B1 E1 Incendiary Bomb : Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe Brandbomb 1kg Elektron 1 incendiary bomb. Length 350mm. The body of the bomb is an Elektron-magnesium alloy tube 50mm in diameter. The bomb terminates with a cruciform thin sheet metal tail, with a circular disk at the extremity.The disk is of the same diameter. The tail is dark metal.

The body of the bomb is stamped with the following:
'S4 (inside a square stamped box),
227 K111 RHS/143 G,
112 RHS/143 G.

The base is marked as follows: :
AZ8312*
270b RHS/143 G S4

AZ8312* is the fuze designation Impact fuze
RHs over 143 = Rheinmetall Sommerda plant
G = Date of Manufacture of empty fuze.

The magnesium case is covered with a thin layer of corrosion.

This bomb was dropped near No 10 Squadron RAAF's Mt Batten base, Plymouth Sound, England, on 21 March 1941, and failed to ignite. This bomb is typical of the incendiary devices used by the Luftwaffe in their air raids over Britain.These devices burnt with a heat sufficient to melt steel, and consisted of a cylinder of Elektron Magnesium Alloy with an incendiary filling of Thermite. The incendiary elements were ignited by a small percussion charge in the nose. It weighed one kilogram, and was dropped in profusion, burning out whole districts of British cities.