German Butterfly Bombs - The First Cluster Bomb Attacks in History
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- Опубликовано: 18 июл 2023
- Cluster bombs are nothing new - the first attack was made using cluster munitions on England in 1940, deploying the ingenious and deadly 'Butterfly Bomb'.
Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA, is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; Bundesarchiv; Zala; Imperial War Museum; Drouot.com; Chatham Historic Dockyard
"Hanging by its wings through your ceiling" is a pretty chilling reminder of how close to home the war really was
Most Americans have no clue how priviledged they are to live in a place without unexploded ordinance hiding everywhere. Canada, Antarctica, Outback Australia and parts of extreme Siberia are the only other places I can think of that are so lucky.
@@johnpublic6582well that’s not entirely true we do have unexploded bombs from the us civil war they are just quite rare
@@johnpublic6582 The munitions in the US Civil War battles weren’t generally advanced enough to burrow in like that… but there are still Japanese incendiary/explosives lurking all over the western continental forests, as Mark has covered. And of course, every so often an offshore swimmer or boater will encounter a random mine.
@johnpublic6582 a native reserve near me was used as a training base during the war and there are signs throughout the area warning of unexploded mines and other ordinance. So even in Canada people need to be on alert in certain places.
@@johnpublic6582jap Ballon bombs killed a few people in usa ww2
The Butterfly bomb made an appearance in the 1979 WW2 TV drama 'Danger UXB.'
One of the viewers realised that he had one in his loft. He thought it was just some wartime shrapnel that his father had collected.
Danger UBX came to the US on PBS and I enjoyed it very much, now a long time ago! Recommend Foley's War as well!
UXB was a superb series, I recently bought it and watched it again It was just as good as I remembered.
"Bromley?"
I remember watching this tv series as I father was in the military after the WW2 and he told us stories or left over German bombs in the uk
@@sittinandthinkin It's a very nice place is Bromley.... Let's face it, you won't be seeing much of it.
My mother witnessed the attack on Grimsby in 1943 and spoke about the effects and what she saw that day- a woman caught in the explosion of a bomb in her room which killed her and the paralysing effects of the munitions. Indeed a boy was killed after the war by one such bomb when he found one in an over grown area.
A video Mark which has personal resonance for me and very well and informatively presented.
Bless you Nan. 💛
My Dad was born in 1941 and raised in the Grimsby/Cleethorpes area. He remembers being told to be on the lookout for Butterfly Bombs in the aftermath of the war, as they were often found in old bomb sites and over grown areas
@@MemeMemeson
and they brainwashed us into thinking we were the good guys
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 I'd assume they wouldn't like that very much at all. But guess it's all ok when they do it ay. ?!
High level hypocritical BS !😔😕🤔
Edit. My first comment was sarcastic .
The fantastic British TV series "Danger UXB" had an episode about these. I watched it in US PBS many years ago and now own it on DVD. WELL worth viewing. IMDB rating 8.5/10.
My Grandfather was a fireman in Grimsby during the war and had to deal with these first hand, They brought the town to a virtual standstill for almost 2 weeks.
What firefighting changes did these butterfly bombs impose on your grandfather and the other firemen, knowing these were about?
I remember my uncle telling me about these in the 2nd world war. He was an officer in the Royal Engineers bomb disposal unit. A really brave man but quite unassuming.
I sometimes give guided tours of a military museum. It was my honor to personally know some of the heroes represented there and I find myself saying frequently, “He was a really nice guy.” Doubtless your uncle was one of those quiet professionals with nothing to prove.
Dr. Felton obtains the most incredibly obscure historical footage. The (hopefully warning film) tragic video of the kid picking one up is a prime example. You constantly amaze us, Mark!
It wasn’t really tragic as the boy was an actor and wasn’t really killed! It’s quite a well-known public information film and features in full in the Danger UXB DVD box set.
Quite convinient to make this video at same time Russia is spreading propaganda all over world how evil Ukrainians will use them, while Russia has used them for now over a year directly on civilian targets. makes you think who sponsored this video.
A few civilian casualties are irrelevant if it's for the Socialist good. If you disagree then you are antisemtic and will I report you to Google, Meta, and Blackrock so you can be censored and cancelled.
