The Baby Bombard- not it's older brother.

[rmarg-jim]

Blacker's experimentals- PIAT/ Bombards/Petard.

Colonel Blacker invented several spigot mortar type devices and RMARG have just been donated 8 of his prototypes- 2 petard, 4 PIAT, and 2 ???

Does anyone have any information on/pictures of the size, workings, or projectiles of the Baby Bombard or the Areblast (spelling?).

cheers, jim.

 

[rmarg-jim]

Blacker's experimentals

Spotter asked me to post this:

two of the PIAT prototypes for your perusal.

I will get photos of the other 6 pieces on Wednesday.

jim.

 

[Bonnex]

Blacker's experimentals- PIAT/ Bombards/Petard.

Jim,

Very interesting discovery, well done RMARG. I attach a couple of drawings for you to study. The Blacker-Jefferis shoulder gun developments are quite difficult to unravel in the detail. Blacker was attached to MD1, which Jefferis ran, but their relationship appears not to have been a happy one. Jefferis further developed Blacker's spigot gun ideas and there was some debate at the end of the war who credit for the PIAT should go to (solved when Jefferis withdrew his claims).

About 30 years ago I had the priviledge of seeing Blacker's collection of material in his country house basement. I will see if I can find and scan the photographs. The items included a very neat spigot gun conversion of a 2-inch mortar for firing PIAT bombs.

Do you know where these items came from? It would help research the matter (reply privately [PM] if you prefer).

 

[Bonnex]

Jim,

You might find the attached wiring diagram of interest showing the genealogy of the spigot weapon. On reading it will be of no surprise that this the world according to Blacker rather than Jefferis.


[Copied from the Blacker papers in 1985]

 

[proditto]

Drawings

Norman,
Once again thank you for more great drawings. A bit of a self publicist but still had great ideas even if some might have been borrowed!

Sandy

 

[Bonnex]

Sandy,

Thanks. Being a self publicist seemed to be a prerequisite for people in this business at that time. Blacker, Macrae and Midgley, all of whom I researched to some degree, had very big egos; and they were all justified but, all clashed with each other through their work at MD1.

 

[rmarg-jim]

the other 6

Here are the other six;
2 baby bombards,
2 petards- quite different from the final one.
2 'airborne' Piats.

Thought you might also enjoy the strikes on the T30 HMC gun armour in the background- mixture of AP and AT.

jim.