Victory Bomber

Victory Bomber

Company type	Conceptual aircraft project
Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1940
Founder	Barnes Wallis
Fate	Project cancelled in May 1941 before prototype construction
Headquarters	United Kingdom , United Kingdom
Products	Strategic bomber (concept)

Template:EngvarB

Wind tunnel scale model of the Victory Bomber displayed at the Brooklands Museum

The British "Victory Bomber" was a conceptual aircraft designed during the Second World War by British engineer and aircraft innovator Barnes Wallis while working with Vickers-Armstrongs. This large-scale strategic bomber was intended to execute what Wallis described as "anti-civil engineering" bombing operations targeting critical infrastructure within Nazi Germany.

Wallis introduced the idea of an "earthquake bomb"—a munition designed to detonate underground beneath its target, thereby compromising foundations and causing structures to collapse into the void created. To achieve this effect, the bomb needed to weigh approximately 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) and be released from altitudes near 40,000 feet (12 km). At that time, no existing aircraft could both lift such a heavy bomb and operate efficiently at those heights.

To fulfill this requirement, Wallis engineered the six-engine Victory Bomber specifically for this purpose. During this period, most Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers were significantly smaller and typically powered by only two engines. The project underwent thorough investigation, including aerodynamic assessments through wind tunnel testing, alongside trials of the earthquake bomb on scale models. Nonetheless, the Air Ministry decided against advancing the Victory Bomber program, halting it in May 1941 before any prototypes were constructed.

Subsequently, the Avro Lancaster was modified to carry large bombs capable of similar missions. This aircraft deployed Wallis' innovative munitions such as the Tallboy, Grand Slam, and bouncing bomb, notably during strategic "anti-civil engineering" strikes like Operation Chastise, famously known as the "Dambusters" raid.

Background

At the onset of World War II, Wallis conducted in-depth analyses of Germany’s war economy and industrial capacity. He concluded that selectively targeting key infrastructure through strategic bombing could significantly diminish Germany's armaments production. Wallis advocated for missions aimed at crippling German power facilities, including destruction of sites such as coal mines, oil storage depots, hydroelectric dams, and water supply systems, thereby incapacitating Germany’s ability to sustain war efforts.

In parallel, Wallis dedicated considerable effort to understanding explosive physics and bomb mechanics. His research led him to realize that the damaging effect of a shock wave generated by munitions—similar to those produced by depth charges—was more destructive than the initial blast itself. He also regarded conventional RAF bombing tactics as ineffective against dispersed industrial targets on these grounds. Building on this insight, Wallis proposed a new class of weapon designed to detonate underground. In 1940, he developed plans for a 22,400 lb (10,200 kg) "penetrating" bomb featuring a sharply pointed nose to enable it to bury itself deep into the earth before exploding. Dropped from an altitude of 40,000 ft (12,000 m), it was intended to penetrate approximately 135 ft (41 m) beneath the surface; the resulting blast would produce a localized 'earthquake' effect with a destructive radius covering about 29 acres. Estimates suggested that if detonated within 150 ft (46 m) of dam walls such as those at the Möhne Reservoir, this bomb could successfully breach them.

Wallis proposed that five aircraft each deploying one such bomb could devastate around 4,000 acres (16 km²) of area. This strategy promised a far greater destructive impact with fewer aircraft compared to mass conventional bombing raids by RAF Bomber Command. He argued that a small fleet equipped with these specialized bombs could cripple Germany’s industrial output more effectively than larger numbers of standard bombers. Wallis is reported to have remarked that "irreparable damage could be inflicted on the strategic communications of the German Empire by ... ten or twenty machines within the course of a few weeks". However, no current RAF bomber was capable of transporting such a heavy weapon at required altitudes when this concept was proposed.

The Victory Bomber's focus on deploying only one specialized bomb per mission limited its appeal to the Air Ministry, which preferred multi-role flexibility in their aircraft. By mid-1940, policy dictated concentrating production on just five aircraft types—two fighters and three bomber designs—making Wallis’ six-engine bomber concept incompatible with strategic priorities. Despite this, Lord Beaverbrook supported the project and facilitated collaboration from both the Ministry of Aircraft Production and the Transport Research Laboratory to assist Wallis in refining his design. In August 1940, permission was granted by the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics for wind tunnel testing at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington to advance development of the penetration bomb.

Nevertheless, in May 1941, Air Staff officials dismissed both the Victory Bomber and its associated bomb concept, citing concerns that development would not conclude before hostilities ended. With bomber production resources already stretched across several ambitious four-engine projects underway, aviation historian Paul Brickhill noted: "It was a fair assumption that it might be disastrous to dislocate [four-engine bombers] in favour of the Victory Bomber, which would inevitably take much longer to develop." Despite this setback, Wallis’ ideas gained traction within military circles; recognition grew regarding infrastructure targets like dams as valuable objectives, ensuring that his weapon designs remained under consideration beyond May 1941.

