Sir barnes wallis biography of christopher
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Lacey Green Windmill, Buckinghamshire
by Michael G Hardy, 26th July
I have written the following obituary to include various aspects of Christopher Wallis's life. I wanted there to be a summary of Christopher's life and achievements available for all who wish to read it.
As Honorary Secretary of Lacey Green Windmill Restoration Committee, I felt that this web site is the logical place for an obituary to Christopher, as it was Lacey Green Windmill which really started his interest and career in restoring historic buildings.
It is published here with the full consent of Christopher's widow, Barbara Wallis.
Christopher Wallis in April , on the day of the windmill's opening ceremony.
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Topics on this page (click to go straight to each one):
INTRODUCTION
If you ever met Christopher Wallis, I am sure that you will never forget him. He might have been describing how he could restore your dilapidated historic building. He might have been showi
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Sir Barnes Wallis and Effingham “the best village in England”
Sir Barnes Wallis is remembered as the inventor of the “bouncing bomb” immortalised in the film The Dam Busters and as an innovative, forward thinking inventor and engineer. He is also remembered in Effingham as a former long term resident of the village who contributed a great deal to village life and governance. According to Sir Barnes Effingham was “the best village in England”. Following their wishes, Sir Barnes and his wife were buried in the churchyard of Effingham’s St Lawrence Parish Church.
Effingham Residents Association (EFFRA) has held two recent and very popular exhibitions about Sir Barnes – the first in to commemorate 40 years after his death and the second in at the request of Mole Valley’s Heritage Open Days Committee to mark the theme of “Astounding Inventions”. Both exhibitions were held at the Little Bookham Tithe Barn, close to where he lived and is buried in Effingham. They were supported by Si
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Lacey Green Windmill, Buckinghamshire
by Michael G Hardy, originally compiled on 26th July
Christopher Wallis was the fourth and youngest child of Sir Barnes Neville Wallis. Christopher's character, determination, and inventive skills must owe a great deal to his father, but Christopher was always disappointed that Sir Barnes was mainly known for his work on bombs, including of course, the bouncing bombs of the Dambusters.
His early working life had been in designing ships and airships, including the R built with his Geodetic structure technique, also used in many aircraft such as the Wellington.
His later working life (as Head of R&D for Vickers-Armstrong) took him to supersonic transport, swing-wing aircraft, and a whole variety of other technologies, now accepted as part of the modern world.
Credit © Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library - All rights reserved.
This photo shows Sir Barnes Wallis with reminders from many aspects of his