I refuse to be dragged into the 'Dresden' debate, but fell that one or two points should be clarified about the aerial incendiary bombs used by Bomber Command.

The most widespread was the 4lb Incendiary Bomb ( Mks I-IV ), made of thermite with a magnesium casing and dropped in clusters.

The Bomb, Incendiary, Phosphorous ( Mks I-IV ) was introduced into service in June 1941 and was widely used.

Napalm was categorically never used by Bomber Command's main force. It was developed by the Americans and mainly used tactically, although pictures exist showing Napalm bombs being loaded into B-17s in late 1944. Mosquitoes of 2nd TAF used small quantities of US-built Napalm bombs against German airfield targets at the very end of the war.

During the 1940/41 'blitz' on Britain, the Luftwaffe mainly utilised the 1 and 2kg Thermite/Magnesium bomb, together with the Sprengbrandbombe C50, a 50 kilo HE/oil bomb, and the Flammenbombe C250 & 500 - the 250 containing HE/oil and the 500 containing TNT and petroleum.

Lastly came the Phosphorbrandbombe C50A, C50B and C250A which contained a viscous mixture of oil, rubber and phosphorous. The C250A was even more effective, the filling consisting of petroleum, polystyrene and Phosphorous.

Sources : MvBean/Hogben, 'Bombs Gone' and Ramsey, 'The Blitz Then & Now : Vol. 1' .

[ 17. February 2005, 06:36 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]

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I just found a note quoting the Oxford Companion to WW2. This states that during the war RAF aircraft dropped:

3,000,000 units of 30lb phosphorous bombs
413,000 units of 30lb "J" bombs

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"Nervous wait for the whistle to blow
Rush of blood and over we go..."
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Do either of you happen to know how they arrived at the size of the bombs ? I guess the purpose was to cause lots of fires over a large area and overwhealm the fire departments but I was wondering the history of the bombs coming in 30 and 4 pound sizes. Seems like a 4pound bomb in a residental area would cause the same amount of damage as a 30 pounder.

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I have no clue whatsoever about why the specific weights were chosen. The 30lb certainly seems less efficent as a fire-starter, and only used because magnesium was not available in sufficient quantities.

Apparently the 4lb (aluminum/magnesium) bombs were impossible to aim, and were scattered over very large areas from their canisters. This seems to have been quite a problem, especially when heated air from fires threw them off-target.

The heavier 30lb (phosphorous) bombs, while less useful for lighting fires, was at least "aimable" according to Harris. He was even less impressed with the 30lb "J" bomb, in which phosphorous was used to ignite a gout of flammable jelly. "I was not impressed by the design or effects of the bomb, though it certainly produced a rather spectacular jet of flame."

__________________
"Nervous wait for the whistle to blow
Rush of blood and over we go..."
- Iron Maiden, "Paschendale"

It's an interesting question, TA, and one to which I don't have an immediate answer.

Interesting that both Germany and Britain used very small thermite/alloy-cased bombs, but when it came to liquids, higher-weight bombs were the norm.

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