Bonnex,
Is the link between Lt. Col. Blacker, his Bombard and Coates Castle completely totally fictious?
TimG
Tim,
Sorry for the delay. You now know from the obit that Blacker lived at Coates Castle near Petworth. By chance when I was researching MD1 I found myself staying with a friend next door to where Blacker lived but there was no evidence of his experimentation. It was a different story when David Blacker invited me to his large country house near Liss in Hampshire. In the basement of the house were two or three tons of Blacker's hardware including several PIATs, a two-inch mortar converted to fire PIAT bombs and a 3-inch recoilless anti-tank gun. It was a real treasure trove. Over time I managed to interest the IWM in the hardware and I think they took it all. Between the wars Blacker invented a number of spigot devices including an SMLE attachment that launched a hard rubber projectile that could be filled with a Nobels lachrymator. He tried to interest the Navy in a spigot weapon in 1930 so I think there is a link between Blacker, Bombard type weapons and Coates Castle.
Macrae and Jefferis both found Blacker a very difficult person and it is clear that Jefferis was pleased to see the back of him when the Bombard became a service item. After the war Blacker submitted a claim to the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors on the subject of spigot weapons. The Secretary of the Royal Commission wrote to Jefferis (by this time he was Engineer in Chief, Rawalpindi) with questions concerning Blacker's claim. A copy of Jefferis' reply, in possession of the family, makes interesting reading. Salient points are:
That, by his account, it was Jefferis who:
designed the bomb for the Bombard
designed a shoulder gun that became the PIAT although he acknowledges Blacker's explanation of the principle of spigot weapons
was not involved in the development of the Petard (Flying Dustbin)
designed the Hedgehog projectile
introduced the idea of using a hollow charge projectile for the PIAT
All of which were subject to claims by Blacker.