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45 23. BRITISH AND AMERICAN PRACTICE BOMBS

(a) British Practice Bombs

British practice bombs are of three types, differing in weight and material, but all are of the same shape. The dimensions are—length 16–18 in. maximum diameter 3 in., tail vanes 3 in. long and all have a small lug approximately 5 in. from the nose.

The individual types are:—


 * 1) 11½ lb. Practice Bomb. This is of all-metal construction and is normally painted white with two ½ in. green bands ½ in. apart on the tail unit. If these bands are black, and there is in addition a red band round the nose, the bomb is filled with flash composition instead of the normal smoke filling.
 * 2) 10 lb. Practice Bomb. This differs from the first type in weight only.
 * 3) 8½ lb. Practice Bomb. This is of plastic construction and is therefore likely to be very badly damaged when recovered. This bomb is smoke-filled only, and the marking is the same as on the 11½ lb. type.

The following bombs are also used for practice purposes:—250 lb. G.P., 500 lb. G.P. and 1000 lb. G.P. (either inert or H.E. filling). Normally they will be painted black and have a yellow band around the greatest diameter.

All the bombs contain an extremely powerful detonator-burster.

(b) Infantry Training Bombs

Two types of infantry training bombs may be met—the 6 lb. and the 60 lb. Both are filled with a powerful explosive and should be treated as H.E. bombs. The 6 lb. bomb is a cardboard cylinder 20 in. by 3¾ in.; the 60 lb. bomb, which may be fitted with a nose extension rod, is 42½ in. long (including the extension rod) and 8½ in. diameter, and also made in cardboard. Without the extension rod it is 34 in. long.

(c) American Practice Bombs

The most common type of American practice bomb is the 100 lb. It is painted sky-blue and is 47½ in. long overall and 8 in. diameter. It contains an explosive charge housed in a red canister held in the tail and is dangerous to handle.

There are also five other types, weighing 3 lb., 13 lb., 100 lb., 500 lb., and 1000 lb., which may be recognised by their colour, which is black, with the exception of the 3 lb. bomb, which is unpainted. These bombs have no fuzes and the nature of the filling is stencilled on the side of the body.

24. BRITISH INCENDIARY BOMBS

The 4 lb. British incendiary bomb exists in three types-non-explosive, explosive and high explosive, the latter having a lethal range of about 100 yards. These are all the magnesium type and are normally jettisoned "safe" in this country. in small bomb containers holding 90 bombs or in clusters which hold up to 158. The 30 lb. incendiary bomb contains a phosphorus filling, which may leak from damaged bombs and ignite spontaneously. Normally 30 lb. incendiary bombs. are jettisoned in a small bomb container holding 8 bombs or in clusters holding 14.