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Blacker Bombard
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The Blacker Bombard was a cheap anti-tank weapon devised by Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Blacker in the early years of the Second World War. Although intended for use by the regular units of the British Army it was quickly replaced by the PIAT and was issued to the Home Guard for their use instead.
940, Blacker, who was a private inventor of weapons, drew up the Bombard based on the spigot discharger.
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Encyclopedia
The Blacker Bombard was a cheap anti-tank weapon devised by Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Blacker in the early years of the Second World War. Although intended for use by the regular units of the British Army it was quickly replaced by the PIAT and was issued to the Home Guard for their use instead.
Design
In 1940, Blacker, who was a private inventor of weapons, drew up the Bombard based on the spigot discharger. The official designation was 29 mm Spigot Mortar (Blacker Bombard).
The unit consisted of a thin metal "barrel" (just sufficient to contain the propelling blast away from the operator) with the spigot in the centre. The round was loaded by sliding it on over the spigot. A spring pushed against a 12 pound (5 kg) steel canister and rod that rode up the inside of the spigot and impacted with the rear of the round, igniting a small propulsion charge. The primary use of the heavy bolt and rod was to damp out the recoil of the round. The recoil also acted to reset the spring, meaning that the weapon only had to be cocked for firing once, by pulling up on the tube while standing on a handle mounted at the rear.
Aiming was done by turning the Bombard in the direction of the enemy then tilting back the barrel until a pointer lined up with the appropriate range marked on the gunners shield.
The anti-tank round was a 20 lb (9 kg) finned bomb full of high explosive. The propellant was black powder for economy. This was sufficient to give it a range of over 100 yards albeit with a curved trajectory. Against German tank designs of the early part of the war such a warhead would have been quite effective. There was also an anti-personnel round which weighed 14 lb (about 6 kg) and could be fired out to 500 yards.
The whole Bombard unit on its squat flat four-legged mount weighed around 350 lb - necessitating a large crew just to move it. In Home Guard deployments the Bombard could be set up on a more permanent position - a hole in the top of a substantial concrete block was sufficient.
Blacker Bombards were issued to some units in North Africa in mid-1942. Blacker Bombards were employed in the brief defence of Tobruk in June 1942 (where they are known to have destroyed at least one German tank), and were provided in the 4th Indian Division where the spigot mortars supplemented the anti-tank defence of the Division until mid-1943.
Ammunition
- Anti-tank HE 20 lb
- Anti-personnel HE 14 lb
- plus training rounds; Anti-tank Practice 20 lb, Practice Inert 15 lb etc.
The Blacker Bombard in RN Service
During 1943 trials were conducted using the 29mm Spigot Mortar on board MGBs. These were conducted mainly at HMS EXCELLENT and also at HMS BEEHIVE (the Coastal Forces base at Felixstowe, and the base from which Robert Hichens operated). The trials indicated that the weapon was fairly effective (45& hits scored against a trawler sized target, with 15% possibles in sea state 1-3). The weapon was also used operationally, scoring some successes against slow moving targets, but in August 1943 it was decided not to continue with the trials, nor to equip boats in Home or Mediterranean commands with the weapon.
External links
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- Imperial War Museum on-line collection: search for "Blacker Bombard".
- Imperial War Museum on-line collection: accession number 17834.
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