The Victory Bomber design did not progress beyond creation of a full-scale wooden wind tunnel model—still preserved today at Brooklands Museum. However, Wallis’ earthquake bomb concept endured with smaller iterations such as the 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) Tallboy bomb, followed by the larger 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) Grand Slam bomb, both carried by modified versions of the Avro Lancaster. As wartime improvements enhanced Lancaster performance sufficiently to handle these heavy payloads, further British designs for massive high-altitude bombers—ranging from 75 tons (68 tonnes) up to 100 tons (90 tonnes)—were also proposed but never advanced beyond preliminary stages. Notably, Bristol’s work on a 100-ton bomber influenced development of the later Bristol Brabazon.

Design (Conceptual Stage)

Faced with the lack of an appropriate aircraft, Wallis revived a previous idea for a large bomber powered by six engines, initially dubbed the 'High Altitude Stratosphere Bomber' and later simplified to the 'Victory Bomber'. This concept had its roots in an earlier design that the RAF had dismissed before the war, at a time when four-engine bombers had not yet been introduced. Support for the idea came from political figures like Lord Beaverbrook, who assumed the role of Minister of Aircraft Production in May 1940. In July of that year, Wallis was called to meet Beaverbrook and briefly presented the Victory Bomber proposal, which Beaverbrook then forwarded for additional analysis. Subsequently, on 1 November 1940, Sir Charles Craven, Managing Director of Vickers, wrote to Lord Beaverbrook recommending support for both the bomb and the Victory Bomber project.

Drawing on his extensive background and knowledge, Wallis designed the massive six-engine Victory Bomber utilizing his expertise in geodetic airframe construction. This technique had been employed in earlier Vickers models such as the Wellesley (1935) and Wellington (1936), and was naturally applied once again since all existing Vickers manufacturing equipment was suited to this method. The design called for a 50-ton (45 tonne) bomber capable of operating at high altitudes—around 45,000 ft (14,000 m)—to maximize bomb impact velocity, flying at approximately 320 mph (280 kn; 510 km/h) over distances up to 4,000 mi (3,500 nmi; 6,400 km). The aircraft was intended to carry a single "earthquake bomb" weighing 22,400 lb (10,200 kg). Defensive weaponry was kept to a minimum; its primary protection relied on altitude and speed, supplemented by one quad-gun turret positioned in the tail to defend against intercepting fighters. The bomber would ascend to operational altitude while still over British territory, benefiting from fighter escort coverage. Given the extreme flight levels anticipated, the crew compartment was designed to be pressurised.

Operating from such elevated altitudes introduced several challenges, foremost among them being bombing precision. Wallis himself recognized that achieving sufficient accuracy when deploying the penetration bomb from around 40,000 ft (12,000 m) presented significant difficulties; it was estimated that only about 25 percent of days annually would offer suitable conditions for missions. However, during these favorable periods, avoiding ground-based anti-aircraft fire was expected to yield accuracy comparable to conventional bombers flying between 15,000–20,000 ft (4,600–6,100 m) under hostile fire. To address these accuracy concerns, Wallis proposed implementing a new gyroscopic bombsight system designed to enhance targeting precision. The Victory Bomber was envisioned with substantial range capabilities, able to conduct bombing raids on targets such as Moscow in the Soviet Union from airfields located near London, United Kingdom. Additionally, Wallis advocated for adapting this aircraft design as a foundation for future civil aviation models capable of direct transatlantic crossings after the war.

See also

• Barnes Wallis
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress
• Amerika Bomber
• Convair B-36 Peacemaker
• Focke-Wulf Ta 400
• Heinkel He 277
• Messerschmitt Me 264
• Nakajima Fugaku
• Vickers Windsor
• Vickers Type C

Bibliography

• Andrews, Charles F. Vickers Aircraft Since 1908. London, UK: Putnam Ltd, 1960.
• Buttler, Tony. Secret Projects: British Fighters and Bombers 1935 -1950 (British Secret Projects 3). Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-85780-179-2.
• Brickhill, Paul. The Dam Busters. Pan Macmillan, 2009 [Original edition: London: Evans, 1951]. ISBN 0-3305-0995-0.
• Edgerton, David. Britain's War Machine: Weapons, Resources, and Experts in the Second World War. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN 0-1999-1150-9.
• Holland, James. Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the Dams, 1943. Random House, 2013. ISBN 0-5521-6341-4.
• Jablonski, Edward. Tragic Victories. Doubleday, 1971.
• Levine, Alan J. The Strategic Bombing of Germany, 1940–1945. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1992. ISBN 0-275-94319-4.
• Sweetman, John. Operation Chastise: The Dams Raid: Epic or Myth. Jane's, 1982. ISBN 0-7106-0124-7.

External links

• Sir Barnes Wallis: Large and Resilient Bomb Designs Archived 18 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine
• Overview of Earthquake Bombs on military-history.org