@@AtheistOrphanGot to be a pretty stupid human to believe that video was actual footage of a boy being killed by a butterfly bomb..
During WW2 my mother served with the AFS based at the Central fire station in Birmingham. On the first night butterfly bombs were dropped the firemen did not know what they were and picked them up. They exploded and the firemen suffered appaling injuries. She told me when the fire engines returned with the injured the whole floor of the engine hall was covered with blood. An image she could never get rid of.
Jesus!
@@MarkFeltonProductions indeed! I think it made such an impact on her that shehad a nervous breakdown and had to be invalidaded out of her role as head of all the women working for the AFS in Birmingham. Today it would probably be called PTSD.
Very much appreciate your excellent videos - keep it up!
@@christhompson5297God Bless your mom. Hope she was able to get help ?
@@DavidBrown-cs1tq I hope so too, but in those days PTSD wasn't even called that, and was probably mostly thought to have affected those in combat.
Are you sure they were butterfly bombs as the only recorded incident were at Grimsby and around Ipswich, the most concentrated at Grimsby.
My grandfather was an engineer during ww2 and they used these following attacks on d-day he watched some Canadians get blown up by one of these that didn’t open and they were messing with it! I have his journal from his service in France during the war!
My grandfather was a world war two veteran too. He passed away recently and we found his old helmet. He never told us he was an electrician during the war.
You should share his journal digitally, he sounds like a good man
@@MartinMartinmwas he a big fan of eagles too?
interesting would you like to publish it ?
That's such cool heirloom 😊 You should publish 😊
These devices were featured in the TV series 'Danger UXB' which is repeated at least once a year on UK TV channels. in the relevant episode, one of the main supporting cast is killed trying to defuse it.
I saw that in the US about 30 years ago.
Danger UXB is one of the best British series ever made for TV.
I've got the DVD set. It was a brilliant series.
You mean the supporting character was killed.
When you said cast, I thought it was a documentary series and a member of the bomb squad was actually killed.
When the series was being shown here in the US a British co-worker told me that when the butterfly bomb episode of "Danger UXB" was broadcast in Britain a year or so earlier people were calling the police asking them to PLEASE come and remove the things they'd picked up during the war and were now in attics, basements, and mantlepieces!
Amazing. 30 years on and they were only now getting the word!
I remember reading a story about an Arial Bomb being found intact after a Raid on an British Estate. The family brought it in side their stately home and put it on display on a shelf in Den. Years later a Young Prince Charles began staying at the home and was placed in a Bedroom on the other side of that shelf with the Headboard against the adjoining wall.
One day a British Army Major was being given a tour and noticed the dusty bomb. He notified the authorities and the bomb was successful detonated without harm to anyone.
I recall this story. It may have been on an estate near Caistor Lincolnshire, often used for shooting game birds.
This even occurs occasionally in the US - some kid living on or near a long-abandoned military base will find something interesting like a mortar shell and bring it home; then with a little luck somebody more knowledgeable takes a look and realized we need to do something with this.
I used to frequent a particular bar in the 80's here in Pennsylvania. On a shelf behind the bar amongst many other souvenirs that Leo (a WWII vet) the owner had accrued over his life was a 60mm mortar bomb. This stayed there for many a year until Leo finally died and new owners took over the little neighborhood corner bar. Needless to say it came out that this thing was still live and was of course disposed of by the local bomb squad. To this day I am a bit freaked out, because I actually handled this thing while in the the bar, working as a doorman.
@@kevinmcfalls945 My Barber Had a Anti Air Craft round from his Liberty Ship, Partially Disabled he use to Show it off, later he had it disposed of on Account of the explosive Tip on the round.
@@kevinmcfalls945 so did you think it was a dummy bomb?
Thanks Dr Felton! A great piece of history plus a public service warning for people in England today.
That's exacly what the end sounded like isn't it. Thanks Dr Felton
We still find old german unexploded bombs all the time In Hull, usually incendiary. 90% of buildings had bomb damage in Hull by 1945
Not just England !
All of the U.K. was bombed by the Germans , still bombs getting dug up in Clydebank .
