(© Iain Murray 2008 - last update 19^th August 2008)

This page lists sites where materials relating to Sir Barnes Wallis can be seen around the UK and elsewhere. Locations marked appear clearly on Google Earth.

Main Wallis collections:

• There is a Barnes Wallis collection within the Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, near York; the collection is managed by the Barnes Wallis Memorial Trust. The displays cover all aspects of Wallis' life and work, with many original artefacts and some superb models and other materials. The museum also has on display Upkeep, Tallboy and (incomplete) Grand Slam bombs, part of a Highball and part of the Highball carrier from a Mosquito. The original testing tank catapult (also seen in "The Dam Busters" film) is on show (on loan from the RAF Museum Archives) and the entrance is lined with panelling from R-100. You can even try out the "fake moonlight" equipment used by 617 Squadron to practice in moonlight conditions during the day, and try lining up on a model dam with the two versions of the famous bombsight used to fix distance from the dams. Note that this collection has been CLOSED during 2008 for refurbishment of the building, and it now uncertain when (or if) it will re-open to the public - contact YAM for details if you plan to visit!
• The Brooklands Museum, Weybridge, Surrey (which was near the Vickers factory) has Wellington bomber N2980 "R for Robert" recovered from Loch Ness in 1985 and now fully restored. Some of Wallis' bombs are on display including an Upkeep, Grand Slam, Tallboy and (uniquely) a Tallboy Small (the 4,000lb version used for trials); the museum also has a (mostly) Weybridge-built Concorde G-BBDG.
• The RAF Museum at Hendon has the only other complete Wellington remaining (MF628), the one seen taking off in "The Dam Busters" film. They have a reconstruction of Wallis' office with original artefacts, a box of model bouncing bomb prototypes of various forms, and an Upkeep. They also have a Grand Slam bomb on display, and their Cosford site has another Grand Slam. The museum also has a link of anchor chain from Tirpitz, which was sunk by Tallboys in November 1944, and a painted bulkhead from the ship (which was repeatedly taken as a trophy by 9 Squadron and 617 Squadron from each other). Other Wallis artefacts and papers are held in storage.

Bombs:

• RAF Lossiemouth (current home to 617 Squadron) has an Upkeep, Tallboy, and Grand Slam all on display, although you will need permission to gain access to the base to see them. The Upkeep is a reconstruction from parts of original bombs (see below).
• The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is located at RAF Coningsby, and they have complete Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs on display. (the bombs can actually be seen on Google Earth)
• The Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield has a Grand Slam on display; the bomb casing was cast in Sheffield, where the local steelmen referred to it as "the big bastard"!
• Haverfordwest (Withybush) Airport has a section of a Highball on display, recovered by the Pembrokeshire Aviation Group from the nearby Maenclochog Tunnel where experimental drops were carried out in 1943.
• There is a Tallboy at the Belgian Army base at Meerdaal (near Leuven), Belgium. This bomb was recovered when the reservoir of the Urft Dam (attacked unsuccessfully by 617 Squadron and 9 Squadron in December 1944) was drained in the 1950s; the Belgian Explosive Disposal Ordnance team was based at nearby Vogelsang (now in the Eifel National Park ) and disarmed the bomb, claiming it as a trophy. When the Belgians left the German site in 2005, they took the bomb with them and erected it as a monument at their Meerdaal site in June 2006; the tail cone is a replica.
• There is a Tallboy at the Pakistan Air Force Museum at Faisal (near Karachi), Pakistan - it can be seen over to the right in this picture. I presume that this bomb was carried by 617 Squadron during its Far East deployment just after the war and left behind -  does anyone know a more detailed history of this bomb?
• The Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum at Nanton, Alberta, Canada, has a Tallboy on display - this one is a replica (and I don't think the tails were ever silver!). The museum also has a link of anchor chain from Tirpitz, which was sunk by Tallboys in November 1944.
• MISSING - A Tallboy (dropped by 9 Squadron in October 1944) was recovered intact from the Sorpe reservoir in 1958 and defuzed - does anyone know where this bomb is now?
• MISSING - numerous fragments of exploded Tallboys and Grand Slams probably exist in museums and private collections - please let me know if you know the location of any fragments!

