Incendiary bombs development

WWI. Incendiary bombs developed at that period were not very effective and comparatively easy to extinguish (Vol 2, p B243-R)... 

L. Wilson Greene, "Prewar Incendiary Bomb Development," Armed Forces Chemical Journal, n (October 1947), 25-30. 

I. M. Filling. Jellied gasoline filling developed during WWII by Standard Oil Co and used for filling incendiary bombs isobutyl methacrylate polymer 5.0, fatty acids, such as stearic acid,... 

The German example was followed by the French and British and later by the Americans A 2Q lb bomb developed by the French was called Chenard" and was considered to be successful. It contained a mixture of rosin and celluloid as the principal incendiary material. 

A 50 lb scatter-type bomb developed by the US is identical with the intensive type as far as outside dimensions are concerned. Incendiary material to be scattered consists of either cotton-waste balls impregnated with inflammable materials, such as turpentine or CS2, or gelled oil held in small celluloid containers. When the bomb lands, ignition and ejection of the units are effected by an explosion of Black Powder in the nose... 

Flaming Thermit. An incendiary mixture developed by the British during WWI and used in dietr small unit (cluster) bombs. It was a mixture of commercial thermit and barium nitrate... 

Many types of incendiary bombs were developed during WWII of which perhaps one of the most effective was the "Elektron Bora fee" (electron bomb), invented by the Germans. It was made in sizes from 1 to 25kg. The most common, 1-kg bomb, is represented here. It consisted of a thick-walled Mg-Al alloy shell ca 9 in length and,2 in diam, weighing ca 0.8kg and was filled with a small amt of thermite mixt. Unlike the thermite-type incendiary... 

It was concluded, at that time, that replacement of Al by B in military expls showed no advantages over std expls. Boron has been used in the development of some gasless delay fuze compns and in pyrotechnic mixts for flares incendiary bombs (Ref 3). Werbel(Ref 2a) proposed Ba chromate/boron 95/5 mixt as delay compn 90/10 mixt as an igniter. Taschler Jones(Ref 5) have detd the e-lectrostatic sensitivity of barium chromate/boron compns. The performance of boron expls is described by Mader(Ref 4)... 

SAL-X Powder Mixtures. Mixts of sulfur and aluminum. Work on these mixts was undertaken during WWII during the development of the M-69 Incendiary Bomb. One lb of a mixt contg 75% Al, compressed at lOOOOpsi with a Tetryl burster, was stated to yield an expl pressure some 30% greater than an equal wt of TNT. The concn of S02 resulting from the functioning of some SAL-X mixts resulted in marked antipersonnel effects Ref A.E, Gaul L. Finkelstein, History of R D in the CWS in WWII , Vol 18, Pt 3 (Jan 1952), 103... 

The Chemical Warfare Service was responsible for flame throwers and incendiary bombs, and NDRC Division 11 led in the development of these weapons. 

Thermate is the general name given to a number of mixts of Thermite and pyrot additives, several of which were developed before and durit WWII. One use was as a component in igniter compns for Mg incendiary bombs. Three of these formulations were termed Therm-8, Thermate-TH2, and Thermate-TH3. Therm-8 was the precursor of later, improved igniting formulations. TH2 differed from Therm-8 in that it contained no S and slightly less Thermite. TH3 was found to be superior to the others and was adopted for use in an incendiary Mg bomb. 

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