tHE tALLBOY BOMB FOUND IN THE SORPE DAM GERMANY
12,000 LB OF HIGH EXPLOSIVE IN THE MUD!
WEST GERMANY: 'TALL BOY' BOMB DISPOSAL
About 650 people were evacuated from the small West German town of Langscheid Jan 6 before the defusing of the 'Tall Boy' bomb found in a nearby reservoir shortly before or about Christmas 1958.
When the evacuees were in safety, RAF Flight Lieutenant James Waters the Officer Commanding 6209 Bomb Disposal Flight and German bomb disposal expert Walther Mitzke set to work. Aided by Corporal Al Mouat and Corporal Frank Smith the smartly and carefully they removed the three fuses - one by remote control and two by hand - of the 12,000 lb bombs designed by Barnes Wallace dropped by the RAF during a raid on the Sorpe Dam in October 1944.
Said Flight-Lieutenant Waters: "It went just as we thought it would go - easier than pulling teeth." The 12 ft bomb was the first of its kind to be dismantled in Germany.
The largest bomb ever tackled by the RAF and probably the largest ever rendered safe by any BD Unit was one of their own. This 12000 pounder known as Tallboy was found in the silt and mud at the base of the Sorpe Dam in 1958 after the dam was partially drained.
The bomb was fitted with three No 47 Half-hour delay fuzes which work by an ampoule of acetone dissolving a celluloid disc retaining a striker. The thickness of the disc determines the delay time and the delay can be set for 72 hours in some cases.
tHE CAMOUFLET
Two Fatalities!
In July 1941 a chain of incidents happened near Aldergrove in Northern Ireland which resulted in the unnecessary deaths of two BD Personnel when it was decided to re-open a shaft to establish whether some fragments were a German bomb or just a tail fin. On July 21 at about noon, Cpl. Burton was working in the shaft when the soil collapsed around him and he disappeared into the cavity created when a bomb explodes beneath the ground but doesn't break the surface known as a camouflet.
Cpl. Burton tried to climb out but was overcome by the residual fumes and Carbon Monoxide from the explosion of the bomb and fell back into the cavity. Sgt. Boulden climbed down to attempt a rescue but he was overcome as well and could not be pulled out in time to save him. Following these deaths a modified parachute harness was developed to be worn by men in the shaft where a camouflet was suspected.
Doodle bugs and "buzz bombs"
The Nazi Vengeance Weapon or "V1"
This V1 flying bomb crashed without exploding! But nearly wrecked a barracks full of polish airmen A UXB V1 was a very rare thing as the vast numbers which were sent over from the Continent usually did their job of terrorising the population of the home counties. The V1 worked by employing a ram jet engine into which was fed neat petrol (Gasoline). Once the engine was running, the bomb was launched from a ski slope towards London and the The weapon guidance was by a gyro and a pre determined amount of fuel, usually just enough to get to London where the fuel ran out causing the bomb to fall to its target. The V weapons were indiscriminate in the destruction of our cities and very few were ever found unexploded.
On the 29th of August 1944, British troops in France, led by General Sir Bernard Montgomery, destroyed the V1 launching sites in the Pas de Calais. The first phase of the German V-weapon attack was over.
In total, 6,725 flying bombs had been seen over Britain, almost all of them over London, Kent and Surrey. Nearly 3,500 had been destroyed by fighter planes, A.A. guns or barrage balloons. 2,340 had hit London causing 5,475 deaths and injuring 16,000.
