Aerial incendiaries Incendiary bombs

They were also found very effective in Aerial bombs (because their radius of blast damage was greater than with nonaluminized expls) and also in incendiary bombs, flares, photoflash bombs etc... 

At the end of May, Shadle expressed his satisfaction with the chemical offensive potential and ammunition status in the North African theater. His view seems to have been overly optimistic since smoke pots, tear gas, and HC smoke grenades were the only ammunition items available in sufficient supply. All the chemical supply officers reported urgent requests for unavailable white phosphorus grenades. The Twelfth Air Force reported limited quantities of ANM50A1 4-pound incendiary bombs, a few Mja yoo-pound incendiary bomb clusters, and a considerable number of My4 loo-pound incendiary bomb clusters. There was no other chemical ammunition in the theater although the New York port had promised that 120 days supply of high explosive and smoke shell was en route for the three chemical mortar battalions which had recently arrived in the theater. Aside from a small amount of artillery shell stored by Ordnance, no toxics were available in the theater and none was scheduled to arrive until the fall of 1943. The March theater plan for gas warfare, the first such plan, was based on meeting possible enemy gas attack with this plainly inadequate supply of artillery shell. The new War Department policy for retaliation in event of enemy initiation of gas warfare called for the use of aerial munitions as the principal gas weapons. Shadle s satisfaction with the toxic supply status can be explained by the fact that he did not con-... 

In the last months of the Pacific war aerial incendiaries played an increasingly important role in both the strategical and tactical spheres. The assault on Iwo Jima, for example, was preceded by a lo-week bombardment by planes based in the Marianas incendiary bomb clusters formed a significant part of their load. Air operations com-... 

Neither the incendiary darts nor the other three American aerial incendiaries saw use in combat. United States air units in France used a French munition, the Chenard, reported to be the most efficient of all Allied incendiary bombs. ... 

There was one authoritative voice which did call attention to the possibilities of the incendiary bomb. Colonel Zanetti, a CWS Reserve officer on the faculty of Columbia University, insisted several times in the 1930 s that the incendiary bomb had a great potential. Colonel Zanetti had worked with these munitions in World War I and had become perhaps the greatest American technical expert in the field. In 1936, when some people were dwelling on the horrors of aerial gas attacks in cities, he graphically pointed out that fire, not gas, was the greatest danger ... 

The outbreak of war in Europe called attention as never before to the possibilities of aerial incendiaries. German planes began to shower London with magnesium electron bombs and no-kilo oil bombs, and the English replied with their 4-pound magnesium munition. The United States Army could no longer afford to neglect the development and production of incendiary bombs. ... 

The war in the Pacific was marked by the most spectacular and effective use of the aerial incendiary bomb. After March 1945, General LeMay s all-out incendiary attacks against the vulnerable Japanese cities brought to a culmination the recognition which the incendiary bomb had gradually been winning throughout the war. It was air power which played a very important part in Japan s decision to capitulate, and it was the incendiary bomb which helped to make air power such a decisive force. 

What had been accomplished in the field of gas defense was paralleled in other fields of air raid protection. Large industrial plants had developed operational procedures which promised to avert serious disruption of production in consequence of aerial attack. Fire-fighting organizations had become acquainted with the characteristics of incendiary bombing, against which defensive measures were introduced. State and municipal plans for evacuation,... 

The incendiary bombs just discussed include those important in operations yet they represent only a minor proportion of the aerial incendiaries that the CWS worked on during the war. By itself or in co-operation with the NDRC, under its own initiative or upon request from other branches of the armed forces, the CWS undertook the development of many other incendiary bombs. Some went part way through the development cycle, others proceeded all the way to standardization. 

Giua, after giving a general description of incendiaries (including Napalm) used during WWII in aerial bombs, lists on p 414 the following incendiaries patented in Italy after WWII ... 

ZAB zazhigatel naya aviobomba(Rus) (incendiary aerial bomb)... 

Uses As oxidizing agent in primer caps in combination with mercury fulminate and with red phosphorus, antimony sulfide, and other combustible substances,1 P36. In pyrotechnic mixtures as component of airplane flares, stars for aerial bombs and for signaling, maroons, white and colored smokes. As component of Permissibles. In incendiary projectiles, P5. 

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