Jan 20th 2015: Dawn of the Air Raid
 

http://s29.postimg.org/3ujpevyyf/Daw...e_Air_Raid.jpg

Norfolk towns mark WW1 Zeppelin raid centenary

I seem to remember the 'rents telling you at Christmas about Dad's bedroom being bombed when he was a baby.
Obviously he wasn't in it - I'm pretty much proof that he survived - but WWII is so recent in my mind.

I had one of my Brianna moments when the new Kate Atkinson came out.
Not only that I will always want to share her books with Bri, but that this one touches so much on the London of my family - the Blitz, the bombs, the women who lived and those who didn't.

I didn't know that Yarmouth (our annual holiday destination) was hit in WWI.
Thank you.

Or your father, at any rate. ;)

I guess that's why the Brits were quick to organize and ship the kids out of town when WW II came along, they learned.

That's not what I think of when I hear "bomb". They must explode as determined by the pictures, but it sounds like they were part incendiary device with that central core. Maybe they had more than one design, since it was a new field. First graduating bomb school class takes a class trip.:smack:

This was discussed in a NOVA special called "Zeppelin Terror Attack":

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/militar...or-attack.html

Some quotes from the transcript regarding the bombs:

JOHN STARLING: …rags, rope and things like that, were loaded into a cage and fired

When the bomb hit its target, the impact would have triggered the fuse and set fire to a substance called thermite, a mixture of iron oxide and aluminum that burns with a fierce heat. This, in turn, would cause a tank of benzene, a form of gasoline, to explode.


One mystery they hope to solve is why the bomb is bound in rope coated in tar; and another is how the Germans managed to get the tar on, in the first place.

I would guess when the tank of benzene exploded it would scatter pieces of flaming tarred rope in all directions. If they want to tar the rope, just ask the navy, they've been doing it for centuries. :haha:

http://s12.postimg.org/u1xfmjb9p/Zep...diary_Bomb.jpg

Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum Zeppelin Incendiary Bomb

OK, the museum calls it a "German incendiary bomb", that would support my theory of the burning tarred rope pieces scattered from the explosion.

The picture Carruthers used in the op looks like explosion damage rather than fire razed, to my eye. I wonder if they had more than one kind of bomb?

From here, Hmm, that would make them about 33 lbs each, so there was probably only one type.
But the Brits learned from it. Should be, keep calm, carry on, but take notes.:haha:

http://s23.postimg.org/ts99cq3aj/bombs1915.jpg


It would seem that they kept their options open.


The Great War of 1914 to 1918 Picture Gallery of Bury St Edmunds and surrounds

Excellent, Sir, that explains the apparent explosive damage.

However :haha: that link shows incendiary bombs pretty intact, so I figured they were extinguished before finishing their mission.
Then I saw this...
http://cellar.org/2015/spentbomb.jpg

That shoots down my theory of the exploding Benzene tank scattering burning pieces of tarred rope.

I see what you did there!

From the NOVA special their tests (which are just that, not the true recipe of course) result in this:

NARRATOR: As Peter predicted, the raging thermite immediately causes the benzene to explode in a fireball, but what's surprising is that the bomb is still burning 15 minutes later, thanks to the tarred rope.

PETER NORTON: We thought the rope would add a burning effect, but it's quite surprising how much time it'll just continue to burn away and use up the fuel that's provided by the tar.

JOHN STARLING: That rope is actually a critical component to the bomb. You want to actually sustain the temperature to set fire to wood, the buildings, et cetera. If you drop enough of them, you'll overload the emergency services, and things like that, so incendiary is actually far worse, in some ways, than high explosives. You see things burning. It's more of a terror weapon.

Sure, look how long the tar dipped torches lasted Indiana Jones, The Phantom, and dozens of other intrepid adventurers. No reason to think the bad guys wouldn't be just as successful. :thumb:

I was thinking it was like the wick of an oil lamp.