Britain’s ‘Bouncing Bomb’ Is a Ridiculous and Brilliant Piece of World War II Tech

Sometimes winning the war involves not only innovation, but a bit of silliness.

In World War II, the British had a problem — Germany’s dams. The answer to this problem was simple: blow the damn things up. But how were they supposed to do that?

In brainstorming this issue, the Brits hit wall after metaphorical wall. Torpedoes would be caught by nets, and depth charges would be impossible to install. There had to be a better way!

Then, someone came up with a ridiculous idea that, somehow, actually worked: What if we just bounced the suckers?

Thus, the “bouncing bomb” was born. Here’s a demonstration of what it looked like in action: