Only The Lancasters Had A Big Enough Belly For These Tallboys

Only The Lancasters Had A Big Enough Belly For These Tallboys | World War Wings Videos

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When Germany Developed A New Threat, This Tallboy Neutralized It

The Tallboy was a medium capacity bomb developed by the British engineer Barnes Wallis. At 12,000 lbs., it was nicknamed the Earthquake Bomb, as the detonation caused more damage than a direct hit to a target.

While able to bust bunkers which smaller bombs couldn’t do, the Tallboys were designed to penetrate the target or the soil around it and detonate later. This created the earthquake effect which caused surrounding structures to fail, extending the initial damage. At that point, severely damaged targets were too costly to repair giving the Allies significant advantage.

The Tallboys were 12,000 lbs and 20 feet long, making them too large for any airplane to carry.  To remedy this, three Lancasters had to be specially modified to accommodate these large bad boys.

The missions described in the video were aimed at destroying Germany’s two weapons, namely,  the V-2 and V-3 cannons. Protected by bunkers that earlier bombs couldn’t get to, the squadron of Lancasters, escorted by a Mosquito and two Mustangs, dropped Tallboys on these targets.

Although heavily fortified, the bunkers were completely useless after the raid. Though the nearest bomb landed 50 yards away from the target, the earthquake effect did its job and damaged it beyond repair.

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