Thanks Brian. I am also probably wrong on the Axis being denied rubber – no doubt they were buying in South America too, but what I can’t figure out is how the ships got from there to Hamburg and Bremen. From other threads I understand US bearings were being sold into South America and onsold to Germany, ending up in DB engines. So if you are flying a Beaufighter in the North Sea on an anti-shipping strike, how do you figure it is a ‘neutral vessel’ before coming in? How was it possible for the U Boats to almost cripple supply lines to the UK, but this seems to be less of an issue for Nazi Germany, with all its shipborne trade funneling into the Baltic? Rotterdam? How do you get a ship into Rotterdam without being taken out? What am I missing here? What neutral nation was carrying Nazi Germany’s lifeblood, and sending ships into a war zone? A few centuries earlier and Francis Drake would be swinging on a rope over the side with a cutlass in his teeth, and taking booty! I understand the Swedish ore trade was allowed to continue, using unmolested Swedish ships, to supply critical iron ore to both Germany and the UK, but how was the rubber for German tyres getting in? No rubber, no war. If a Swedish ship, must of had a big IKEA sign painted on the deck. Had to be a reason for Nazi Germany to take out Norway and Denmark, but not Sweden. Sorry Sue for hijacking your thread, but you’re not in, love !

I thought these were made of mild steel…probably depends on the country. In Australia 60 & 100 gallon pressed steel versions were used to extend range, particularly on PR Mosquitos. They could be dropped, but not routinely. They were an entire monocoque structure, the topside matching the underside of the wing. I have seen these converted into fairground ‘cars’ for a children’s merry go round, with the top cut out. Kind of like the body of a motorcycle sidecar. I think the AP drawing version shows a pressed steel version including steel baffles…baffling..no doubt ‘baffles’ are a nautical term, but why does something become ‘baffling’?

I’d rubber like to know the latex news, Sue.

No worries, please let us know if you change your mind, I had one that dropped and has a broken case. Sad days !

Sue, forgive me if you know some of this information, but I will try to share some of the context of your family’s work. Most U.K. rubber came from Malaya, and this source became unavailable after the Japanese occupation from Dec 1941. Rubber was a critical material, not only for high performance aircraft tyres, but in myriad other critical applications : seals for castor oil based hydraulic fluid systems, such as the Mosquito. This was designed for high altitude reconnaissance, and mineral based fluids could freeze, so no rubber, no Mosquito. The aircraft also used solid rubber shock absorbers, and rubber in self sealing fuel tank coatings, fuel hoses, hydraulic hoses, instrument mountings, Merlin engine seals. All absolutely critical. This criticality was common across all aeroplane designs, even those using castor oil based oleo undercarriage struts. The entire Air Force was exposed by the cutting off of Malayan rubber supply, only later met by South American rubber, convoyed at great cost across the Atlantic, and competitively demanded by the US defense industry. It was a dire situation. Note the Germans, already exposed to a ‘rubber vulnerability’ were dealing with this issue in the 30’s, developing polyurethane as a rubber alternative. Once rubber is vulcanised, or heat set, it cannot be ‘unvulcanised’ or reused as a material with the characteristics of virgin material. This is the modern predicament of recycling millions of used automotive tyres today. It can be shredded and the crumb may be incorporated as a filler, with obvious compromises in engineering performance. So most of the wartime work was exploring what virgin rubber products could be replaced with ‘agglomerations’ of recycled crumb, without compromising performance, freeing virgin material for critical applications such as hydraulic seals. One that comes to mind are solid rubber wheels used under tank treads. My understanding is that aeroplane tyres, a critical performance item, stayed using virgin material, but I would be curious to see paperwork exploring the topic. Retreading was developed to economise tyre demand, as well as standardisation of wheel and tyre types. I would always be interested to see copies of technical reports on rubber tyre or component production.