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not a grand slam...
Long time reader but not posted before, but I have some information pertinent to this thread;
Agaricus bisporus; that is a Tallboy crater - there is another just to the West of that location. The Grand Slam crater was considerably larger than that (130ft diameter 70ft deep) and was filled in at the same time as the submarine pens were covered over when they tidied up the range after the war. It is just to the North of your Tallboy crater which i've marked on the attached map with a black circle. They were aiming for the submarine pens.. I've spent hours at Ashley Walk and have just about located all of the remaining artefacts and positions :ok: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/Bryank/awalk.jpg Cheers, Bryan |
Grand Slam archaeology continued...
Ashley Walk bombing range in early 1945 - a scene reminiscent of the Western Front in 1918. The crater in the centre was made by a sand filled 22,000 lb Grand Slam bomb. The concrete structure is one of many reproductions of potential targets, in this case submarine pens. In 1997 the pens were covered with soil and undergrowth... The first 22,000 lb Grand Slam bomb to be dropped in March 1945. It is sand filled and was carried by Lancaster PB592/G. The nose of the bomb is over the area now occupied by the Sandy Balls caravan park, and is falling in an easterly direction.... Both photographs courtesy of Tim Mason's book, "The Secret Years". |
Ah! I wondered about the fact that there were clearly a few of them. Thanks.
Presumably they tested a live grandslam there later on? Amazing nowadays to think that bombs, and huge ones too, were being tested so close to habitation, there are villages all around that site. How attitudes have changed. |
Very interesting stuff. A number of years ago there was a huge experimental explosion at CFB Suffield in Alberta. I wonder if that was a Grand Slam?
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RN
Late 60s or early 70s? IIRC it was a few thousand tons of conventional explosive. After an excellent landing you can use the airplane again! |
If that's the hole made by an inert weapon, imagine what the hole made by a "live" one looks like! :eek:
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No need to imagine....
http://www.bomberhistory.co.uk/Viadu...troduction.jpg Bielefeld Viaduct after a 617 Sqn visit - trains were not running on time that day!! And this is what a Tallboy did to the Saumur railway tunnel http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/images/saumur3.jpg |
In the Bielefeld photo note the craters from the earlier raids which didn't have much effect: www.BomberHistory.co.uk (The Bielefeld Viaduct)
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You can view a Grand Slam in Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield, they were made at Vickers river Don works.
Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust |
... which proves the RAF was capable of precision bombing, at least towards the end of the war.
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It was but it was only after a lot of equipment changes & development, training and experience nevermind tactics and strategy. To be very accurate also I think needed dedicated crew hence 617 squadron. I wonder if it would have been possible or practical to have all or most or even a significant part of bomber command trained and equipped to the same level.
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No. 9 Squadron at Bardney also carried the Tallboy.
Bob C |
AAMOF I have just finished reading Paul Brickhill's "Dam Busters" (again) and the last 3 chapters are full of the accuracy of 617's latter day attacks on Tirpitz, Bielefeld viaduct, Dortmund Ems canal, the Rocket sites, U-Boat pens and the German battleship Lutzow. 9 Sqdn accompanied 617 on several occasions, including two attacks on the Tirpitz but their contribution was not lauded the way that 617 was.
The attack on the Lutzow is amusing in the sense that bombs were seen to hit it several times but recce photos showed it was still at its moorings. What no-one knew was they HAD sunk it - the difference was that they made a massive hole in the bottom and it had sunk onto the sea bed! The third attack on the Tirpitz was not needed for a similar reason - but no-one knew that either! The accuracy of 617's bombing was down to practice and the methods that Cheshire introduced. Other than direct hits with tallboys Barnes Wallis's preferred delivery was to land the bomb around the more difficult targets and cause an earthquake - as little as 30 yards, which was achieved most of the time. The Grand Slam was not used until early March 1945. A great read, which I expect to do again! |
Saumur Tunnel
I was in Saumur yesterday and got curious as to the location of the picture in post #47.
When I look on google maps I found this vaguely circular wood (between the tunnel mouth and vineyard) which might correspond to the crater. Has anyone seen an aerial view of the Saumur tunnel attack? |
It is possible they dug the tunnel out, making a cutting, to avoid having to repair the tunnel.
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Grand Slam Gate guardian
I understand it was a gate guardian at Scampton, at the time the Lancaster was outside. Lincs County highways wanted to realign the A15, and the RAF agreed to move the Lanc inside the Gatehouse. Lincs said they would move the Grand slam. When they hooked up the JCB the bomb stayed put and the back of the JCB lifted into the air. Thats when they discovered it was still full of explosive. I believe it was eventaully moved to Shoeburyness range and detonated. If you check out the size of the crater here
RAF - Saumur Tunnel, 9th June 1944 its a good thing no-one drove into it!! Other grand slam raids to be found here. RAF - Grand Slam Raids Ian |
Originally Posted by IndiaFourTwo
TCraft41, Welcome to PPRuNe.
As StbdD said, it's Stoney Cross - a disused wartime airfield, which is used as a Visual Reporting Point for VFR traffic skulking round the edge of the "busy" Bournemouth zone. IF you are interested in UK airfields, download this Google Earth 'kmz' file: http://www.rickdavis.co.uk/home/UKAirfields.kmz Here's the whole of the UK: It is astounding to see how many airfields were built in Great Britain during WWII. |
BBC TV digging for Grand Slam
I believe that only one Grand Slam was dropped on the UK and that this was in the New Forest at Ahley Walk Archaeologists are exploring a buried World WarTwo target building in the New Forest where the biggest bomb ever dropped by British forces was tested.
The following is from the BBC, who showed a piece last Wednesday 22 January on South Today. The Grand Slam, nicknamed Ten Ton Tess, penetrated the ground and sent shockwaves to damage enemy bunkers. It was tested on a concrete structure known as the Ministry of Home Security Target at Ashley Walk bombing range. After the war the building was covered up. A radar survey is now trying to find out what remains of it. A team from Wessex Archaeology is also using electrical resistance tomography (ERT) and gradiometers to build the picture of what is left. The Grand Slam bomb, which weighed 22,000lb (10,000kg), was developed towards the end of the war and tested at the site near Fritham on 13 March 1945. The next day it was dropped over Germany, destroying the Schildesche railway viaduct near Bielefeld. |
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