SOE Exploding Book Fuze

[millsbomber]

Booby trap switch from the SOE exploding book

 

[Bonnex]

Another item on a similar theme - People present on Saturday should remember this one.View attachment 72029


Briefly:

Fuze, Anti-Removal Air-Armed

V40 was essentially correct, it is a delayed arming anti-lift switch. The fuze was designed to protect demolition charges from removal and was used in conjunction with a Type 6 Burster (as used on the AC Delay). It incorporates the corrosion chamber and striker of a Switch No 10 (Timepencil). The phial of the timepencil is crushed by a lever built into the underside of the fuze and this provides an arming delay. When released the striker moves forward until it is stopped by a ball which interferes with the travel of the striker until the charge is lifted.
Development of the fuze was started at Station IX as a part of a programme to produce standard charges. The work was done by Cotterill and van Riemsdijk (who later started The National Railway Museum). The fuze was referred to as a Mark 3 since two earlier designs (one using a tyre burster) were tried before this pattern emerged.
The fuze is sometimes called a No 7 Switch although this number was originally allocated to an electrical firing device of dubious safety.

 

[switch]

Following a few requests, here are some more pictures of the Fuze used in the SOE Exploding Book, more correctly known as Anti-Removal Fuze (Air-Armed)



Further information can be found in Bonnex's post in BOCN -Guess what it is -also see previous post above this

More details of the Exploding book can be found in the SOE Descriptive Catalogue of Special Devices and Supplies which has been reprinted several times, and a good diagram of the actual Switch internals and function can be found in Enemy Sabotage Equipment (Identification) May 1945.

Hope this helps

Switch

NB Item is FFE

 

[switch]

Thanks Spotter - Super job

 

[spotter]

Hope these photos are of interest