Bombs (Upkeep/Highball only - unless otherwise stated, all recovered from Reculver, Kent, where test drops were conducted in April and May 1943):

• The Brenzett Aeronautical Museum near Romney Marsh has an Upkeep on display (with fuzes) as well as a small number of aircraft.
• The Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial at RAF Manston, Kent, has an Upkeep on display (this is either an early prototype or (more likely) the core of a Highball).
  • N.B. The dimensions given on this website refer to the final form of Upkeep, and not to the actual bomb on display, which is 27" long and 21" diameter
  • N.B. The reference to Nant-y-Gros dam [sic] on this website is erroneous ... the Nant-y-Gro dam in Wales was used for explosives tests, but not in the form of a droppable Upkeep bomb.
• The Herne Bay Museum has a small prototype Upkeep on display in its Dambusters exhibition (this is the same size as the one at Manston above, so is either an early prototype or (more likely) the core of a Highball)
• The Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, was the officers mess for 617 Squadron later in the war. It has a small museum to the squadron, and a (damaged) Upkeep in the grounds.
• Dover Castle also has part of an Upkeep on display
• The Imperial War Museum at Duxford has an Upkeep.
• The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby has an Upkeep too, and possibly a Highball.
• Grantham Museum, Lincolnshire has displays relating to both World Wars, including a 617-related collection based around the papers of Harry Humphries, the squadron's original adjutant. The collection includes part of an original Upkeep (one end plate with fuze pockets) mocked up as a complete bomb; this one may also have come from Ashley Walk.
• The Ringwood Town & Country Experience in Hampshire has an Upkeep. Unlike those above, this is a reconstruction from original parts recovered in 1984 from the nearby Ashley Walk bombing range, where trials took place in 1943 to test the use of Upkeeps dropped on land (my thanks to Matt Briars for this link). The Upkeep at RAF Lossiemouth (see above) came from this source too.
• MISSING - The Upkeep carried by Barlow on Operation Chastise failed to self-destruct and was recovered intact by the Germans, allowing them to work out a detailed specification and build their own version - does anyone know where this bomb is now?
• MISSING - One of the Upkeeps dropped at Ashley Walk in the New Forest was recovered in 1984 by the Royal Observer Corps, and part of the end plate was cut into 617 parts and sold for charity (these parts have been selling for around £150 on eBay!) - does anyone know where the remainder of this bomb is now?

Other items:

• The Swannery at Abbotsbury in Dorset, has a prototype bouncing bomb on display; this was recovered from the Fleet (the lagoon between the mainland and Chesil Beach) where many of the early drop tests were carried out; this same bomb was previously on display at Portland Museum which was founded in 1930 by Dr. Marie Stopes - by coincidence, Stopes' son married Wallis' daughter!
• Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower, Gosport, Hampshire, has one of Wallis' Heyday experimental torpedoes on display.
• The Wellington Aviation Museum at Morton-in-the-Marsh, Gloucestershire, has a pair of Wellington (or Warwick) wheels and a propeller outside and the tail of Wellington L7775 inside; the Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group also have parts from the same aircraft, including the wings.
• The Aviation Artefact Museum, part of the Armstrong Museum within Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, covers many aspects of military shipbuilding and aviation. The collection includes geodetic structure from Vickers-Armstrongs Warwick HG136 which crashed on a nearby hill in 1946, and many other aircraft parts (mostly from local crashes), as well as a T-1 bombsight and computer (though it is incorrectly labelled as a Mark XIV bombsight and computer).
• The Flambards Experience in Helston, Cornwall, has a number of aviation-related displays, including a small display of items related to Wallis and his time at Predannack (which is 5 miles from Helston). If anyone can supply more details on this exhibition, or photos of the exhibits, please send me an e-mail

