Archive for Luftwaffe

German Aufschlagzünder 13 AZ13 AZ8312 Impact Fuse

Posted in Ammunition & Fusing with tags , , , , , on January 13, 2023 by The Dude

This fuse is off a B1E1 incendiary bomb. It’s coded DKP for Hagenuk Hanseatische Apparatenbauges, Neufeldt & Kuhnke GmbH at Berlin-Tempelhof. It is dated 1942.

This bomb consists of a cylindrical body made of an alloy of magnesium and aluminum with traces of silicon and is closed at its upper end by a screwed plug. One the shoulder of the bomb, three pegs, which also serve to lock the plug, and hold the tail. The base is closed by a plug that houses the percussion fuze AZ. 8312.

This fuze consists of a striker, an arming spring, and a detonator holder. The whole is sealed and held in position by a crimped washer. A safety pin keeps the needle clear of the detonator. The igniting arrangements consist of a detonator relay kept away from the plug by a washer and a cylinder with vents drilled in it. The whole is covered by a mixture that appears to be smoke-producing. The vents in the body of the bomb serve for the release of gases. These vents are normally closed by a strip of Chatterton’s compound.

The main filling is in two parts. The first of a small quantity, in contact with the detonator, serves as a relay. Its composition is not known. The main filling is an incendiary powder mixture of iron, aluminum, etc.

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German 3.7x265B AA Round

Posted in Ammunition & Fusing with tags , , , on December 11, 2021 by The Dude

This piece of ordnance came as an Andrew dropping. It’s a 3.7cm HE round designed to be fired from the BK-3.7 aircraft cannon as fitted on HS129’s or Ju87-G’s. It was also used in a range of 3.7cm FlaK.18/36/37/43 auto cannons.

The fuse is a 3.7-cm KOPFZUENDER ZERL. PV self destroying timed type. On acceleration the igniferous detonator in the displaced recess sets back on the striker. The flash from the detonator passes through the flash channels to the powder pellet in the radial channel and to the lower end of the delay filling in the first of the vertical channels. When the pellet in the radial channel disintegrates the bolt is thrown out-wards by centrifugal force leaving the striker held off the detonator in the magazine by the creep action resulting from deceleration.

On impact the striker is driven in by the hammer and pierces the detonator in the top of the magazine. During flight, the burning of the delay composition in the first vertical channel is transmitted by the gunpowder in the traverse channel to the delay composition in the second vertical channel. When direct action does not occur before the composition burns to the base of the second channel, the disk of gunpowder confined in the top of the magazine adapter is ignited and explodes and thus initiates the detonation of the magazine.

The fuse was manufactured by BLW, that is Gritzner-Kayser AG in Karlsruhe-Durlach in 1943. The casing is marked as manufactured in 1940 for a Flak 18.

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German B-1E Incendiary Bomb

Posted in Bombs with tags , , , on October 5, 2021 by The Dude

This is a nasty little piece of work and the third of my German Luftwaffe bombs. This is a 1kg Elektron-Brande-Bombe. It was originally filled with 680g of thermite and was dropped in conjunction with HE bombs. The HE bomb, like this one here, punched a hole in the roof of the building and this little shyte burned the building down. Obviously dewat but still a bit of fun.

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Luftwaffe SD-50 Aerial Bomb

Posted in Bombs with tags , , , on September 20, 2021 by The Dude

Here’s something you don’t see every day. This is a German 50kg General Purpose bomb. I can understand why people don’t collect these things. It’s huge and its almost fallen over on my foot a couple of times. This is the third aerial bomb I have collected, after an SD-2 here and an incendiary BD that I haven’t posted yet. These things aren’t really my core focus but how many aerial bombs do you get offered?

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F.W.Holler 1st Pattern Luftwaffe Dagger

Posted in Daggers with tags , , , on June 11, 2016 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_NSDAP_(1920–1945).svgHere’s a nice Luftwaffe 1st Pattern dagger and hanger I picked up today. The hanger is marked DRGM and the dagger is marked as being manufactured by F.W.Holler.

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German SD-2 Cluster Bomb

Posted in Bombs with tags , , , , on July 4, 2014 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_NSDAP_(1920–1945).svgThis is the only bit of Luftwaffe munitions I own. The only reason I bought it is because my friend James, who is nutty for the stuff, insisted that I do. This is a Sprengbombe Dickwandig 2 kg or SD-2 Butterfly Bomb. It really is a nasty bit of kit, being dropped in lots of 100-200 in a larger canister and arming on the way down using its wings to prime itself. The only way to reliably disarm one of these was with a rifle. The Germans used to sow crops with them and use them to disrupt air landing operations. The US made a copy of these after the war. These are still killing people, the last one in 1981 in Malta.

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Luftwaffe Double Barrelled Flare Gun

Posted in Flares and Flareguns with tags , , , , on May 23, 2014 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_NSDAP_(1920–1945).svgThis is my “Flieger-Leuchtpistole L.“, Aircrew Flare Gun (Luftwaffe). It is designed to take the standard 27mm German flare. This example was manufactured by Heinrich Krieghoff Waffenfabrik in 1942 and is composed of anodised aluminium. These models were also issued to Fallschirmjäger. I love the barrel switch and the load indicators, it’s almost steampunk in its design.

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Luftwaffe 2nd Pattern Dress Dagger

Posted in Daggers with tags , , on July 30, 2013 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_NSDAP_(1920–1945).svgThis is a Luftwaffe 2nd Pattern Officers Dress Dagger. It was manufactured by F.W.Holler in Solingen.

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Luftwaffe Fallschirmspringerabzeichen

Posted in For Sale with tags , , , on April 21, 2013 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_NSDAP_(1920–1945).svgThis is a Luftwaffe issue Parachutist Badge made by GWL (Gerbruder Weger, Ludenscheid).

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Luftwaffe NCO M40 Feldmützen

Posted in Headwear with tags , , , on April 17, 2013 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_NSDAP_(1920–1945).svgThis is my M40 Luftwaffe field cap. What can I say, I like it, my wife wants to know why I need so many hats.

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Luftwaffe Gravity Knife with Lanyard

Posted in Fighting Knives with tags , , , on April 13, 2013 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_NSDAP_(1920–1945).svgLuftwaffe flight crew gravity knife with an original cord lanyard. This example is manufactured by Stocker & Co, Solingen and has the seated king mark as well as SMF. These knives are sometimes referred to as paratrooper or fallshirmjäger knives but this is incorrect and in fact they were issued to all flight crew.

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