North diver’s mission to recover bouncing bombs

Team search Loch for Dambuster-style weapon

A NORTH East scuba diver hass helped to recover a historic bounc- ing bomb from a Scottish Loch.

Simon Smith, from Great Lumley,, County Durham, was among thee team who lifted the iconic bombb out of Loch Striven in Argyll.

Mr Smith is a diver with the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) and a member of Tyneside 114 BSAC, which meets in Gateshead.

Around 200 “highball” bombs have lain at the bottom of the loch for almost 75 years since they were tested by the Royal Navy for use against enemy ships in the Second World War.

The team aims to lift two and donate them to two museums, so they can be put on display in time for the 75th anniversary of the Dambusters raid in 2018.

The first one has now been removed and the second is expected to be recovered soon.

Mr Smith said: “It’s been absolutely brilliant to be involved. No one’s seen these highballs for 75 years. This project has been a long time coming to fruition and we are really looking forward to seeing them go off to museums.”

The recovery effort was led by Mark Paisey of Macclesfield-based East Cheshire Sub-Aqua Club, and assisted by the Royal Navy and other agencies.

Each diver played a vital role in the mission, which involved a series of exploratory dives at depths of up to 50m to identify which high- balls were suitable for recovery, and secure them for lifting.

Mr Paisey said: “It was unbelievable to see the first one come out of the water. It was covered in mud and marine crustaceans but, when we cleaned it off, it was perfectly preserved.”

The inactive bombs will be transported in wet tanks containing a salt-water solution to prevent them from corroding.

The highballs were the naval or anti-ship version of the cylindrical shaped bouncing bombs used by the RAF in the Dambusters raid in May 1943, both having been designed by Sir Barnes Wallis. SIMON SMITH North East diver Simon Smith, left, with project leader Mark Paisey One of the World War Two highballs at the bottom of the loch. Inset, the ordinance after it was raised