• Wallis was born in Ripley, Derbyshire, and is commemorated in the Sir Barnes Wallis Recreational Area in one of the town's parks.
• Wallis lived for most of his life at White Hill House [map], Beech Avenue, Effingham, Surrey. This house is still there, though it is no longer in the hands of the Wallis family.
• During his formative years, Wallis lived at 241 New Cross Road [map] [image] in London - the house has a plaque on it commemorating its most famous resident.
• Later, he lived at 23 Pepys Road [map] [image] just round the corner
• A little further west off New Cross Road are Wild Goose Drive [map] and Swallow Close [map], named in honour of Wallis' post-war designs. On Wild Goose Drive, there is the Barnes Wallis Community Centre .
• Wallis got married at St. Luke's Church, Hampstead [map] on St. George's Day, 1925
• The Eder Dam Museum is housed in one of the former power stations at the base of the dam. The museum has a full-size replica Upkeep, as well as a model of the dam after the raid, and other wartime memorabilia (my thanks to Tony Knight for this link).
• The Thameside Aviation Museum in East Tilbury have a 1/2 scale replica Upkeep.
• R-100 was built at Howden [map], and Historical Howden features Wallis' connection with the town. There is now no trace of the airship sheds or the cottage where Wallis lived, and much of the site is now Boothferry Golf Club. Just north of Howden is the Barnes Wallis Inn [map] [image], which has some Wallis memorabilia on the walls inside.
• 617 Squadron were originally based at RAF Scampton where there is a small museum with some Wallis-related items - this includes a Highball, which was recovered at Reculver in 1977 and, after 30 years in Amsterdam, found a new home at Scampton in 2007.
• In Scampton itself is the Dambusters Inn [map] (opened in 1999) which has related memorabilia (including a model of a Lancaster and a small-scale Upkeep replica) and prints on the wall.
• The model of the Möhne Dam seen in "The Dam Busters" film is the original and it still exists at the Building Research Laboratory in Hertfordshire; the model is now a listed building (despite being rather overgrown) and can be visited by prior arrangement with the BRE.
• The Derwent Dam in Derbyshire [map] was used by 617 Squadron for training for the dams raid, and there is a small memorial at the dam. No actual "bouncing bombs" were dropped here.
• Several Tallboys and a Grand Slam were dropped on the bombing range at Ashley Walk in the New Forest, and the sharp-eyed can still spot these craters, as well as part of the submarine pen target which was buried after the war but is starting to uncover. Atlantikwall has some nice photos of what's left of the various targets.
• After the war, Wallis conducted model flying experiments with his Wild Goose and Swallow designs at RAF Predannack in Cornwall. The models were launched from a rocket-powered rail sled and remotely-controlled by radio. The rails ran parallel to the main runway, crossing the other runway, although the latter was later returned to use. Atlantikwall has some nice photos of what's left of the rail track and the rest of the airfield; access to the site is possible when no flying is taking place.
• The University of Manchester has its Students' Union in the Barnes Wallis Building in Sackville Street [map] [image]; Wallis was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of UMIST and lifetime membership of the Manchester Students' Union in 1967.
• There is a Barnes Wallis Close in both Boscombe Down [map] and Melksham [map], a Barnes Wallis Court in Welton near Lincoln [map], a Barnes Wallis Drive in Telford [map], a Barnes Wallis Road in Fareham [map] (near Brunel Way!) and a Barnes Wallis Way in both Gloucester [map] and Redcar [map]. Do you know of any others?

...and locations which don't have Wallis artefacts:

• Despite statements in books that the Mosquito Aircraft Museum in Hertfordshire has a Highball, it doesn't ...
• ... and the Museum of Flight at East Fortune (near Edinburgh) doesn't have an Upkeep.

If you know of other sites of interest to Wallis enthusiasts, please send me an e-mail and I will add it here.

Go back to my main Barnes Wallis page