 Notes The standard bomb (known to A.R.P. personnel as an 'IB') consisted of a magnesium cylinder with a thermite filling, which ignited upon impact, burning for about 50 seconds at a temperature of 2,300°C. During this period the bomb would appear quite violent; jets of flame shot out of 7 vent holes in the casing near the nose of the bomb, while pieces of molten magnesium would be thrown off in all directions, travelling distances of up to 15 metres. These molten droplets could set fire to any imflammable material within range. By the time the thermite had burnt out, the magnesium casing would have melted and be burning at a temperature of about 1,500°C for 10-15 minutes, sometimes for as much as 20 minutes. The Germans later introduced IB's with small explosive devices to deter attempts to deal with them. An eyewitness of the air raid on Guernica in Spain, in 1937, described the use of these incendiary bombs: "On the shattered houses, whose carpets and curtains, splintered beams and floors and furniture were knocked into angles and ready for the burning, the planes threw silver flakes. Tubes of two pounds, long as your forearm, glistening silver from their aluminium and elektron casing; inside them...slept fire. Fire in a silver powder, sixty-five grammes in weight, ready to slip through six holes at the base of the glittering tube. So, as the houses were broken to pieces over the people, sheathed fire descended from heaven to burn them up." References
|
The German 1kg B 1 E 'Brandbombe' (incendiary bomb) was a fearsome device that, on its own, seemed relativley innoccuous as it could be brought under control using the stirrup pump or redhill container and tools. However, dropped by the thousand, each capable of starting several fires, it's easy to see how the fire defence could quickly be overwhelmed.| First Card | Previous Card | Card 13 of 50 | Next Card | Last Card |