DIVERS have recovered dozens of bouncing bombs dropped in a training exercise linked to the Second World War Dambusters raid.
On May 16, 1943, Lancasters bombed three dams in the Ruhr Valley to disrupt German industry.
But a smaller bouncing bomb designed to destroy ships, was also being developed and tested in Scotland.
The Highball, also invented by Sir Barnes Wallis, was designed to sink the German battleship Tirpitz, berthed in a Norwegian fjord.
Mosquitos dropped between 120 and 200 of the bombs on a disused battleship in Loch Striven in Argyll. The spherical bombs, measuring a yard across, were never used in action.
Now, after years of research, a diving team has recovered eight of the bombs, the first to be seen since 1943.
The expedition was led by Dr Iain Murray of Dundee University, who said the search was like “looking for a black golf ball in an area the size of two football fields – and at night with the lights off”.
He added: “Everyone knows about the Dambusters and the famous bouncing bomb. But a smaller version, codenamed Highball, was designed to sink the Tirpitz. The bombs were similar to those dropped on the dams.”
The scenes in the Dambusters film, where they press the button and the next shot is a bomb skipping across the water, is actually a Highball on Loch Striven.
“The practice bombs did not have explosives in them. They would have been the correct weight and size, but filled with concrete.”
The bombs were found at a depth of 114ft.
Dr Murray devised the recovery project while working on his book, Bouncing Bomb Man: The Science of Sir Barnes
Wallis, and enlisted Ted Crosbie from Underwater Science Ltd.
In May, a dive was carried out to examine the visibility on the bottom of the loch and the first of 12 dives took place earlier this month.
Dr Murray added: “Brooklands Museum, the site of the Vickers factory where Barnes Wallis worked, will receive a recovered bomb.
“But I am sure that several museums, including the RAF Museum and Imperial War Museum and the Barnes Wallis Memorial Trust would all be interested in having one.”
Bouncing Highballs "recovered"
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