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But it looked really neat! - Lancaster and a 22,000-pound Grand Slam bomb
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a425couple
Jun 26, 2022, 1:15:20 PM6/26/22
to
L. Thomas Rouse
20 Year Navy Veteran. Too well read for my own good.Jun 19
What is the coolest military "gate guardian" you know of?
This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
At RAF Scrampton, just outside Lincolnshire, they had a Lancaster Bomber
and a 22,000-pound Grand Slam bomb as a gate guard.
During a road project in 1958, the airplane and bomb needed to be moved
to make way, so the RAF brought in one of their standard cranes to lift
what they thought was an empty casing onto a flatbed. Unfortunately, the
crane could not budge the bomb.
Their first thought was that the casing might be filled with concrete,
but then someone had an OMG “what if” moment. An armorer was called, and
after scraping through years of paint, he unscrewed the fill port to
find that it was filled with 1944-vintage Torpex.
A larger, more powerful civilian crane was brought in to carefully lift
the bomb onto a heavy trailer. It was taken to a disposal area and
detonated.
A subsequent investigation into how a live 22,000-pound bomb ended up
sitting next to a busy roadway as a decoration/photo spot for several
years turned up nothing, and the display was relocated with an empty
casing in place of its more excitable sibling.
42.4K viewsView 1,821 upvotesView 7 shares
However, this is certainly true!
see also
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54522203
WW2 'earthquake' bomb explodes in Poland during attempt to defuse it
""The deflagration process turned into detonation. The object can be
considered neutralised, it will not pose any more threat to the
Szczecin-Swinoujscie shipping channel," said Lt Cmdr Grzegorz
Lewandowski, spokesman for the Polish Navy's 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla.
"All divers were outside the danger zone."
20 Year Navy Veteran. Too well read for my own good.Jun 19
What is the coolest military "gate guardian" you know of?
This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
At RAF Scrampton, just outside Lincolnshire, they had a Lancaster Bomber
and a 22,000-pound Grand Slam bomb as a gate guard.
During a road project in 1958, the airplane and bomb needed to be moved
to make way, so the RAF brought in one of their standard cranes to lift
what they thought was an empty casing onto a flatbed. Unfortunately, the
crane could not budge the bomb.
Their first thought was that the casing might be filled with concrete,
but then someone had an OMG “what if” moment. An armorer was called, and
after scraping through years of paint, he unscrewed the fill port to
find that it was filled with 1944-vintage Torpex.
A larger, more powerful civilian crane was brought in to carefully lift
the bomb onto a heavy trailer. It was taken to a disposal area and
detonated.
A subsequent investigation into how a live 22,000-pound bomb ended up
sitting next to a busy roadway as a decoration/photo spot for several
years turned up nothing, and the display was relocated with an empty
casing in place of its more excitable sibling.
42.4K viewsView 1,821 upvotesView 7 shares
However, this is certainly true!
see also
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54522203
WW2 'earthquake' bomb explodes in Poland during attempt to defuse it
""The deflagration process turned into detonation. The object can be
considered neutralised, it will not pose any more threat to the
Szczecin-Swinoujscie shipping channel," said Lt Cmdr Grzegorz
Lewandowski, spokesman for the Polish Navy's 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla.
"All divers were outside the danger zone."
Bob Martin
Jun 27, 2022, 2:08:48 AM6/27/22
to
On 26 Jun 2022 at 17:15:21, a425couple <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> L. Thomas Rouse
> 20 Year Navy Veteran. Too well read for my own good.Jun 19
>
> What is the coolest military "gate guardian" you know of?
> This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
>
> At RAF Scrampton, just outside Lincolnshire, they had a Lancaster Bomber
> and a 22,000-pound Grand Slam bomb as a gate guard.
RAF Scampton is near the city of Lincoln.
> L. Thomas Rouse
> 20 Year Navy Veteran. Too well read for my own good.Jun 19
>
> What is the coolest military "gate guardian" you know of?
> This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
>
> At RAF Scrampton, just outside Lincolnshire, they had a Lancaster Bomber
> and a 22,000-pound Grand Slam bomb as a gate guard.
Lincoln is the county town of the county of Lincolnshire.
Ramsman
Jun 27, 2022, 5:23:21 AM6/27/22
to
The Grand Slam was a big bomb, containing 9200 lb of Torpex, but it's
over 3 miles from the main gate at Scampton to the nearest point of
Lincoln. Would the blast and fragments really have reached that far?
https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2020/02/myth-busters-the-raf-scampton-gate-guardian-which-turned-out-to-be-a-live-bomb/
--
Peter
a425couple
Jun 27, 2022, 1:44:52 PM6/27/22
to
On 6/27/2022 2:23 AM, Ramsman wrote:
> On 27/06/2022 07:08, Bob Martin wrote:
>> On 26 Jun 2022 at 17:15:21, a425couple <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> L. Thomas Rouse
>>> 20 Year Navy Veteran. Too well read for my own good.Jun 19
>>>
>>> What is the coolest military "gate guardian" you know of?
>>> This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
>>>
>>> At RAF Scrampton, just outside Lincolnshire, they had a Lancaster Bomber
>>> and a 22,000-pound Grand Slam bomb as a gate guard.
>>
>> RAF Scampton is near the city of Lincoln.
>> Lincoln is the county town of the county of Lincolnshire.
>>
--------------
> On 27/06/2022 07:08, Bob Martin wrote:
>> On 26 Jun 2022 at 17:15:21, a425couple <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> L. Thomas Rouse
>>> 20 Year Navy Veteran. Too well read for my own good.Jun 19
>>>
>>> What is the coolest military "gate guardian" you know of?
>>> This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
>>>
>>> At RAF Scrampton, just outside Lincolnshire, they had a Lancaster Bomber
>>> and a 22,000-pound Grand Slam bomb as a gate guard.
>>
>> RAF Scampton is near the city of Lincoln.
>> Lincoln is the county town of the county of Lincolnshire.
>>
>
> There is considerable doubt as to the authenticity of this story.
> The Grand Slam was a big bomb, containing 9200 lb of Torpex, but it's
> over 3 miles from the main gate at Scampton to the nearest point of
> Lincoln. Would the blast and fragments really have reached that far?
>
> https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2020/02/myth-busters-the-raf-scampton-gate-guardian-which-turned-out-to-be-a-live-bomb/
>
> There is considerable doubt as to the authenticity of this story.
> The Grand Slam was a big bomb, containing 9200 lb of Torpex, but it's
> over 3 miles from the main gate at Scampton to the nearest point of
> Lincoln. Would the blast and fragments really have reached that far?
>
> https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2020/02/myth-busters-the-raf-scampton-gate-guardian-which-turned-out-to-be-a-live-bomb/
>
As my original post said:
This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
Still, probably worth reading.
This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
Jim Wilkins
Jun 27, 2022, 5:13:11 PM6/27/22
to
"a425couple" wrote in message news:m0muK.343234$J0r9....@fx11.iad...
As my original post said:
This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
Still, probably worth reading.
----------------------
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-56243750
"The Ministry of Defence says since 2010 it has been involved with making
safe 450 German WW2 bombs - about 60 a year, the BBC Reality Check team
revealed in 2018."
As my original post said:
This story may or may not be true. There is some controversy.
Still, probably worth reading.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-56243750
"The Ministry of Defence says since 2010 it has been involved with making
safe 450 German WW2 bombs - about 60 a year, the BBC Reality Check team
revealed in 2018."
Ramsman
Jun 28, 2022, 11:55:37 AM6/28/22
to
Barnes Wallis' bombs, I'd forgotten you'd said that.
--
Peter
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