Lorre Posted 22 July , 2023 Share Posted 22 July , 2023 Reading on the Vimy Battle of the La Folie fighting system and came across "17 mines and 9 Wombat charges." Can anyone tell me what is a Wombat charge? Thank You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Posted 22 July , 2023 Share Posted 22 July , 2023 They were charges placed in holes bored using a Wombat drilling machine - for example, used in blasting a route across no mans land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorre Posted 22 July , 2023 Author Share Posted 22 July , 2023 Thank You, Never heard of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 22 July , 2023 Share Posted 22 July , 2023 Article and a picture link https://vipsinc.wordpress.com/2014/07/13/wombat-borers/ https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C261531 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peregrinvs Posted 22 July , 2023 Share Posted 22 July , 2023 Interesting. So who else thought of the Cold War period recoilless anti-tank gun when they first saw the title? 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorre Posted 22 July , 2023 Author Share Posted 22 July , 2023 3 hours ago, Knotty said: Article and a picture link Thanks for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
593jones Posted 22 July , 2023 Share Posted 22 July , 2023 3 hours ago, peregrinvs said: Interesting. So who else thought of the Cold War period recoilless anti-tank gun when they first saw the title? 😉 I certainly did, took me back to my TA days in Support Platoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Posted 23 July , 2023 Share Posted 23 July , 2023 14 hours ago, peregrinvs said: Interesting. So who else thought of the Cold War period recoilless anti-tank gun when they first saw the title? 😉 Definitely me - I saw one a few weeks ago in the Carlyle military museum - how anti-tank technology has changed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikB Posted 23 July , 2023 Share Posted 23 July , 2023 15 hours ago, peregrinvs said: Interesting. So who else thought of the Cold War period recoilless anti-tank gun when they first saw the title? 😉 I did too, but since I knew the AT gun used a fixed round with a ballasted charge to counter recoil, such charges could hardly be packaged separately... Probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chasemuseum Posted 24 July , 2023 Share Posted 24 July , 2023 The recoilless charge system didn't exist in WW1 so it couldn't be that, but I had never heard of the wombat drills before. Looks like a modified post hole digger. A case of the chicken and the egg. I am aware of drills like that being installed on early solid tyre trucks and used to drill holes for agricultural fence strainer posts in the late 1920s, but I thought those drills only came into existence as motor lorries started to make a serious penetration into the rural market in the late 20s and 30s. So am now quite curious as to when the "Wombat" drill came into production and was it developed for the war effort or was it just an agricultural tool being repurposed. As for the name, a wombat hole is typically about 12 inches in diameter and quite round. A bit bigger than a UK mole hole, and does a little more damage to the car if you drive into one when driving across the paddock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Posted 24 July , 2023 Share Posted 24 July , 2023 Apparently invented by Capt Stanley Hunter who was the drilling expert in the Australian Mining Corp and named after the Australian boring creature. Was used to bore 6" holes up to 100' long towards the enemy trench and, when back filled with explosive charges and detonated, resulted in a ready made communication trench linking up to that of the enemy. The Wombat was powered using a hand crank and I assume the twist drill bit was used in the same way as in oil well drilling rigs with new sections of pipe added to the machine behind the drill as it proceeded into the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 24 July , 2023 Share Posted 24 July , 2023 2 hours ago, Spaceman said: Apparently invented by Capt Stanley Hunter who was the drilling expert in the Australian Mining Corp and named after the Australian boring creature. Was used to bore 6" holes up to 100' long towards the enemy trench and, when back filled with explosive charges and detonated, resulted in a ready made communication trench linking up to that of the enemy. The Wombat was powered using a hand crank and I assume the twist drill bit was used in the same way as in oil well drilling rigs with new sections of pipe added to the machine behind the drill as it proceeded into the ground. There was also an anti.tank missile called the Wombat. I saw it in use at a fire power demonstration in 1971. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Posted 25 July , 2023 Share Posted 25 July , 2023 I've not heard of a Wombat anti-tank missile but one of the reasons the Wombat gun was retained until well into the 1980's was over fear that the Milan anti-tank missile might have problems in urban areas due to its wire guidance. Milan entered service in the early 1970's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 25 July , 2023 Share Posted 25 July , 2023 11 hours ago, Spaceman said: I've not heard of a Wombat anti-tank missile but one of the reasons the Wombat gun was retained until well into the 1980's was over fear that the Milan anti-tank missile might have problems in urban areas due to its wire guidance. Milan entered service in the early 1970's. It was a long time ago and perhaps I am mixing up the Wombat with something else that was demonstrated - a Milan? It was, though, definitely mounted on an armoured something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Posted 25 July , 2023 Share Posted 25 July , 2023 Fired from an armoured vehicle, it would have been a Swingfire missile! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 26 July , 2023 Share Posted 26 July , 2023 14 hours ago, Spaceman said: Fired from an armoured vehicle, it would have been a Swingfire missile! No, it can't have been a Swingfire, I remember distinctly the commentator calling it a Wombat. It was in 1971 so my memory my , is, a bit shaky. Perhaps on a Land Rover? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin DavidOwen Posted 26 July , 2023 Admin Share Posted 26 July , 2023 This thread has wandered too far off ww1 and so will be locked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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