A TOP Irvine company has helped in making a massive historical discovery.

Gordon Campbell and his team at Aspect Land and Hydrographic Surveys volunteered their services to help amateur divers recover World War Two Highball bombs from Loch Striven in Argyll and Bute.

Over two hundred of the circular bombs were tested in the Loch.

Sir Barnes Wallis was the developer of the bombs, along with four other types all of which was supposed to be used against ships during the war.

These were the naval version of the “Upkeep” bouncing bombs used in the Dambusters raid in 1943. The dive was expertly carried out by members of the British Sub Aqua Club.

The area was a testing range for all different types of weaponry, and Gordon says there is much more than just the prototype bombs at the bottom of the loch.

Gordon, 56, said: “After 70 years, the British War Records are released to the public.

“There was a chap from the University of St Andrews who went through the documents and he found that the bombs were tested in Scotland.

“Working with the amateur divers, last year the they dived to the bottom of the loch at the coordinates that were in the records.

“We here at Aspect got involved because we were completely interested in what could be found.

“We did scans of the floor of the loch, giving the divers the chance to see what is on the sea bed in 3D.

“We specialise in underwater surveying.

“We sorted out the boat and the crane to hoist the bombs on board.

“The scans showed lots of different things on the bed of the loch so I am sure that we are going to go back out and help the divers again and see what we can find. They are going to have a look at things in much closer detail.”

Members of the British Sub-Aqua Club with assistance from the Royal Navy successfully lifted one of the bombs and they are hoping that they can recover one more.

It is hoped that the bombs will go on show at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum in Hertfordshire and the Brooklands Museum in Surrey.