I've just watched the Channel 5 documentary by Dan Snow on the Dambusters. It was very good. He described how one of the bouncing bombs was recovered intact from a crashed plane by the Germans and I was wondering what the Germans did with the bomb. Did they perhaps try to develop a similar device?
The Germans could well have adopted the concept but I cannot find any evidence that they did.It is possible that they saw the priority as being the wonder V weapons programme at Peenemunde which later, the RAF successfully raided on the night of 17/18 August 1943 However the Air Ministry anticipated retaliatory raids against British dams ,such as those of Sheffield and Wales. The concern was so great that Barnes Wallis attended a meeting on 3 June 1943 with the agenda of discussing counter measures to defend the dams.He suggested that searchlights should be deployed to defend dams by dazzling Luftwaffe pilots. Ack Ack defences were established for the Sheffield dams and the Derwent Valley would be protected for such raids by smokescreen installations.On Wallis's request,Gibson, in early June 1943, personally flew against what was understood as the Elan Valley reservoir system in Wales to test the effectiveness of a searchlight dazzle defence.It is thought that Gibson carried out this test in late July 1943 and briefed Wallis on his assessment of the concept, the evening following the test when the pair met in London.
The Germans did develop a "bouncing" bomb but more akin to Highball (2 in the belly of a Mosquito as an anti-shipping weapon) than Upkeep, under the name Kurt. The point they missed however was the backspin applied to the British weapons. So the Germans attached a rocket to get it up to a high enough speed that it would bounce. It never saw combat. Kurt Bouncing Bomb And some video of it here. If you want ot learn about Highball and 618 squadron formed at the same time as its illustrious sister I'd recommend www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Secret-Squadron-Detachment-Anti-U-Boat/dp/190650251X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+most+secret+squadron&qid=1607179202&s=books&sr=1-1
detailled account about SB 800 RS "KURT" Kurt Bouncing Bomb Grmf...should have read evens post more thoroughly....