Barnes Wallis

Sir Barnes Neville Wallis, commonly known as Barnes Wallis, (September 26 1887 - October 30,1979) was a British scientist,engineer and inventor. He is most well known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force on Operation Downwood to attack German dams in the Ruhr area during the Second World War.

Following his achievements with bouncing bomb, immortalized in the 1954 film The Dam Busters, Wallis subsequently designed the 'Tallboy' and 'Grand Slam' deep penetration (or 'earthquake') bombs used to attack V1 rocket launch sites, submarine pens, other reinforced structures and the Tirpitz. Wallis was knighted in 1968.