Ipswich was not the first town to be bombed with cluster bombs. The earliest documentation of the Soviet Union using cluster bombs (RRAB-3) against Finland was when the USSR bombed the Finnish city of Vyborg on the 10th of February in 1940, roughly half a year before Germans used them against Ipswich.
Mark is very biased towards Germans.😂
I think Mark is biased towards Germans too!🤔
@@user-zb2sq9ev3p Definitely. Good information, but he is definitely biased.
Its all so tiresome.
The good goys won.
My dad was a child in Ipswich during the war and told me about the butterfly bombs that landed near to where he lived and the new round bunkers that were created on the golf course by conventional bombs, but I never knew that he had witnessed the very first use of the weapons.
The castle museum in York had a butterfly bomb on display for many years, that is until an old royal engineer told them it was still live, they pretty soon had it dealt with!
Many buildings in York still have the burnt marks caused by incendiary bombs , if you take a river cruise you can see them on the walls of old factories
My father was a child in Birmingham UK during WW2 and told me tales of butterfly mines and how they sometimes got caught in trees or on telephone wires and were removed by people who climbed up and put them into buckets before carrying them to old bomb sites and leaving them there until the army turned up and detonated them while lecturing the people who did it for being 'bloody idiots."
Bloody idiots, or very brave people trying to protect their neighbors from harm? I'd say both.
that rotational arming system seems pretty smart - it can't spin when it's folded, and it won't accidentally spin 10 revolutions if it gets dropped and unfolds accidentally
This stuff remindes me of the russian ww2 cluster bombs , Nicknamed ,, Molotov`s Bead Baskets" first time used in the russian winterwar against finland.
The M42 cluster munitions the US is planning to send to Ukraine use a variation on the same theme for arming.
@@bob_the_bomb4508The M42s contain a self-destruct fuse to prevent a repeat of what happened with the WWII German ones, or so I’ve heard.
@@brucezhang4778 no self destruct fuze. I’ve personally cleared hundreds of them.
@@bob_the_bomb4508 Very unfortunate, looks like the only thing I can hope for now is that modern bombs are less likely to be duds. This is going to be horrible for everyone that is involved.
My Mum told me about these devices after Princess Di campaigned against anti personnel weapons in West Africa in the 1980s. Mum was a nurse in Scunthorpe in WW2 and told me that Grimsby hospital couldn’t handle all the victims of the cluster bombs and she remembered many children with missing fingers and hands as well as burns, being brought to Scunthorpe hospital.
There’s another angle on the Butterfly Bomb story (as it was explained in my bomb disposal course).
Luftwaffe scientists conducted bomb damage assessments during the Spanish Civil War (particularly after the bombing of Guernica) and they found that the classical ‘iron bombs’ dropped from aircraft were very inefficient.
They proposed that for the same all-up weight, a cluster bomb carrier bomb would spread the lethal effects far more efficiently.
Apparently Luftwaffe officers were sceptical - the lesson learned in the Great War was “the bigger the better”.
After the raids in the UK, there was a coordinated disinformation campaign. News was suppressed (as Dr Felton tells us) but also, via the work of the XX Committee, fake bomb damage reports were sent back via turned German spies. They reported that the British were laughing at these ‘silly little bombs’.
This served to confirmed the Luftwaffe’s own prejudices and they stopped using them on UK.
This was potentially a war-winning development as use of cluster munitions on the Normandy beaches or the assembly areas on the South Coast would have been catastrophic.
Do you have a source that? The XX Committe's role in suppressing the effectiveness of the Ipswich bombing? I'd like to use that on a research paper but I can't find anything.
Thank you.
@@hvacsoldier1554 it was taught on my bomb disposal course in 1988. I seem to recall mention of it in a book on the XX Committee. Can’t help you any further sorry.
@@bob_the_bomb4508 The story of the butterfly bomb, reminds me of the naval magnetic mine debacle. Both weapons were available early on and both potential war winners. If used combined ( during the blitz) on Liverpool and the Merseyside ports ( thru which 90% of all transatlantic traffic past thru- after france fell) It could have been x5-10 more effective than the u boat campaign.
It's amazing how you can talk about history but keep it relevant to current events :)
Yet we never learn from the past...
