AltcarBoB Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 I know what colour RAF bombs were painted as I have done a bit of googling and read a very interesting US document about RAF ordnance "British explosive ordnance 1946" https://archive.org/details/OP1665BritishExplosiveOrdnance/page/n1 my question is whats the latest in the war that the Buff/Mustard GP bombs would have been used by Bomber Command. I am guessing the Buff GP bombs lasted longer in use in the Med and Far East. There are very well known photos of Stirlings and Wellingtons being bombed up with Buff GP bombs captioned 1941 but would a Wellington flying on Operation Gomorrah July 43 have still been carrying Buff ordnance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 I'd imagine that would be unlikely. 1943 was a year of intense Bomber Command activity, and I would imagine all the older bombs would have been used up by that point. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torqueofthedevil Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 20 hours ago, Procopius said: I'd imagine that would be unlikely. 1943 was a year of intense Bomber Command activity, and I would imagine all the older bombs would have been used up by that point. Agree. That said, there will have been a transition period when both colours were in use, possibly even within a single bomb load (changes to military livery rarely go smoothly, even in peacetime - among many recent examples are red white and black Tucanos, and no fewer than six colours of Sea King wheels!). Equally, the last few buff bombs might have been repainted after the decision was made to change the paint scheme. Hard to say for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Or even on a single bomb, as tails were stored separately. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 Do we think that the colours in that photo are shifted, or was Buff really such a yellow-ish colour? J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 There are other photos showing a similar yellow. Note that the yellow in the roundel appears ok, although the aircraft letter appears a little blue - but a blue shift would have turned the bombs green, so that's probably ok too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AltcarBoB Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 This photo appears to show a Cookie 4,000 lb HC bomb painted yellow and black/dark green with a yellow tail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 This photo is said to be from Libya 1943. You can see the buff coloured bombs with yellow tails and green bombs. Chris 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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