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Guy Alcala wrote in message .. .
Geoffrey Sinclair wrote:

In the war diary Freeman usually gives the types of bombs
dropped until the end of 1943, a quick skim indicates the
heavies last used them on 9 September 1943

Last used which?

300 pound bombs, used on strikes on French airfields on that
date by the B-24s of 44th, 93rd, 389th and 392nd groups.

, the mediums
on 9 October 1943, assuming usage stopped in 1943.

What date were the mediums reassigned from 8th Support Command to 9th
AF (and thus no longer appear in Freeman)?

Good point, 16 October 1943 was the transfer date, and 9
October the last mission under 8th Air Force, so clearly
there could have been other missions using 300 pound bombs
after 9 October. I missed the transfer date.

The USAAF statistical digest contradicts the Freeman
figures, table 138, bombs dropped by type of bomb
1943 to 1945 in the war against Germany says the USAAF
did not use the 300 pound bomb in Europe from 1 January
1943 onward and only 712 600 pound bombs, all in 1943.

I wonder what that "350" lb. bomb used in 1945 (only 12) was; possibly a typo. I
suspect Freeman may be right in the case of the 300 lbers. IIRR there's a late
1943 or early '44 issue of "Impact" which describes 8th AF B-26 missions in 1943,
and clearly states the number of 300 lb. bombs dropped on the target (might have
been one of the missions to the Le Trait shipyards. I'll have to get to the
library to find the details). Then again, IIRR the "300 lb. bomb" weighed less
than 300 lb. while the "250 lb. bomb" weighed more than 250 lb., so maybe the two
types were combined in the table.

Freeman notes for the 300 pound M31 "the average type weights
differed from the classification by as much as 40 pounds" So if
this was downwards the 300 pounds becomes 260 pounds.

Why the difference in weight? Change in explosive or case or just
a classification decision, the bomb never was 300 pounds?

There were 1,122 Armour Piercing 1,600 pound bombs
used, all in 1944.

I'd sure like to know what the targets were for the AP bombs. I doubt they'd
have enough penetration for sub pens, and I don't think we ever attacked armored
ships with them (which is what they were designed for, by the Navy). Underground
factories or maybe railway tunnels?

Or simply a case of the supply situation becoming strained
so they used what they had, there were supply problems in
1944 thanks to the tempo of operations. Freeman notes an
attempt to use 1,600 pound bombs in 1942.

In table 139, bombs dropped by type versus Japan HE
bombs include 1,220 4,000 pound, all in 1945, 750 300
pound, 688 in 1945 (yes 5), 188,198 550 pound, yes 550.

I'm guessing a typo in one or more of these tables.

It worries me that the Statistical Digest seems to have major
differences with other sources, thinks like fighter kill claims
as well as types of bombs dropped.

The late model Mosquitoes could carry up to 5,000 pounds of
bombs. In theory they could carry this to Berlin from England,
at most economical cruise and with minimal fuel reserves.

And AFAIK never did.

Correct, it would have required cruising at B-17 speeds at B-26
heights and minimal headwinds. One of those theoretical
performance figures.

Geoffrey Sinclair
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