Service[1]
Born
Barnes Neville Wallis

(1887-09-26)26 September 1887
Ripley, Derbyshire, England
Died30 October 1979(1979-10-30) (aged 92)
Leatherhead, Surrey, England[2]
Resting placeSt Lawrence's Church, Effingham, Surrey
NationalityEnglish
Occupation(s)Scientist, engineer and inventor
Known forInventing the bouncing bomb, geodetic airframe design and the earthquake bomb
Parents
  • Charles William George Robinson Wallis
  • Edith Eyre Ashby
AwardsAlbert Medal (1968)
Royal Medal (1975)

Sir Barnes Neville Wallis CBE FRS RDI FRAeS[3] (26 September 1887 – 30 October 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 (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during World War II.

The raid was the subject of the 1955 film The Dam Busters, in which Wallis was played by Michael Redgrave. Among his other inventions were his version of the geodetic airframe and the earthquake bomb, including designs such as the Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs.[4][5]

  1. ^ Holland, James (10 May 2012). Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the Dams, 1943 (illustrated ed.). Random House. p. 108. ISBN 978-1409030409.
  2. ^ "Engineering Timelines – Birthplace of Sir Barnes Neville Wallis". www.engineering-timelines.com.
  3. ^ "No. 44735". The London Gazette. 13 December 1968. p. 13425.
  4. ^ Polmar, Norman; Allen, Thomas B. (2012). World War II: The Encyclopedia of the War Years, 1941-1945. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-486-47962-0.
  5. ^ Overy, Richard J. (2015). The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War Over Europe, 1940-1945. New York: Penguin Books. p. 374. ISBN 978-0-14-312624-9.