The Blacker Bombard, also known as the 29-mm Spigot Mortar, However, the British Army was not well-equipped to defend the country in such an event; in the weeks after the Dunkirk evacuation it could field only twenty-seven divisions. (The German Army had more than 100 divisions at that time.) The Army was particularly short of anti-tank guns, 840 of which had been left behind in France, and only 167 were available in Britain; ammunition was so scarce for the remaining guns that regulations forbade even a single round being used for training purposes. One of these was the Blacker Bombard, designed by Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Blacker, the origins of which went back to the 1930s. During the early part of the 1930s, Blacker became interested in the concept of the spigot mortar. Unlike conventional mortars the spigot mortar did not possess a barrel, and instead there was a steel rod known as a 'spigot' fixed to a baseplate; the bomb itself had a propellant charge inside its tail. When the mortar was to be fired, the bomb was pushed down onto the spigot, which exploded the propellant charge and blew the bomb into the air.

When the Second World War began, Blacker was a lieutenant-colonel in the Territorial Army. later known as MD1, which had been given the task of developing and delivering weapons for use by guerilla and resistance groups in Occupied Europe. Blacker showed his list of ideas to the head of MD1, Major Millis Jefferis, who was taken with the design for the Bombard. Objections were raised by the Director of Artillery and other government officials, but on 18 August 1940 the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, attended a demonstration of the weapon. Churchill took a liking to the weapon and ordered it into full production. It would act as a temporary anti-tank weapon for the Home Guard until more 2 pounders could be supplied to them. alone, 360 lb and twelve rounds per minute; as such it was considered vital that the weapon be well-camouflaged and that it hit the target with the first shot.

The anti-tank rounds were found to possess several problems. They had insensitive fuzes<!-- This article uses British English spelling, where "fuze" is correct. -->, which meant that they would often pass through an unarmoured target without detonating, and when they did explode fragments were often thrown back at the crew.

Ammunition

;Anti-tank H.E. 20-lb. bomb

  • Propellent: of cordite
  • Bomb weight:
  • Filling: of Nobels No.808 explosive. Described as "gelatinous" in training pamphlet.
  • Length:
  • Diameter:
  • Fuze: No. 283 Mark I in body of bomb

;Anti-tank practice inert 20-lb. bomb

  • painted black
  • single use
  • filled with inert material
  • could be used for demonstration or ranging shots

;Practice inert 15/20-lb. bomb

:Used with practice cartridge of cordite, it had the same trajectory as 20lb bomb out to . This practice round could be fired up to 15 times against soft targets/ground.

  • Weight:
  • Filling: concrete

;H.E. 14-lb. bomb (anti-personnel)

  • Propellent: of cordite
  • Bomb weight:
  • Filling: Nobels No.704B explosive, or Amatol 80/20.
  • Fuze: No. 152 (same as ML 3-inch mortar) in nose of bomb
  • Danger area: from bursting point
  • Killing area: from bursting point

In addition there was a drill example of the anti-tank round.

Operational history

thumb|upright=.9|Home Guard soldiers training with a Bombard on a fixed concrete mounting (May 1943)

thumb|upright=.9|An abandoned Bombard emplacement, [[Brompton, Kent (2007)]]

The first Bombards appeared in late 1941, and were issued to both regular and Home Guard units; in Southern Command, no more were issued after July 1942. By that time, approximately 22,000 Bombards had been produced and issued to forces throughout the country. By November 1941, concerns were already being aired about the suitability of the weapon and it was unpopular with a number of units; some attempted to trade their Bombards for Thompson submachine guns or refused to use them at all.

Users

Some of the users of the Blacker Bombard included:

See also

  • Smith Gun
  • Northover Projector
  • Spigot gun
  • PIAT
  • Hedgehog (anti-submarine spigot mortar)

References

Bibliography

  • Pictures of Surviving Spigot Mortar Emplacements in the UK.
  • Photos of Surviving Spigot Mortar Emplacements in the UK.
  • Imperial War Museum Collection Search Blacker Bombard (all search results). Accessed 30 June 2012.
  • Blacker Bombard (oral history) Accessed 30 June 2012.
  • Love, Hate And The Spigot Mortar by Philip Clifford