How scientists working on Britain’s first nuclear weapon came close to dropping a test bomb on DORKING

• The bomb was dumped by pilots after and still lies in the Thames Estuary
• It was a five-tonne test version and was not laden with any nuclear material
• The splash from the falling test bomb nearly killed two soldiers nearby

 

Scientists working on Britain's first nuclear bomb almost dropped a test bomb in Dorking, Surrey. Luckily, the device was a five-tonne test version and not laden with nuclear material (file photo)

 

It is a quiet market town situated in the heart of the picturesque Surrey countryside.

But 70 years ago Dorking was almost cast into the Cold War spotlight - when scientists working on Britain’s first nuclear weapon came close to dropping a test bomb in the area.

 

 

 

The bomb still lies in the Thames estuary, where it was dumped by pilots after a malfunction on a flight to a secret facility in Orford Ness in Suffolk shortly after the end of the Second World War.

Fortunately, it was a five-tonne test version and was not laden with any nuclear material, according to the Times.

The near miss occurred during Britain’s race to catch up with the United States by building an atomic bomb. Engineers at Orford Ness were working out how to carry, drop and aim a nuclear device.

 

 

Reg Milne, of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, a Ministry of Defence research facility, said: ‘On one flight to Orford Ness, a bomb came loose over Dorking.

‘It fell off its hook. Luckily, the bomb doors were strong enough to hold it and the pilot took the aircraft over the Thames estuary, opened the bomb doors, and the bomb fell out.

‘The splash nearly drowned a couple of sailors who happened to be nearby. They never found it. It’s still under the Thames somewhere.’

There was more than one mishap in Britain’s race to develop nuclear weapons, according to The Times.

The bomb still lies in the Thames estuary, where it was dumped by pilots after a malfunction on a flight to a secret facility in Orford Ness in Suffolk after the end of the Second World War (file photo)

 

 

 

In the 1950s scientists had to transport the plutonium that would form the core of Britain’s first nuclear bomb from the reactor in Cumbria to a testing site in Woolwich, southeast London.

The radioactive element was placed in lead canisters and put in the back of a car in a bid to drive it inconspicuously to the capital.

However the car broke down in the middle of the night, forcing the driver to get out and knock on the door of a pub to ask to use their telephone.

Brian Cathcart, a professor who has written about the history of nuclear science said: ‘For some hours the core of the British bomb was sat in a broken down Vauxhall outside a pub somewhere in south London.’

(Culled from the Mail, UK)