What munitions are these?

[Paul821]

I am posting this in chat as it might or might not relate to aircraft!

 

On behalf of another group I have been researching a photo', due to copyright restrictions placed on the photo by the owner I can only reproduce part of it here:

 

There is only three certain things about the image:

 

It was taken in Pulham St Mary railway goods yard

There is no indication of a military presence at the scene, the full picture has many people in it.

The "munitions" are being loaded onto to a train.

 

The date is likely to be late 1940 to early 1941

 

Apart from that everything else posted on the other forum is conjecture.

 

The most common identification for these "munitions" is that they are 500 pound bombs but...

The length (as estimate by the lorry width and height of the man) seems to be too small

The munitions in the photo are not streamlined

 

also there is a clear eye attached to each munition, see inset enlargement,

 

So what are these munitions and as an aside what could have been there origin and destination?

 

 

[Graham Boak]

Indeed they do appear to be 500lb bombs, the later variant with the shorter tailfins, supposedly to make them fit into a Mosquito bombbay.  They are as streamlined as WW2 production bombs got, specials or residual prewar stock aside.  However I've no suggestion about the size, other than comparing their plastic equivalents to the lorry width.

[Dogtail2]

They are British 500Lb Medium Capacity bombs.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205210509

[Paul821]

1 hour ago, Dogtail2 said:

They are British 500Lb Medium Capacity bombs.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205210509

Thanks for this reply, the bomb shown in the IWM photo does exactly match the ones in the Pulham one. What confused me is that every reference this type that I had found had the longer tail.

 

I am now revising my internet search as to the date this style of bomb entered the RAF inventory.

 

 

This quote "The short-type tail unit, such as the No. 28, Mk I, is used when the bombs are dropped from fighter-bomber aircraft." is from https://bulletpicker.com/bomb_-500-lb-mc_-mk-1_-mk-2_-m.html

 

Extra add:

 

Now revised thanks to a search coming up with this earlier Britmodeller thread - obviously BM is the best source on the planet.

 

where @EwenS links to this document https://stephentaylorhistorian.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/usnbd-british-bombs-and-pyrotechnics.pdf  

page 26 of which has a diagram of a 500lb bomb with a transit base attached and nose transit plug - this matches exactly/

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Paul821
added information

[3DStewart]

On 2/2/2023 at 10:10 AM, Paul821 said:

On behalf of another group I have been researching a photo', due to copyright restrictions placed on the photo by the owner I can only reproduce part of it here:

I wonder whether copyright still exists?  My understanding is it depends on when the creator died or when it was first published.

Edited February 3, 2023 by 3DStewart

[ckw]

It can be complicated. In the case of this photo, taken in the UK, copyright would normally have expired in 1991 or 92. However, the 1995 copyright act allowed for copyright to be revived to match the longest copyright duration in the EU. For example in Germany, copyright would have applied for 70 years after the death of the photographer. So if the photographer was alive in 1953 or 55, then copyright could still apply today. 

 

Cheers

 

Colin

 

 

 

[Paul821]

For photo's the general UK rule is: "From date of the creation of the work until 70 years following the authors death."

 

 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/copyright-notice-duration-of-copyright-term/copyright-notice-duration-of-copyright-term

 

In some cases, such as an unknown creator, copyright lasts 70 years from the end of the year in which it was first made available, if the creator becomes known. So in such cases pictures taken in 1940/41 and published today might not come out of copyright until 2003 if someone then comes forward and proves that they were the creator.

[Dave Swindell]

On 02/02/2023 at 10:10, Paul821 said:

The most common identification for these "munitions" is that they are 500 pound bombs but...

The length (as estimate by the lorry width and height of the man) seems to be too small

The munitions in the photo are not streamlined

 

also there is a clear eye attached to each munition, see inset enlargement,

As stated earlier, these are British 500lb MC (medium capacity) bombs.

They're rigged for transport, with an eye bolt screwed in the nose for lifting vertically (where the fuse would fit in use) and a transport blank on the rear where the air tail would be fitted before use. The transport blank enabled the bomb to be stowed vertically as in the photo, and eased positioning by rolling along the ground.

 

On 02/02/2023 at 11:13, Graham Boak said:

the later variant with the shorter tailfins, supposedly to make them fit into a Mosquito bombbay.

 

On 02/02/2023 at 13:50, Paul821 said:

"The short-type tail unit, such as the No. 28, Mk I, is used when the bombs are dropped from fighter-bomber aircraft."

The No 28 short tail is much longer than the transport blank shown in the photo's (but not as long as the standard No 25 tail, which had a longer cylindrical rear on the same conical fairing and fins)

 

The no 28 tail can be seen on the bomb on the trolley in this photo of a Mosquito being bombed up.

 

ROYAL AIR FORCE: 2ND TACTICAL AIR FORCE, 1943-1945.. © IWM (CH 12406) IWM Non Commercial License