TRIALS OF ROYAL NAVY VERSION OF THE 'HIGHBALL' BOUNCING BOMB [Allocated Title]

The film record of secret experiments by the Royal Navy in April 1944 to test a variant of the bouncing bomb devised by Barnes Wallis and used by the Royal Air Force in the famous April 1943 'Dambusters' raid.

START 00:00:00 Reel 1. Three views filmed with high-speed and normally-running cameras at different locations on a Royal Navy test range somewhere in the United Kingdom (possibly the Royal Navy test range at Aberporth in the Bay of Cardigan) showing small round 'Highball' projectiles painted black and white to aid visibility bouncing across the surface of moderately choppy waters before disappearing beneath the waves.

00:01:38 Nine views filmed on land with high-speed and normally-running cameras of the projectiles being propelled with the assistance of rocket charges from a firing platform in a cove on the seashore and skimming along the surface in calm seas (some more successfully than others) before sinking. Test firing #4, which is successful, and test firing #9, which is not, provide the best film coverage.

00:07:26 Reel 2. Fifteen views filmed on land with high-speed and normally-running cameras of small round 'Highball' projectiles being fired from a converted 21-inch torpedo tube (?) mounted on a barge and skimming with varying degrees of success over the water before disappearing into the sea. At the end of many of these experiments, the camera pans and tilts unsteadily to a cue card which shows the number of the test firing and the date. They start at Shot No. 18, dated 17 April 1944, and end at Shot No. 37 dated 20 April 1944. Test firings #2, #8, #10, and #12, all of which are successful, and test firings #14 and #15, which are failures, provide the best film coverage.

00:17:52 Reel 3. Four views filmed on land and two views filmed on board a boat showing 'Highball' projectiles being fired from the projector on board the barge and bouncing with varying degrees of success across the water before sinking beneath the waves. Test firings #3 and #5 provide the best film coverage, especially the latter which clearly shows the projectile spinning as it flies through the air and skims off the sea.

00:23:07 Scenes filmed on board the barge fitted with the projector (a specially-adapted 21-inch torpedo tube ?) showing a detachment consisting of three naval ratings and a Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) Lieutenant in charge of preparing the weapon for firing. Filmed from various angles, they are seen ramming a spherical 'Highball' projectile into the tube with the help of planks of wood. A heavy circular breech cover is then installed and sealed tight by fitting two semi-circular top and bottom steel clips which are then screwed tightly together. The actual propellant charge, similar in appearance to an electrical filament in a light bulb, is then inserted into the centre of the circular breech cover and locked in place.

00:26:34 Reel 4. As seen from the headland astern of the barge fitted with the projector, there are eight test firings showing the smoke from the propellant charge each time a 'Highball' projectile is fired. Circular splash patterns appear each time the projectiles bounces off the sea.

END 00:27:39

35mm