Plaque

Road Research Laboratory

Erection date: 26/9/2013

Inscription

{By an image of a Lancaster Bomber:}
Tests conducted by the Road Research Laboratory against model dams built on this site during 1940 - 42 assisted Barnes Wallis in his development of the bouncing bomb (Upkeep), used by No. 617 Squadron Royal Air Force to breach the Ruhr Dams 16/17 May 1943.
Hillingdon London

Site: Sir Barnes Wallis - Harmondsworth (2 memorials)

UB7, Moor Lane

This marks the site where Wallis's water-skipping explosives were tested on models at the Road Research Laboratories. Tom Long sent us this 1946 map which shows the Road Research Lab buildings a little to the south, on the Colnbrook By-pass, to the east of the 4 houses that are still there, surprisingly since Heathrow airport wiped out most of what's shown on this map.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Road Research Laboratory

Subjects commemorated i

Dambusters Raid

An attack by Royal Air Force 617 Squadron on German dams using bouncing bombs...

Read More

Road Research Laboratory

Established by the British government. During World War II it contributed to ...

Read More

Sir Barnes Wallis

Designer and engineer. Born Barnes Neville Wallis in Ripley, Derbyshire. He w...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Road Research Laboratory

Created by i

London Borough of Hillingdon

The borough was formed in 1965 from the Municipal Borough of Uxbridge, Hayes ...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Road Research Laboratory

Also at this site i

Sir Barnes Wallis - Harmondsworth

Sir Barnes Wallis - Harmondsworth

We initially thought that Upkeep, Highball, Tallboy and Grand Slam were all v...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Westminster Hall - Edward VII

Westminster Hall - Edward VII

SW1, St Margaret Street, Westminster Hall

These 9 plaques are laid into the floor of the hall, in a line down the middle, in this sequence, starting at the entrance end: R101; Has...

1 subject commemorated
Robert Browning Settlement

Robert Browning Settlement

SE17, Walworth Road, 195

The quotation is from Browning's poem 'Saul': "I have gone the whole round of creation: I saw and I spoke: I, a work of God's hand for t...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Sutton House & the Robertson brothers

Sutton House & the Robertson brothers

E9, Homerton High Street, Sutton House

The plaque is on the wall of the house, framed in our picture by the gate piers.

War dead | WW1
2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Marshalsea 1 - stone - round

Marshalsea 1 - stone - round

SE1, Borough High Street, Angel Alley

Quoted from Chapter 3 of Little Dorrit.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Edwards VI and VII

Edwards VI and VII

EC1, King Edward Street

At the time gilded lettering incised into granite was a popular technique. We can't say what it was like when new but its legibility has ...

3 subjects commemorated