BobKatAvro Bomb Carrier
Flyingblind has posted a picture above which I saw some time ago when searching for information about bomb carriers on the internet. I don’t think it is as described – “Universal Bomb Carrier No. 1 Mark III ??”.
I posted this same picture on the Wreckage of Lancaster ED908 (60-Z) thread: http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?120747-Wreckage-Of-Lancaster-ED908-(60-Z)
at the top of page 40 in post #1172 showing the part numbers identified with the help of the owner. I believe it is, in fact, an Avro Type Bomb Carrier. Hence my request in post #2 above for confirmation of any visible part numbers. The picture does appear to be what is shown in the first three pictures posted by ballturret.
jamesinnewcastl kindly sent me a copy of AP1664 from which I have gleaned the following information:
The Universal (No.1 and No.2) bomb carriers were intended for use for 50lb to 500lb bomb loads;
the Avro Type (Standard) (Mk.I and Mk.II) was used for 100lb to 1,000lb bomb loads;
there was a Twin adapter, with two carriers on one unit, for the Avro Type for loads of 100lb to 1,000lb, with a maximum of 500lbs on each carrier, enabling four 500lb bombs to be carried abreast;
there was a special carrier for loads of 2,000lbs in the Lancaster;
Handley Page carriers for 250lb to 1,000lb bombs were used in the Halifax and Mosquito;
there was also a Twin adapter for the Handley Page carrier; and
there were other variations for loads of less than 1,000lb for the Halifax, Stirling and Wellington.
It therefore seems that the Avro Type (Standard) carrier would have been used in all British aircraft carrying loads with 1,000lb bombs other than those noted above which used the Handley Page version. AP2062A&C, the Lancaster parts listing, indicates that, as expected, the Avro Type carrier would have been fitted as standard to the Lancaster.
The attachment still fastened to the first carrier pictured appears to be a practice bomb attachment as shown in the diagram below from AP1664.
I can’t help with the heavy-duty casting on the second piece but, as suggested, it presumably was to adapt it to another use (perhaps for a heavier bomb load) but I cannot find anything illustrated in AP1664 which matches.
As Whitley_Project says, it would be helpful to have any history related to the carriers.
BobKatAre there any part numbers visible, for example on the bomb release hook?
BobKatThe first two items look like a high pressure valve from the engine’s electro-pneumatic ram. See the Wreckage of Lancaster ED908 (60-Z) thread for further details (page 39, post #1146). We have an identical part (although from a Merlin engine).
BobKatGun batteries at Arques-la-Bataille
At the suggestion of Laurent and Hervé, I have contacted Bunkarcheodieppe who have kindly provided a considerable amount of information based on their research in the area and have given permission for me to reproduce extracts from this with appropriate acknowledgements.
They have confirmed that following the changes of organisation in 1943, the previously largely autonomous area around the airfield (Die-015) was reduced in size. (‘Die’ is an abbreviation for Dieppe). At much the same time as a new 220mm four-gun battery was constructed at Rouxmesnil Bouteilles (Die-023), Calmont became an anti-aircraft battery under the control of the Luftwaffe, with 88mm guns and was re-designated Die-024. The battery at la Maison Blanche became Die-022, but it is not stated whether this was a flak or field-gun battery. A three-gun anti-aircraft battery would normally be configured at the points of a triangle (as seen for one of the Dieppe coastal batteries in the picture below) and a four-gun battery at the points of a regular trapezium (as seen below at Quatre Vents Farm and Calmont). The layout at la Maison Blanche pictured below seems more akin to the line of a field-gun battery.
In 2016 Bunkarcheodieppe conducted excavations of some of the underground bunkers at Calmont around the four gun emplacements to mark the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the 1942 Dieppe raid. This revealed two shelters for the troops, two ammunition stores, living quarters (a kitchen), and the command post. The concrete gun emplacements were not unearthed as they were located in a nearby field under cultivation. Their survey indicated evidence of only two or three 88mm guns, together with several 20mm guns on the point which overlooks the valley. This is curious as there are four circular gun emplacements clearly visible in the 1947 aerial survey.
There were also signs of German activity in the Bois de Martigny, to the south-east of Arques-la-Bataille, including what appeared to be an underground ammunition store, but with no bunkers or infrastructure which would be expected to be associated with a static heavy anti-aircraft battery. There is no sign of a ‘footprint’ visible in the 1947 aerial survey. This may have been the site of a mobile 20mm battery but there is no information about the dates when it was in operation. 20mm flak guns had an effective ceiling of only about 7,200 feet. On the coast there were 20mm, 37mm and 88mm flak batteries protecting the coastal guns. 37mm guns had an effective range of about 13,800 feet. Only the heavy 88mm batteries could have reached ED908, flying at 16,000 feet.
