York | Archive | 1999 | November | 29
From the Evening Press, first published Monday 29th Nov 1999.
An example of the Grand Slam bomb designed by the legendary bouncing bomb creator Barnes Wallis has been delivered to the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York.
Sgt Tim Atkinson with the 20,000lb Grand Slam bomb which has been acquired by the Yorkshire AIr Museum at Elvington
The 22,000lb bomb, was designed to go supersonic when dropped, causing it to embed itself up to 100 ft deep in the ground and cause a devastating earthquake-like shudder.
This lead to the generic term Earthquake Bomb which also applied to the smaller Tallboy bomb, an example of which the museum already possesses, along with the Upkeep bomb.
Ian Richardson, the museum's publicity officer, said: "It will become one of three bombs we possess designed by Barnes Wallis and I don't know of any other museum which can boast such a collection.
"Barnes Wallis is quite a draw himself, but also had a lot to do with the development of the R100 airships at Howden so there's a strong Yorkshire connection."
The bomb comes to the museum minus explosive and tail section, but it is still 14 feet long and weights 8.5 tons. It was used during the Second World War to strike big strategic targets like dams and railway bridges because its size and explosive strength virtually guaranteed demolition. It was brought to the museum on long-term loan from the Royal Air Force Museum at RAF Cardington, Hendon, Bedfordshire, by members of the Territorial Army's 150 Transport Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, based at Hull.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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