Incendiary bombs, responsibility

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

In the process of CWS expansion gray areas of mission responsibility were clearly defined, much of this work done under the direction of Maj. Gen. William N. Porter who became Chief, Chemical Warfare Service, in May 1941. This effort to define responsibilities resulted in expanded duties for the CWS, for example, development of a high explosive shell for the 4.2-inch mortar and the acquisition of complete responsibility for the incendiary bomb program. In 1941 the War Department gave the CWS the mission of biological warfare research. 

General Porter inherited several problems for which his predecessors in office had been unable, for a variety of reasons, to find satisfactory solutions. One was the impasse, already referred to, on the role of chemical troops in combat. Another was the division of responsibility for incendiary bombs between CWS and Ordnance, which was impeding production of these important munitions. A potential problem was the absence of specific official responsibility in the Chemical Warfare Service for an activity in which the CWS had an interest, namely, biological warfare (BW). 

The issue of divided responsibility for the incendiary bomb program came up for consideration at a midnight conference on 15 July 1941 called by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Richard C. Moore. 

Army Air Forces, lent his emphatic indorsement. The War Department announced its official decision on the matter on 3 September 1941 when it turned over responsibility for all phases of the incendiary bomb program to CWS. ... 

Nor was the distinction between plan and reality confined to the training activities of the Chemical Warfare Service. After responsibility for the development, procurement, and storage of incendiary bombs was transferred from the Ordnance Department in the fall of 1941, the CWS undertook a program for which no peacetime plans had been drawn, a program that developed into one of the most important wartime efforts. The assignment of the biological warfare mission to the CWS shortly before the outbreak of war led to large-scale research and development in this new field of endeavor. 

The Ordnance Department began development of the first American adapter. The CWS inherited the item when it accepted responsibility for incendiary bombs. The device was made up of two end plates, two longitudinal bars, and four steel straps, and it held together thirty-four bombs. The adapter was designated as Model M5, the entire cluster of bombs as the AN-M6. A larger adapter, holding 128 bombs, was developed shortly afterward. This adapter was standardized as the M6, the cluster as the AN-M7. 

The decision of the Chief of Staff in the summer of 1S>41, to place entire responsibility for the incendiary bomb program with the CWS led to the need for still more facilities. The CWS surveyed industry and drew up a number of contracts for the production of these bombs. Since this... 

The transfer to the Chemical Warfare Service of responsibility for the incendiary bomb program in the late summer of 1941 brought with it the need for magazine operations on a scale hitherto reserved for Ordnance. Storage requirements for items capable of explosive or incendiary behavior— both of which could be expected from incendiary bombs in case of accidents—followed a fairly strict pattern based largely on Ordnance experi-... 

The Ordnance Department was aware of these facts when it began development of 4-pound magnesium bombs. It planned a substitute bomb having the same dimensions and incendiary filling as the M50, but with a steel case in place of magnesium. It sent the plans and models of the substitute bomb, called the M54, to the CWS when that service took over responsibility for incendiaries, and the bomb was completed by the technical staff at Edgewood. 

In addition to toxic, incendiary, and smoke ammunition and bombs, as well as chemical warfare offensive weapons and equipment, the CWS was responsible for the procurement of a variety of service equipment. The latter included a truck mounted with a swinging boom crane, a chemical service truck, a chemical service trailer, a unit for mixing toxic and incendiary agents in the field, and a set for maintaining and repairing chemical warfare equipment in the field. Several of these items presented unusual problems of development and procurement. Table 8)... 

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