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20lb Cooper Aerial bomb

Brian Keith

Well-Known Member
HereP2240029.JPGP2240031.JPGP2240033.JPG is an artifact I picked up at anantique mall over 20 years ago. My research indicates it is a 20 lb CooperAerial bomb. The Cooper bomb was a British 20 pound bomb used extensively inWorld War I. It was the first high explosive bomb to be adopted by the RoyalFlying Corps.
The bomb was 24lb in weight, of which 20lbwas the bomb casing and 4lb was the high explosive. The main body was made ofcast iron and the after body is made of wood and the fins sheet steel.
As you can see, this has been turned into a“Training Aid” at some point. Likely, as I found it in the US, it is from the pre-WWII AAC Era.
List of aircraft that used the cooperbomb
SE5a
Bristol F2 Fighter
D.H. 4
Sopwith camel
Fe 2
I believe the Cooper Bomb was also used byUS forces, but I haven’t fond info on that connection yet, likely, it wascalled something else.
Thanks for looking! Comments Welcome!
BKW
 
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Hello Brian,

That is a GREAT example. You are correct that these were made in the U.S. as well. I saw a U.S. one at the Aberdeen museum many years ago and it appeared identical to the British. My Cooper has the British Broad Arrow stamped on the dome of the fuze so you might look for that (if it wasn't lost in the cutaway). I don't think these were in U.S. service for very long after WW1. Thanks for posting! Pat
 
Nice bomb. How about changing your font to something readable on a black background?
 
As Pat mentioned, you are correct in that the Cooper Bomb was used by the US, produced as one of the MK series (MK II?). I'm reading this at work and so do not have access to the library to check exact nomenclature. The US used them through our short portion of the war, then the excess were used up for training in the 1920s. A number of them have washed up in recent decades along northern Lake Huron, where they were used by Camp Skeel (much later Wurtsmith AFB) in the 1920s during air gunnery practice. A couple of years ago I was able to talk to one of the locals that still had several which he had recovered while beachcombing.
 
Thanks for all the comments and added information. I'm not sure why the letters are dark other that that I composed the info in a word document and cut and pasted it.
Regards,
BKW
 
It works if I highlight all and drag the arrow down on my Mac. I did not realise there was info with these photos until told by others.
 

Here is an artifact I picked up at an antique mall over 20 years ago. My research indicates it is a 20 lb Cooper Aerial bomb. The Cooper bomb was a British 20 pound bomb used extensively in World War I. It was the first high explosive bomb to be adopted by the Royal Flying Corps.
The bomb was 24lbin weight, of which 20lb was the bomb casing and 4lb was the high explosive.The main body was made of cast iron and the after body is made of wood and the fins sheet steel.
As you can see,this has been turned into a “Training Aid” at some point. Likely, as I found it in the US, it is from the pre-WW II AAC Era.
List of air craftthat used the cooper bomb
SE5a
Bristol F2 Fighter
D.H. 4
Sopwith camel
Fe 2
I believe the Cooper Bomb was also used by US forces, but I haven’t found info on that connection yet, likely, it was called something else.
Thanks for looking! Comments Welcome!
BKW

Above was reposted with a change in font color so it is readable, Sorry for the problem in the first post. Thanks for all the great comments and information. I've always thought it was a really neat items, the first training aid cutaway I purchased. If I recall, I got it for only about $30.
Glad you enjoyed seeing it.
BKW
 
I found this Cooper bomb fuze this week and identified it from this thread.
I thought collectors would like to see the stampings.

Hard to read but seems to be: No7 T HINKS 1918

Cooper Fuze 1.jpegFuze 2.jpgFuze 3.jpegFuze 4.jpeg
 
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