dambusters test model

As part of the heritage weekend we visited the BRE science and research centre near us. This is a photo of the only surviving model used for testing what would become the bouncing bombs used in World War II. This is a model of the Mohne dam in the Ruhr valley which was built here in 1940

There was also an excellent talk by the communications manager of BRE about its role in the raid in 1943 and the main characters such as Sir Wallis Barnes. Apparently he originally wanted to use a huge 10tonne Bomb to creat an earthquake to demolish the dam but that proved impractical.

Ther were lots of other things to see on the day including the zero carbon eco houses, a flood resistant Home, a library of tree specimens which has the high Scrabble scoring name of a Xylarium, a wind tunnel used by the centre to test wind speeds through skyscrapers and Britain’s quietest room. I was more interested in the bouncy castles than the bouncing bombs!