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BUTTERFLY BOMB - SD2 and M83 ' COLLECTION '

SG500 said:
Just an update on the growing collection of butterfly's.
Attached are some very recent additions.
The SD2 body is interesting in that its dated 1940 which is very early (they were first dropped in the UK in 1940). Are there any more early dated SD2's out there in peoples collections that you can post photos of?
All INERT etc.
Dave.
Click to expand...


Nice items Dave.

That looks a very nice example of the M83 you found - well done with that one, your getting quite a collection of these!!

The date stamp on the body is the earliest I have seen so very nice find. Will be interesting to see if other members have any 1940 dated examples

regards Kev
 
Thought I would also share my latest finds.....

The first one when I got it had been repainted in the wrong colour, though the wings are in excellent order with no corrosion. I took the opportunity of repainting it in a colour scheme which I dont have in my collection - dull red all over. I believe this was the correct colour of the Ex marked examples, used purely for training purposes (practice handling, loading into racks etc) - the Ex examples were totally inert contianing no explosives at all. (examples of this particular colour scheme -original paint-exist in collections, but not unfortunatly in mine!!) I used red oxide on this one, though I believe the original colour to be a little more orangey-red than this.

The second example has wings which I would class as a 'sound relic' - it has a good percentage of original yellow paintwork with red stripes and all springs operate as they should. This will remain as it is within the collection.

(All items shown are INERT and F.F.E.)

bb19.jpg

regards Kev
 
Nice examples Kev, thanks for showing them, you'll be filling up one of those containers the rate you're going.

Dave.
 
Hi Kev,

Did you find out from your friend about the "wording" on the Warning sign?


butterfly said:
This is very interesting - not one I have seen or heard of before, but sounds very plausable.

Someone I know has a couple of these signs buried deep within his collection and he told me that he seems to think one of them mentioned about 'overhead wires' (bear in mind it was a vague recollection - but does sound in line with the trees one)
Obviously proof will be in the pudding as they say, but no doubt if they are out there sooner or later they will turn up!!

appreciate the input

regards Kev
Click to expand...
 
skull181 said:
Hi Kev,

Did you find out from your friend about the "wording" on the Warning sign?
Click to expand...

Hi Pete,

Not as yet, I must catch up with him. However much of his collection has been boxed up in safe storage and although I know he has these signs I doubt he has seen them himself in twenty years - so until he uncovers them they remain a mystery. I will of course post any new information as/when I get it.

regards kev
 
Just out of interest ,what sort of value do the various butterfly bombs have ?
I tried bidding on one in an auction over here and got priced over my budget.

cheers
Bob
 
I wonder how it would have been worded with the reference to "Overhead Wires"??

butterfly said:
Hi Pete,

Not as yet, I must catch up with him. However much of his collection has been boxed up in safe storage and although I know he has these signs I doubt he has seen them himself in twenty years - so until he uncovers them they remain a mystery. I will of course post any new information as/when I get it.

regards kev
Click to expand...
 
I collect anything related to both the SD2 and M83 and as such I recently added a small booklet to the collection which was printed for use in the Korean War.... part of which includes a warning about the AMERICAN M83 butterfly bomb.
What struck me was the similarity in the picture to that of an American booklet (which I also have) dated 1944 warning about the GERMAN SD2 butterfly bomb - (Dont get killed by mines and booby traps 1944)

Both are American produced booklets and the only difference is who dropped the butterfly!! one is dropped by the ENEMY, the other by the AMERICANS themselves. DEADLY either way!!

dgk 1944.jpgkorea 13.jpg

1944 ........................... 1951

kind regards Kev
 
Last edited:
butterfly said:
I collect anything related to both the SD2 and M83 and as such I recently added a small booklet to the collection which was printed for use in the Korean War.... part of which includes a warning about the AMERICAN M83 butterfly bomb.
What struck me was the similarity in the picture to that of an American booklet (which I also have) dated 1944 warning about the GERMAN SD2 butterfly bomb - (Dont get killed by mines and booby traps 1944)

Both are American produced booklets and the only difference is who dropped the butterfly!! one is dropped by the ENEMY, the other by the AMERICANS themselves. DEADLY either way!!

View attachment 69582View attachment 69583
1944 1951

kind regards Kev
Click to expand...

Very interesting Kev, its almost like the person who did the M83 picture just redrew a few bits and rubbed out other bits, they didn't even get the shape of the M83 body quite right.
Attached are a few recent additions to the ever growing butterflys.
Dave.IMG_3444.jpgIMG_3445.jpgIMG_3449.jpg
 
skull181 said:
Dave, can I have your spares box? :congrats:
Click to expand...

Ah, yes, the spares box, sadly I need to keep hold of it for all those restoration projects I seem to end up doing :tinysmile_hmm_t2: , its getting a little low at the moment, a pale shadow of its former self when SD2 parts were easier to get.

Dave.

IMG_3464.jpgIMG_3465.jpg
 
Doing a bit of thread jumping here, but what sort of size and shape are Butterfly bomb fragments?(not shrapnel....:tinysmile_twink_t2: )

cheers,
Bob
 
kahu1 said:
Doing a bit of thread jumping here, but what sort of size and shape are Butterfly bomb fragments?(not shrapnel....:tinysmile_twink_t2: )

cheers,
Bob
Click to expand...

Hi Bob, There is a little information on this in the Pawlas book and it translates roughly as follows....

" Fragment density: 1 fragment per m2 at 8m distance ,at 8m distance about 50 fragments over 5g, total of about 250 fragments over 1g "

As for actual fragments, I have one which has been attatched to a display board I obtained - however I am not sure if this is a genuine fragmented piece of body or merely a bit of broken body - It would certainly be over the 5g size - its difficult to photograph but I can try if you want me to?

You can see from the above figures that these certainly produced a huge ammount of fragments for their size and these fragments were deadly. A much higher percentage of injured people arriving at hospital died from their injuries compared with those injured by conventional bombs.

regards Kev
 
Here is the 'latest' addition to the collection. The condition of this one is 'reasonable', it has a couple of broken springs and is a little distorted, but not too bad. What it does have is a good covering of original paint, which is the brightest yellow I have seen to date, usually the yellow turns a mustard colour, but this one perhaps shows just how bright the yellow was..........note also the red stripes on the arming vanes.

regards Kev

SD2 yellow.jpg
 
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