tankdiver Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 I was visiting the old bomb sites for the earthquake bombs testing that destroyed the Tirpitz battle ship . It a beautiful area now but still has the crater that the TALLBOY earthquake bomb was tested. It also has the bomb direction arrow in concrete still there. Churchill and Eisenhower stood on it as they watched experimental bombs being exploded. The craters are large Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Some interesting reading about Ashley Range here: http://www.thenewforestguide.co.uk/history/new-forest-explosives/ashley-walk-bombing-range/ As you mentioned the Tirpitz you might be interested to know that my father in law led all three Bomber Command raids as CO of 617 squadron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankdiver Posted July 19, 2019 Author Share Posted July 19, 2019 Great to hear personal family histories. The tall boy bomb just fit the Lancaster bomb bay .I think I heard it was 21ft high and took two days to load with explosive but it broke the windows all around for several miles and lifted the Tirpitz out of the water and broke it back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peakrec Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Not related but my great friend completed 2 tours of 30 operations on Lancaster's with 75 and 550 Squadrons. He was a flight engineer and aimed for half a mile to the gallon as the optimum for operations. Filling in a log of oil pressures, temperature and transferring fuel to keep the trim and weights even. Always admired him and had plenty of time for chat and doing jobs around his house, mainly fitting lights. He was Terry Murphy, my hand goes out to all in Bomber Command for a difficult job well done night after night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankdiver Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 Great to hear personal family histories. The tall boy bomb just fit the Lancaster bomb bay .I think I heard it was 21ft high and took two days to load with explosive but it broke the windows all around for several miles and lifted the Tirpitz out of the water and broke it back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankdiver Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 The bomber crews had a tough job very brave men we owe them a lot it took sum guts to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 27 minutes ago, tankdiver said: The bomber crews had a tough job very brave men we owe them a lot it took sum guts to do it. Agreed, the attrition rate in bomber command was something like 44% and I still marvel at how Gibson clocked up 173 ops, Cheshire over 100 and Tait 103. A tour of duty was 30 ops and if you survived those you would not be expected to fly another tour but many did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super6 Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 1 hour ago, radiomike7 said: Agreed, the attrition rate in bomber command was something like 44% and I still marvel at how Gibson clocked up 173 ops, Cheshire over 100 and Tait 103. A tour of duty was 30 ops and if you survived those you would not be expected to fly another tour but many did. Not many aircraft survived 100 ops, but 35 did 100 or more. Only info I can find on this is a book. Wasn't the BBMF Lancaster given a Ton Up paint scheme on one side a few years back? https://www.google.com/search?q=Ton-Up+Lancs&rlz=1C1GGRV_enGB751GB751&oq=Ton-Up+Lancs&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l3.1191j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1950 Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Tall Boy 12000 lb length 21feet 6inches dia 3feet 2inches tail length approx 11 feet explosive content 5200lbs Grand Slam 22000 lb length 26 feet 6 inches dia 3 feet 10 inches tail length 13 feet 6 inches explosive content 9160 lb After being filled with explosive they took up to 4 weeks to cool before use. I remember years ago seeing pictures of parts of Tall Boys being manufactured by Vickers on Tyneside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankdiver Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 My wifes family filled bombs with explosive they were always yellowish with the explosive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankdiver Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 I did not know that it was in the north east not far from where I came from. Its a fair distance to test at Ashley range in Hampshire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1950 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) I believe one of the storage facilities was Wooky Hole. For the Dams Mines as well. Munitions workers are another band of unsung heroes,working and losing there lives behind the scenes. You only have to look at the Staffordshire explosion. Edited July 21, 2019 by john1950 spelling and addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.