A Collection of Photographs & Diagrams

These six photos were donated to the site. They show some of the parks in London where unexploded bombs were taken for transportation to a convenient disposal site.

The course notes of Corporal Fred Duckwoth

The notebook images on this page are reproduced from the actual hand written course notes of Corporal Fred Duckworth (Deceased) who attended No28 Bomb Disposal Course and worked with No 6205 & 6208 RAF Bomb Disposal Flights. I am indebted to his wife Mavis (Shown here with me) for giving me the opportunity to use the material on this site.

Here is a picture of Fred Duckworth sat on a pile of unexploded bombs. Click the thumbnail for a bigger picture.

Each of these pages is a thumbnail image; by clicking on each small picture you can see a larger version and read the actual note as Fred wrote it.

This is a photo of No 6205 Flight taken on VE Day 8th May 1945. Although the War was now over, there was still a lot of work to do, not only at home but in Europe too. Unfortunately, Fred isn't shown here, he was posted to 2nd TAF after the hostilities and worked in France & Germany.

Bomb Disposal at the RAF Museum Hendon

These three pictures show a Sgt & Cpl extracting a fuze. This display is in the Battle of Britain hangar at RAF Hendon in North London

MAX, The Largest German bomb dropped on Britain


SC 2500 MAX

Type: General Purpose
Over-all Length: 154.25 in.
Body Length: 94.75 in.
Body Diameter: 32 in.
Wall Thickness: 17/32 in.
Tail Length: 66.5 in.
Tail Width: 33 in.		
Filling: Trialen 105; 40/60 Amatol mixture of RDZ, TNT and aluminum
Total Weight: 2,400 kg.
Fuzing: Forward fuze pocket: AZ (24) A.; After Fuze Pocket: E1AZ (28) A.

Color and markings: Sky blue overall. SC 2500 is stenciled on the body
in letters 3 inches high. Two yellow stripes are painted on the body
between the tail fins. A few anti-shipping bombs have been found with
the following stenciled on the body "Bei abwurf auf land nicht im
tiefangriff und nur o.V." (not to be released over land in low level
attack and always without delay). This type is thought to be filled with
Trialen 105.

Construction:
The SC 2500 has an aluminum body with a awelded head and tailpiece.
There are two welded head and tailpiece. There are two welded fuze
pockets. The rear fuze pocket is in the plane of the suspension lug. The
forward pocket is rotated 30 degrees to the right. This pocket is
connected to the nose of the bomb by a tube which extends a break-up
functioning rod. This rod, which is central to the axis of the bomb,
will on distortion of the nose crush the lower section of the (24) fuze
to explode the bomb. A kopfring is welded to the nose.
The tail of the SC 2500 is aluminum and of the drum type.

Suspension:
Horizontal by an H-type lug. A suspension band is placed around bombs to
give a solid base for the suspension lug.

Remarks
The bomb is very similar to the SB 2500. The main difference is that the
SC is made of aluminum while the SB is made of steel. The bomb is filled
through the nose. Because of the rupture-type fuze, bombs cannot be
dropped safe

Satan, not quite the largest German bomb dropped on Britain.

The RAF name for this particular bomb was "SATAN". It weighed 1800 Kg and was 12ft 3in long with the tail unit attached and 2ft 2in diameter. The bomb itself was 8 ft 11 in and the tail was 4ft 8in long. It was attached to the bomb with screws and the bomb had one fuze in a central location behind the suspension lug. The tail was made from sheet metal and braced with tubes for added strength. The ring on the nose of the weapon prevented the bomb from penetrating too deep, it was known as a "Kopf-ring". Thanks to Bernard Westbrook for this picture.

Heres a picture of a real SATAN taken in Egypt 1942 (Click for a bigger picture.)

Badges & Crests

Please Click on the thumbnail for the bigger picture

The Use of Dogs for Security Duties including EOD

Sorry I couldn't resist putting this in!

Earthquake Bomb

This photo shows Titch Mewton with a 22000lb bomb. The bomb was designed by Dr Barnes Wallis and was dropped from a modified Lancaster bomber. (Not this particular one!)

Log Entry

Have a look at this. It is a BD Log Entry from North Weald. It was sent to me by a person who works in the National Archives. It relates to an ammunition burn which went tragically wrong when the explosive filling exploded instead of the normal rapid burn. Some personnel were badly injured.