In the absence of complete information, it is impossible to be certain, but based on what is known, it seems highly probable that, as the local residents have said, it was the anti-aircraft battery at Calmont near Arques-la-Bataille which shot down ED908.
Photo-gallery:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=BCF75E8AD40ADF0D!164&authkey=!AJrxfdmdr6MXSdw&ithint=folder%2cjpg
Index to parts found and annotated illustrations:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=bcf75e8ad40adf0d!1426&authkey=!AAJOZyTYrN-x0CQ&ithint=folder%2cjpg
BobKatGun batteries at Arques-la-Bataille
I have continued my research into the anti-aircraft batteries around Dieppe and have discovered that there were two high-resolution aerial photographic surveys in 1944, after the Allies had re-occupied the area following the D-Day landings, and in 1945, which are available on the Geoportail website. These show evidence of the batteries at la Maison Blanche (by the airfield) and Quatre Vents Farm (near the coast) and details are shown below. Unfortunately, they do not extend to Arques-la-Bataille. The view of the battery at la Maison Blanche shows much more detail than the 1947 survey, but it does not establish conclusively what was sited there – only that it does not look like an anti-aircraft battery. However, the footprint of the anti-aircraft battery at Quatre Vents Farm is interesting as it is virtually identical to what can be seen at Calmont.
Pictures I have seen indicate that either raised circular earthworks were constructed around the ‘permanent’ anti-aircraft gun positions, as seen in the left-hand of the second group of photographs below, or that a circular area would be excavated in the ground to house the guns, as in the picture second-left (not at Dieppe). These were generally sited in open spaces with a clear 360-degree field of fire, unlike the field gun and coastal batteries which would often be covered in camouflage netting or partially concealed near trees with only a relatively small traverse possible. The right-hand photograph below is said to show the 150mm guns of the coastal battery at Arques-la-Bataille. This appears to be located along the edge of the field to the south of the open space where the anti-aircraft battery seems later to have been constructed, but there is no obvious sign of the emplacements in the 1947 aerial view.
All this tends to support the contention that by 1944 the coastal battery at Calmont (Arques-la-Bataille) had become a heavy anti-aircraft battery and was probably the one which brought down ED908.
Photo-gallery:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=BCF75E8AD40ADF0D!164&authkey=!AJrxfdmdr6MXSdw&ithint=folder%2cjpg
Index to parts found and annotated illustrations:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=bcf75e8ad40adf0d!1426&authkey=!AAJOZyTYrN-x0CQ&ithint=folder%2cjpg
BobKatGun batteries at Arques-la-Bataille
The glitch which was preventing the upload of photos has now been resolved, and so I am attaching below the images which I had originally intended to include with my previous post.
In the meantime, Laurent and Hervé have been following my recent posts regarding the probable flight path of ED908 and they are continuing research locally on the anti-aircraft batteries in the area. If anyone has any information about this, I should be glad to hear.
Photo-gallery:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=BCF75E8AD40ADF0D!164&authkey=!AJrxfdmdr6MXSdw&ithint=folder%2cjpg
Index to parts found and annotated illustrations:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=bcf75e8ad40adf0d!1426&authkey=!AAJOZyTYrN-x0CQ&ithint=folder%2cjpg
BobKatMany of the ORBs are now available for download electronically at a small cost for each month. You may be able to view digital versions at the archives.
BobKatGun batteries at Arques-la-Bataille
The 1947 IGN aerial mapping survey of France has proved to be an invaluable source of information in connection with the events of 20 July 1944. I have extended my search to cover the area around Arques-la-Bataille where the anti-aircraft battery was said to have been located.
Information from various sources about the gun batteries in existence at the time of the Dieppe raid in 1942 is not always consistent, but the websites of Bunkarcheodieppe and forums.gunboards provide much useful information. There was a coastal battery of four 150mm guns at Arques-la-Bataille (code-named “Hitler” by the Allies) which was said also to include three 88mm anti-aircraft guns. The coastal battery was located at Calmont to the north-west of Arques-la-Bataille, and the anti-aircraft guns would appear to have been sited at the airfield. The locations of the batteries are shown below on a frame from the 1952 aerial survey.
