Milsurp find, A Bomb in Lumby !

buffdog said:
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As SMELLIE mentioned, most of the bombs aboard were incendiary in composition. While it was an interesting idea, and was kept quiet to keep the effectiveness of the operation from the Japanese, the biggest failure of the program was the timing.

These were launched from Japan between November 1944 and April 1945. Some even reached Alberta. Only problem was:

THE TARGET WAS COVERED WITH SNOW AT THIS TIME OF YEAR.
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Some went a lot further east than Alberta
 
In 1944 my dad was an RCAF flyer stationed at Pat Bay, B.C. One day they were in the back yard of the Officers Mess and watched a balloon bomb float down and land in a tree behind the mess.

I have a piece of the balloon envelope in his photo album.
 
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buffdog said:
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As SMELLIE mentioned, most of the bombs aboard were incendiary in composition. While it was an interesting idea, and was kept quiet to keep the effectiveness of the operation from the Japanese, the biggest failure of the program was the timing.

These were launched from Japan between November 1944 and April 1945. Some even reached Alberta. Only problem was:

THE TARGET WAS COVERED WITH SNOW AT THIS TIME OF YEAR.
Click to expand...

We call it "Intelligence failure"!! ;-)

Martin
 
Evil_Edie said:
Many such balloon bombs made it onto the west coast of Canada and the US, however discovery of such devices were kept secret for years in order to prevent the Japanese from knowing how effective this experimental weapon was. If i recall from a documentary, based on the amount of bombs launched, it was about 20 - 30% actually made it here to north america and made land fall. Though because of the seemingly crazy odds and the fact that they couldn't observe it's effectiveness they eventually assumed that it was a failure and stopped launching them.



thats a real shame. It would have been amazing to have it deactivated and placed in the war museum. It's definitely one of those weapons that highlights human ingenuity during times of war. It's also amazing how simplistic such weapons can be using nature itself as a navigation system.
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The National War Museum in Ottawa has a replica of one in their WW2 gallery. There is a picture of it in the news arrival.

As for BIPing it after 70 years or so the explosives in it would/could have been very unstable. It was and is the best call just to blow it in place (BIP). Really it's just a metal tube with fins and a pointed end. Not all that exiting to look at. Heck anyone with some metal working skill can make a repro of one.
 
smellie said:
Canada's West Coast defence originally rested upon Coast Watch patrols, the PCMR and then, with the availability of the new Canadian-built Hurricane II aircraft armed with 12 x .303 Brownings, active long-range Pacific patrols out of Boundary Bay.

When the fire balloon bombs came to the attention of Intelligence, the Squadron was moved to Tofino and later bolstered by 135 F/S.

Between them, the RCAF Squadrons shot down several of the fire balloons, which generally were regarded as "kills".

Long-range Pacific patrols in single-engined aircraft was hazardous in the extreme. Don't take my word: look up the list of their aircraft and check out the large number lost at sea.

Personally, I am rather thankful for this aspect of the War Effort: my Dad was RCAF and met my Mom at a dance.... in Boundary Bay. They were married a year later.... and I turned up a year after that. I guess one might say that my interest in War Production comes naturally, being that I am a part of it myself!

I do wish, however, that this thing could have been deactivated and saved; I don't know if ANY of these survive in museums.

The bombs themselves generally were large incendiaries; the idea was to set fire to Canada's entire West Coast.
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Exactly the same story about my dad, also met my Mom at one of those dances at Boundary bay, likely your dad and mine met or knew each other
 
smellie said:
I do wish, however, that this thing could have been deactivated and saved; I don't know if ANY of these survive in museums.
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I believe the War Museum in Ottawa has one on display -- I'm not sure of the originality and it's been a while since I've looked.

Cheers,
-Steve
 
Colin said:
Exactly the same story about my dad, also met my Mom at one of those dances at Boundary bay, likely your dad and mine met or knew each other
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Did your dad ever tell you the story about the pilot at Boundary Bay that stole a twin engine plane & flew around Vancouver & was intercepted by fighters & wile being escorted back to BB decided to commit suicide by plowing straight down into a field just off River RD in Delta ?
 
we talked about it, but as I recall that guy had minimal flight training so he may have not meant to commit suicide. MY dad's main claim to fame was backing the ambulance into the new built emergency ward at Comox, it was down a ramp.
 
I do agree with purple on his last post, this is far to be a game and this are not some kind of trophy you want to bring back home.

Yes it is sad it was blown in place but it is almost impossible to safely deactivate a bomb in this conditions. It is highly unstable and the guy who will remove the fuse may just died to try to put a piece of metal in a Museum... and at the end, the bomb will be gone too. Way to risky to try to deactivate it. For those who might think "Pff... if I find one, I'l bring back to my place!" I wish you a very good luck and keep in mind that you place relatives in great danger.

Unexploded Ordnances are very dangerous, even when submerge for decades. They still alive and want to achieve their goal which is to explode!

Stay safe,

Martin
 
I had no idea they reached Canada. Here a picture of the one at the war museum in Ottawa
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@ #1bcshooter:

No, Dad never mentioned that one, although he did tell me about the guy at Tofino who decided to buzz the tower from a power dive. Controls locked up from too much speed and it went in, straight down. Dad picked up the guy's hands a couple hundred yards from the crater. There was only 6-1/4 pounds in the coffin: rest was rocks to make up the weight. Packard Merlin should still be there; it ploughed in real deep.


@ lanceleader:

THANK YOU for that photograph! I owe you a coffee!
 
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