Imbros bombs - ours or theirs?

[Alan Bentley]

The attached photo from my father's album has the caption=

"Imbros, 500lb. bomb Kephalos Dec. 1915, No.3 Wing"

Bill Pollard has accounts of two raids in Dec.1915.

Question- Are these Huns or ours? My father is on the extreme left, looking very cold! Who are the others?

Edited 5 September , 2018 by Alan Bentley

[pete-c]

5 hours ago, Alan Bentley said:

The attached photo from my father's album has the caption=

"Imbros, 500lb. bomb Kephalos Dec. 1915, No.3 Wing"

Bill  pollard has account of two raids in Dec.1915.

Question- Are these Huns or ours?

 

On December 18th 1915 Samson took up up a 500 pounder in a Henri Farman - the largest bomb dropped to date.  The large bomb in your image Alan, matches with that illustrated in IWM image HU 67870 - of the aforementioned Henri Farman, with Samson looking suitably eager!   This from Royal Naval Air Service 1912-1918 by Brad King:  'Samson apparently flew around for half an hour looking for a target.  He saw a long building which he decided "must be full of Turks" dropped the bomb and completely wrecked it.'

 

EDIT:  I'm not sure about the origin of the '500 pounder'.  Of the other ordnance, the two standing and one lying seem to be 112lb whilst the small one leaning against the one on the right is probably a 20lb Hale - not Cooper as I originally thought.  So - the smaller ones are certainly 'ours', but the big one ...?

Edited 5 September , 2018 by pete-c

[pete-c]

Can't seem to find HU 67870 via the IWM site.   Although a poor image, the attached shows a similar weapon loaded aboard another Henri Farman F.27 - somewhere in the Aegean Theatre - possibly Mudros, later in the war.

Edited 5 September , 2018 by pete-c

[pete-c]

16 hours ago, Alan Bentley said:

The attached photo from my father's album has the caption=

"Imbros, 500lb. bomb Kephalos Dec. 1915, No.3 Wing"

Bill Pollard has accounts of two raids in Dec.1915.

Question- Are these Huns or ours? My father is on the extreme left, looking very cold! Who are the others?

 

I can only surmise that the large bomb could be a 520lb light case.  This type, according to History of the Ministry of Munitions Vol IX, Part II, Aerial Bombs, was developed during the early months of 1915, designed by the Director of the Air Department in conjunction with the Chief Superintendent, Ordnance Factory.   The above publication also mentions that, 'The naval branch were using heavier types [520lb] but these were light cased bombs used chiefly in anti-submarine work.'

 

Knowing the supply problems that hindered the air services during the Aegean Campaign, perhaps this particular weapon was part of a consignment that, for some reason, got diverted to Imbros.

[Alan Bentley]

I found this in the Philip Fowler collection.

One for the Ordnance experts

Edited 6 September , 2018 by Alan Bentley