RAF Scampton's Grand Slam

Oh, so it wasn't transported by rail, then?

MBQ

Oops! Wrong newsgroup, sorry

My reaction was "strewth".

I grew up in immediately post-WW2 London. Lots of bomb sites and during rebuilding they kept finding unexploded bombs. Plenty of trains had pock-marked sides and windows from bomb shrapnel, and even when we went to the seaside chunks of beach were fenced off with barbed wire and minefield signs. Not forgetting rationing and clothes with austerity marks.

What a load of cods!!! The main gate of Scampton is about 4 1/2 miles from Lincoln Cathedral even a 500kT nuclear ground burst would only cause light building damage at that range!!!

Regards Jeff

"CC41" I remember those too. I hated the scratchy blankets and underwear!

I think I probably missed the first part of this thread, but the Tallboy and Grandslam bombs only had to travel a few miles to RAF Scampton from the 'bomb factory' at RAF Faldingsworth, where they were filled, mainly along country roads, although part of the trip would have to be on the A15. The casing of the bomb was effectively turned on a large lathe at a variety of industrial locations, and was then delivered to Faldingsworth where they were filled and delivered to Scampton. Incidentally, the ratio was 60% casing and 40% explosive (in round figures). Such was the demand for these bombs, they were often still warm when loaded onto the aircraft. The specially modified Lancasters could not be loaded with the bombs to early, as they tended to 'spread the aircraft', or cause it to sink into soft ground

They were designed to spin as they fell and penetrate the ground quite deeply before exploding - creating the effect of an earthquake.

On 18/09/2007 15:35, Bruce said,

But interesting anyway :-)

Sounds fishy. If it really occurred, why not set it off on the Lincolnshire coast ranges?

Also the date for the cathedral is a bit odd - anything from Norman times would do.

I must confess that after mis-posting the item I re-read it and thouht that even 10 tons of explosive at ground level would be unlikely to do much damage 5 miles away, maybe a broken window or two. But the source was Australian so who knows....

A total of forty one Grand Slam Bombs were dropped in WWII mainly against bridges & viaducts during 1945. Only about 5 foot longer than it's 'little' brother "Tall Boy" yet twice the weight.

The "Tall Boy", designed by Dr. Barnes Wallis, reached the speed of sound during descent from about 20,000 feet and on impact made a 80 feet deep by 100 feet wide crater & could penetrate 16 feet of concrete after going through up to 90 feet of earth ! First used in an attack against the Saumur Rail Tunnel in the Loire Valley

Concerning the explosive effect of the 'Gate Guard' Grand Slam ...... if BOTH it's special steel alloy casing and the Torpex explosive was still in reasonable condition then the authorities would have been correct in being so cautious but I think the story itself is a bit of what you might call 'Urban myth'

I think they still have empty (?) Tall Boy & Grand Slam bombs at the Brooklands Museum near Weybridge

I wonder if there are any working examples? If so a good place to demonstrate one would be Walford, thereby relieving the suffering of millions ;-)

Richard

beamendsltd said the following on 19/09/2007 09:06:

I think you misspelt the words "White House" ;-)

We have a Tallboy and a Grand Slam at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby, I don't think they contain HE ! and I don't intend to investigate either. The tale of the 'filled' Tallboy at Scampton I have not heard of locally, but have heard the tale of buried Spitfires under a housing estate at Castle Bromwich !

Buried next to the fabled Strategic Reserve no doubt.

Jeff

Oh I wish. spent hours looking for them ! Where would we be without these urban myths.

There was an article on the BBC web site a couple of years ago about a ruck of aircraft buried in, I think it was, Norfolk. Pictures and a full report were promised for the next day, but never materialised - and the original report seems to have gone AWOL as well.

Were I of the conspiracy theory bent I suspect there could be a lot of mileage there, but my money would be on invasion decoys being got rid of (or is that a conspiracy too?).

Richard

Whilst there may, or may not, be various aircraft buried in the UK, there were certainly a lot pushed overboard off carriers at the end of hostilities in the Far East in 1945, and I have heard similar tales about the Atlantic and Irish Sea in 1945. Presumably this was to stop the post-WW2 market for the American aircraft industry being flooded with 'one careful owner- the Fleet Air Arm' second-hand stuff.. Likewise, large amounts of surplus army material were buried, whilst surplus explosives and chemical weapons were tipped into the Irish Sea and Atlantic- some of the latter surfaces from time to time in fishermen's nets. Brian

Being very sceptical, I suspect that the financial state of the country in

1945 resulted in anything that could be sold for scrap by the War Dept. was sold rather than being buried. In Shropshire, adjacent to the War Dept. run Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway, some ammunition cases were emptied of their explosive contents, which apparantly could then safely be burned, and the casings sold for scrap. There is a field adjacent to the A5 where this was done and still nothing will grow in a certain area. The outer wings for the Halifax Bomber being restored at the Yorkshire Air Museum were recovered still in their packing cases at a scrapyard in Yorkshire in, I think, the late 1980's.