Grand Slam – this aint the tennis Toto

In a similar vein the USAF were removing a Gate Guardian to refurbish it after about 20 ish years on the gate and when the guy climbed in to man the brakes the seat fired killing him… There was a sudden rush the world over including the UK to check Gate Guardians and several were found to still have live seats and canopy systems… Apparently it had flown in, retired and been dragged onto the gate without anyone thinking about the seats etc.

Not sure of the claim in the attachment to the original post that had the (alleged) live Grand Slam at Scampton gone off, that it would have flattened half of Lincoln (about 4 miles away). The Grand Slam had less explosive content than a 12000 pound light case blockbuster and German cities soaked up a lot of them without being half flattened.

What are your sources for all this?

Let’s just say I’m 25 years into a life sentence at Boscombe and have a 21 year friendship with the BD armourer.

I saw a few years back a programme about the grand slam and to fill one the explosives had to be cooked on a hob and kept hot while it was poured into the bomb by some poor guy at the top of a ladder and it took about 6 people something like 3 hours to fill one and once filled it could not be emptied.

I did hear this story slightly differently that a ex armorer visiting the station noticed it was live by a colored plug in the side, but like most of these stories it has probably been told a thousand times and tweaked each time.

curlyboy

In the book “One Hell of a Bomb” it is also mentioned that an RAF base (don’t know if it was Scampton too) had both a Grand Slam and a Tallboy on the gate. Both had been put upright on their noses. These were also said to be “live”. Pic was in the book showing them.

Same story or do all those bases have similar tales?

Cees

This story came via a colleague at my VGS.
Up to a few years ago there was a Grand Slam body being used as a crane test weight.
During one of the earlier times this ‘myth’ came around, a young RAF armourer who had just completed a course on defusing these weapons (“Easy-peasy, how many can there be of these be about.”) was sent to give Boscombe’s example the once over. Guess what:eek: I haven’t seen it around Boscombe since.

As I understand it every Grand Slam body produced was filled with explosive. ie no inert/drill rounds were produced. One hopes that those Grand Slams in museums have been steamed out and have Free from Explosive Certificates.

What are your sources for all this?

This story came via a colleague at my VGS.
Up to a few years ago there was a Grand Slam body being used as a crane test weight.
During one of the earlier times this ‘myth’ came around, a young RAF armourer who had just completed a course on defusing these weapons (“Easy-peasy, how many can there be of these be about.”) was sent to give Boscombe’s example the once over. Guess what:eek: I haven’t seen it around Boscombe since.

As I understand it every Grand Slam body produced was filled with explosive. ie no inert/drill rounds were produced. One hopes that those Grand Slams in museums have been steamed out and have Free from Explosive Certificates.

If the bomb couldn’t be lifted by a coles crane two questions;

1) How did they move it before?
2) Why didn’t they move it that way again, why bother with the crane?
3) Why didn’t the bomb sink on it’s cradle with all the weight?

These questions lead me to believe this is an urban aviation myth.

Some interesting photos at the linjk below:

http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=15777

The crater still remains from the Grand Slam drop at Ashley Walk now filled with water. There are other visible remains at Ashley Walk. Apart from the odd crater is the buried Sub Pen target, the exposed foundation of No.2 Target wall and an observation shelter. As the targets were marked with chalk many are still visible from the air. A look on Google Earth you will find them. I walk regularly in this area and you still occasionally come across bits of shrapnel. The book ‘Ashley Walk – Its Bombing Range, Landscape and History’ by Anthony Pasmore and Norman Parker is well worth a read. Some photos I took Aug 2010.

Photo 1 – Exposed part of Sub Pen
Photo 2 – Grand Slam Crater
Photo 3 – Shelter
Photo 4 – Sub Pen site

Martin

Grand Slam, and many other large bombs, was dropped at Ashley Walk Bombing range in the New Forest.

As far as I’m aware there’s nothing visible there now.

I believe a Grand Slam was dropped in the UK (as a test!) before it was used in anger. In the West country somewhere?
mmitch.

A quick Google and this story seems to come up every couple of years. R5868 only appeared on the gate in 1960. The road was realigned in 1955 when the runway was lengthened, why more work on the road 3 years later and why take the Grand Slam all the way to Shoeburyness? Grand Slam first used in 1945, so why was ” explosive filling” put in 1944? To damage the Cathedral sounds a bit suspect, even though Grand Slam is large bomb, it’s a distance away.

Is it a true story?

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story

Is it a true story?

“and on that bombshell!”

what a great story 😮

The gate guardian then would have of course have been Lancaster R5868, S-Sugar. Now at Hendon. Shame if that had gone up (as well as a large part of Lincoln).

Picture taken by my dad of the said beast 🙂