The 150mm guns had a range of nearly 14 miles, a traverse of 8 degrees and an elevation of -3 degrees to 43 degrees and would not have been used for anti-aircraft defence. The 88mm heavy flak guns had a traverse of 360 degrees, an elevation of -3 degrees to 85 degrees, with a range of about 9 miles, and an effective ceiling of 26,000 feet or about 5 miles.
Control of the area passed from 302 Infantry Division to 348 Infantry Division in 1943 and some changes were made to the gun positions around the airfield – two three-gun batteries being replaced by one four-gun battery. The Dieppe – Saint-Aubin airfield served as a fighter station during the Battle of Britain, but was abandoned in early 1944. Further changes appear to have taken place, but it is not known what these were. It might therefore have been expected that the battery which shot down ED908 was located by the airfield. However, the local residents all refer to the Arques battery.
The 1947 aerial survey shows traces of both the gun batteries at Calmont to the north-west of Arques-la-Bataille and the one to the north of the wartime airfield at la Maison Blanche. I have extended the composite aerial view of the flight path to show the position of the anti-aircraft battery and the probable approximate position of ED908 when it was hit by flak – three miles high and between two and three miles horizontally from the battery – well within range and consistent with the estimated flight path. A higher resolution version of the aerial view incorporating a contemporaneous map is included in the photo-gallery.
Also attached below are close-up details of the two gun batteries from the aerial survey with extracts from sketch maps showing the change in position of the emplacements in 1942 and in 1943 (with grateful acknowledgements to Bunkarcheodieppe). At the latter date a four-gun battery is shown to the north-west of Arques-la-Bataille at Calmont, 265(K), and a four-gun battery at the nearby airfield at la Maison Blanche (5/348). At the time, these were under the common control of the airfield (Die-015) which apparently had a certain amount of autonomy. Later the two sites were re-numbered Die-024 and Die-023 respectively.
There are four emplacements at the airfield battery roughly in a straight line angled towards the coast, and these appear to be fan-shaped as might be expected for a field gun with a narrow angle of traverse. The four gun positions at the site of the coastal battery at Calmont are circular, enabling a 360-degree traverse, and in a regularly spaced horse-shoe shaped arc. This is the type of layout that would be expected for an anti-aircraft battery, often with a command post in the centre. So, perhaps the local residents are right – it was the battery at Arques, not at the airfield, which was equipped with the anti-aircraft guns in 1944. If anyone has any further information to throw more light on the matter, I should be interested to hear.
German bunkers in the area were excavated in 2017 as part of the marking of the 75th anniversary of the Dieppe raid in 1942.
The forum’s image upload facility seems not to be working so I have embedded the images below. I will add them later if I can.
EDIT: images now included with next post.
Photo-gallery:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=BCF75E8AD40ADF0D!164&authkey=!AJrxfdmdr6MXSdw&ithint=folder%2cjpg
Index to parts found and annotated illustrations:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=bcf75e8ad40adf0d!1426&authkey=!AAJOZyTYrN-x0CQ&ithint=folder%2cjpg
BobKatToni, glad to have been able to help. As you will have seen from your other threads, there are plenty of other forum members able to comment. My knowledge is restricted to the Lancaster!
BobKatI think your part may well be the bomb carrier electro-magnetic release unit. The diagram below shows a connecting lever to the release hook and a circular hole at the corner of the unit for the pivot (where arrowed in red). Your piece seems to be the same, but the end has fragmented.
BobKatI think your third item could be part of the landing gear locking mechanism. See the horizontal bar at the bottom of the attached picture.
BobKatThis diagram shows the Electro-magnetic release unit for the Avro Bomb Carrier Mk.I. Unfortunately it is largely concealed in the picture, but is it the right shape for your piece? Can you provide a picture of the entire piece, please?
BobKatSondler 64,
I don’t immediately recognize any of these parts. I assume there are no part numbers visible which might provide a clue?
BobKatSondler 64,
As Maple 01 says, Air Ministry Code 11A relates to Bomb Gear. I have checked in my Lancaster parts list, but 11A/466 does not appear. This is not surprising because, if this is part of the Bomb Carrier, as seems likely, it would not appear in the Parts List as it is a separate item of equipment. If I can find an illustration which shows your piece, I will post it.
BobKatIf you are looking for his service record try:
Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A ON4 where his Canadian Personnel Record should be available.
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/second-world-war/Pages/introduction.aspx
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