The now privately owned Petwood Hotel served as the base for the Dambusters, who developed the Bouncing Bomb during World War II. The bomb was unleashed on three German dams, destroying factories, power plants, railways, roads, and mines, and killing more than 1,500 people.
During the historic Dambusters Raid, the Bouncing Bomb skimmed across water before sinking to destroying two German dams in two attacks. This attack helped the Allies turn the war against the Germans.
The quiet town of Woodhall Spa still honors the Dambusters legacy. The Petwood Hotel and The Golf Hotel were requisitioned by the RAF and the wooded area around the village was used to hide secretive military equipment. Although the Dambusters would take off from the nearby RAF Scampton, Woodhall Spa and its own nearby RAF base were used to accommodate support teams for the Dambusters, with Petwood Hotel itself accommodating the officers of the Dambusters squadron.
Visitors to the Petwood Hotel will find a memorial garden which honors the Dambusters where memorial fountains flow with water and plaques display names of those who gave their lives for their country. Within the garden sit the remains of one of the Bouncing Bombs prototypes.
During the Bouncing Bombs tests, most protypes were left at the bottom of deep water after they had finished bouncing over the surface. Others disintegrated during the tests, so surviving examples of the bouncing bomb from WWII are very rare. The genuine prototype that sits in the memorial garden for the Dambusters is a beautiful and poignant link between the past and present, allowing people of today to see the bomb with their own eyes and feel that little bit closer to what has become one of the most historic British raids in WWII.