Bouncing bombs and ravens
Published: Tue, 03/10/15
One of the churches I preach at has a second hand bookstall to raise money for charity. When I had a preaching appointment at that particular place of worship a couple of weeks ago I checked out the bookstall as usual. I found a Lee Child, Jack Reacher novel as well as a recent John Grisham. The stall has also started selling second hand DVDs so I also came away with a copy of the Dambusters. I must have seen it as a child on TV but that was a very long time ago.
For those not familiar with the story the Dambusters was the name given to a RAF raid on three dams in the Rhur valley in May 1943. The intention was that destroying the dams would hurt the German war effort by depriving the enemy of hydroelectric power, drinking water and cause mayhem and destruction through flooding. The dams were a fairly obvious target yet very difficult to seriously damage by aerial bombardment using conventional bombs. The reservoirs were also well protected with torpedo nets so that a very ingenious weapon was required.
Barnes Wallis was the assistant chief design engineer at the famous armaments company Vickers and was already responsible for designing the highly successful Wellington Bomber. Wallis developed a ‘bouncing bomb’ which could be dropped at low level onto the surface of the reservoir and would bounce across the water until it hit he dam wall, there it would sink to the base of the structure and explode in very close proximity to the dam wall itself causing a breach.
The film tells the story of Wallis’ struggle to get bomber command to accept his idea, then the forming of a special squadon of Lancaster bombers under Squadron Leader Guy Gibson and its preparation for the raid and of course the raid itself.
As I get older and more pacifist I find such a story less appealing than I did when I was younger. 53 RAF airmen died in the raid and at least 1600 people in Germany, about half of them POWs and forced labourers, many from the Soviet Union. On the other hand the raid was a triumph of engineering, airmanship and raw courage on the part of those who took part. The film is very well made, superbly acted and rather exiting. Altogether I think it is a ver good example of 1950s British film making.
One particular scene sticks in my mind. When the raid is successful Barnes Wallis is congratulated on his ingenuity but he modestly points out that the bouncing bomb wasn’t really his idea at all. When asked where the idea did come from he says that Nelson should have the credit. Apparently the great maritime hero realised that it was possible to bounce cannon balls off the surface of the sea and thus attack an enemy ship from an upward angle. (When checked out it seems that there was an element of artistic licence in the film script. Maritime gunners had long known that cannon balls could be skipped over the water in the right conditions but Nelson deserves no special credit.)
The point is that it shows that Barnes Wallis was a highly ingenious engineer but he also knew his history and could take an old idea and solve a new problem with it. This in itself is an old idea, in the Norse mythology Odin’s Ravens Hugin and Munin, thought and memory, are essential to Odin’s wisdom. Combine extensive knowledge and deep thinking and all things are possible.
If you are interested in finding out more about the ‘Dambusters’ there is a good section on wikipedia, just google Dambusters.
If you want to find out how Stav combines ancient knowledge with practical thinking for coping with life today then come to one of the trainings in the next few months. Next course in Crewkerne on the 28th of March, self-defence in the morning and a weapon training session in the afternoon. Full list of dates including USA and Sweden seminars here http://iceandfire.org/calendar.html yes, it does need updating which I will do this evening.
regards
Graham