Norway Bombs 1940

[Dreamk]

From the archives of the Oslo museum, some photographs taken in 1940 at the occasion of an exposition on civilian defense against bombing threats (click on the pics to enlarge them):

5kg frag:


10kg Frag:


50kg Frag:


and the three of them together:


Sadly details of these bombs are unknown although as samples of the 10kg bomb have survived:
This is a model from 1938 that was auctioned some time ago


and another photograph of from an unidentified source :


I'd be delighted (as always) if someone can give more details on thes e bombs

 

[MINENAZ16]

I'm skeptical about the 5kg bomb frag ; really looks a like a practice bomb same as British series 10lb

 

[Dreamk]

The pics are from 1940 and on the whole photograph (see under) of the bomb at the display one can see that the title "5kg sprengbombe" appeared.

It's right indeed that it may look like a 8.5lb, 10lb and 11.5lb British Training bomb however there are some differences such as the implantation of the fin and above all the fuze (which seems to be a kind of artillery fuze adapted to bomb use) . The implantation of the fin is more similar with the one Canadian 1941 version of the 11.5lb Training bomb, being also through a direct connection of the body of the bomb to the fins (though much slender on the Norge bomb than on the Canadian one).
We must keep in mind that the British influence was strong in Norway and Estonia, with their Air Forces using British planes and some interwar British bombs being used as well, so that the British practice bomb may indeed have been the inspiration for the development of this bomb.


and here a comparison of the RAF 1930s and RCAF 1941 11.5lb practice bombs

and a RAF 8.5lb and 10lb practice



BTW it seems that at least one example of the 50kg bomb has survived and is presently on display at the Norwegian Air Force museum, at the foot of the Fokker CV (the only Norge bomber in 1940)

 

[Dreamk]

Some more info on Norwegian bombs:
In 1936-1940, Raufoss Ammunition Factories (RA) Raufoss Ammunition Factories (RA) supplied 10 kg and 50 kg aircraft bombs (("sprengbombe") to the air force.
These bomb were filled with high explosive thta constituted between 10 and 15 percent of the bomb's own weight.
the 10 kg explosive bomb was thus filled with 1 kg of explosive. In the 50 kg aircraft bomb, the RA used 5 kg of high explosive.
The explosive was ignited with a fuse with a delayed ignition.
On impact, the bombs exploded into shrapnels weighing between 10 and 50 grams, spraying with a speed of up to 1000 meters per second.
In Julty 1939 a protoype of a 75kg bomb, containing 7.5kg of explosives, was produced by RA, followed by an order for such bombs in December of th same year.
These bombs were not fragmentation bombs (possibly SAP as the requirement was that - "they had to withstand impact against a hard target")
Howver these bombs were never produced or delivered due to production considerations: they were or more complex design, needed higher quality steel, used more explosive and disrupted the production of 50kg bombs. This also limited the production of 50 kg aerial bombs.
Production of bombs cntinued in 1940-41 - for the behalf of the Germans. The Germans use of these bombs is unknown but may explain why 10kg Nowegian bombs have found their way to museums in other areas such as the Nederlands.

Some more pictures of Norwegian bombs, including better pictures of some in the first post:
(all photographs are from Nowegian museums)






Although this last bomb is definitively identified as a 5kg Sprengbombe on this display from 1938, I did not find record of use of 5kg bombs by the Norwegian air force.
This bomb looks like a training bomb but the production data from RA speak only of 50kg training bombs (similar in shape to the 50 explosive bomb) - its p[ainting is also different from the one of the 2 other bombs. It could of course be an incendiary bomb. However it will still remain a mystery for the present time.

Here a surviving 10kg Sprengbombe



Tgis one is complete with a more complete fuze, from Delft museum:



And a surviving 50kg Sprengbombe at Oslo museum

 

[sgdbdr]

Nice ! Thanks !