German 1kg Incendiary Bomb (B1E)

[BrodieBartfast]

Hello folks.

Didn't have much to spend at W&P this year, so this was my only purchase. But it's the one thing I went looking for. I honestly wasn't expecting to be able to pick up a decent example like this for a good price, but I managed it.

I present an example of the German 1kg incendiary bomb, official designation 'B1E'. With a case of magnesium alloy, and containing a block of thermite, these bombs would burn with great ferocity when ignited by the impact fuse in the nose. Among the most effective weapons used by the Luftwaffe during the Blitz and beyond, they became the bane of the NFS and Fire Guard. They were dropped in large numbers, and many failed to ignite, usually as a result of landing on something soft or at a shallow angle. Those were often picked up by souvenir hunters, or by the ARP, who would use them for training purposes. The latter also manufactured their own copies, containing a slow-burning wax to simulate an ignition.

I believe this particular one was dropped, but had a soft landing and failed to ignite. There are some scratches on the magnesium body and on the nose, but no signs of a significant impact with the ground. The tailfin remains unbent and firmly attached, with no significant paint loss evident. The markings on the fuse and on the tailfin are easy to read, but unfortunately the ones on the body are too faint to make out.

This is, of course, completely safe! There is a loose piece of metal inside, which can slide freely up and down the inside of the bomb. Any thermite it may have once contained is long gone.

Have been looking for one of these for a while, and am happy to finally have one in the collection. Another successful year at W&P!



Regards, B.B.

[Raul]

Great find, love the design . Raul

[Jb4046]

Neat!

I dunno much about bombs. Can we get a size comparison next to something like a .303 round? I have never seen one of these in person!

[BrodieBartfast]

They're quite a bit bigger than you'd expect. For size comparison, here it is next to a .303 and 20mm Hispano.



Regards, B.B.

[Jb4046]

Huh. To be honest they are smaller than I expected! I guess the 1kg part really shows

[BrodieBartfast]

Huh. To be honest they are smaller than I expected! I guess the 1kg part really shows

Definitely not the heftiest bomb out there, but considering they were dropped dozens at a time, I'm sure the smaller size wasn't an issue. They were very nasty devices, especially when they started to add delayed secondary explosives to them later on. There was one case of a warden attempting to extinguish one by smothering it with his steel helmet, only to have the bomb melt straight through it.

B.B.

[BlackCat1982]

Very straight example BB made by Rhienmetall Borsig in Sommerda, as most of them are.

[BrodieBartfast]

Very straight example BB made by Rhienmetall Borsig in Sommerda, as most of them are.

Thanks for the information! The majority of the markings were a mystery to me. Is there any way to date this particular bomb? Some seem to be date-marked, and others are not.

Regards, B.B.