Dr. Felton is a genius.
History always repeats itself
History repeating itself ? 😉
The more things change, the more they stay the same🤔
I remember learning about the butterfly bombs on an old episode of "Danger UXB". Thanks again, Mark!
I was going to comment about that great series it was shown here in LA in the 80's good call Cheers !!
After a hard day's work nothing beats coming home to a new mark felton video
Remember my Nan, telling me about cluster butterfly bombs in Malta. So was reading the Wikipedia article it did mention wartime use in the UK, but not Malta. However, there was a post-world war mention. On the island of Malta in 1981 Paul Gauci, a 41-year-old Maltese man, died after welding a butterfly bomb to a metal pipe and using it as a mallet, thinking it was a harmless can. This man was obviously a class act. 0
It's a really powerful mallet that works once!
Why is shrapnel called shrapnel?
The word shrapnel comes from the man who invented it back in 1784, Henry Shrapnel, the first British lieutenant of the British artillery who was experimenting on how to make ammunition more deadly
Indeed. And it’s a badly misused term. Most people use it when they mean ‘fragmentation’. Shrapnel is fired out of a shell, not part of the shell casing.
@@bob_the_bomb4508 yeah but we all refer to any and all errant pieces of stuff comin outta a "bomb" as shrapnel
@@duke9555 you may do. Bomb disposal people don’t, because of the way we identify potential hazards from an item of unexploded ordnance
@@bob_the_bomb4508 most people arent bomb disposal experts
@@Blox117 indeed. And this is a reputable serious history channel, not a collection of cat videos, so perhaps a bit of detail isn’t out of place…
Hi mark, I’m a UXO Specialist (EOD). Your last few videos regarding WW2 UXO have been really good to help inform clients on high risk sites. Please continue to make more as the information, imagine and videos are extremely useful. I will continue to share! Thanks again!
My Dad was in London for the duration and has a wicked scar on his leg he got when he fell into an AA gun's barbed wire collecting souvenirs. He told me in his little group - if the piece was not still warm when picked up then it did not count. That and my Mum's trilobite collection she gathered in Wales were gotten rid of when we came to the states in 62.
My great grandfather collected pieces of the detonated German bombs during the war and included a perfect set of butterfly bomb wings which we still have.
God bless the British from Shawn Toronto Canada, The news clip shown in the movie theatres was impressive especially how thorough it was explaining what to expect from a butterfly bomb, thank you Dr. Felton for another video ,truly blessed this day well done💯👍
Coming from Brighton, Sussex where the Canadian troops were based before the Dieppe Raid and D-Day, my family say God bless the Canadians !
@@Crusty_Camper Ty ❤️👍
This is a public service that should be picked up by the British media and telecast widely!
My neighbor worked for Honeywell during the Vietnam war and had a patent on the cluster bombs they used in Vietnam.
One of the episodes of the great series “Danger UXB” covered the search for these weapons. The last scene was the team leaving the town with one of the bombs hanging from a tree. Scared the hell out of me to think how many were only found later the hard way
I remember that scene.
That show always had great endings. I remember the first episode after Bryan had gone through the ordeal of defusing his first bomb, and then they take it out somewhere to blow it up, and finally the day's work is done. As they drive back home we hear air raid sirens and realize we're starting all over again!
The USSR also used them at about the same time in the Winter War. It was called the RRAB-3, nicknamed "Molotov's Bread Basket" by the Finns.
I was just thinking about that. There is an example of one in the Sotamuseo (war museum) in Helsinki.
Information as relevant today as it was in the 40s.
I'm surprised we didn't have public information film's about these back in the 70/80s.
Again, fan of 'Danger: UXB' from the 1970s and this brings back memories.
That was a great series.
I learned about cluster bombs ( though I don’t think I learned the term till much later) when I was 10 or 11 , because my mom watched a lot of PBS and they showed a lot of British TV shows one of which was ‘ Danger UXB ‘ one episode involved the butterfly bomb .
Always on good relevant subjects. It’s fantastic how much you manage to tie in with ww2 and 2023. SCARY THING IS HUMANS NEVER LEARN 😮
Why? Modern cluster bombs are much deadlier than the early ones
OMG are there no depths to which the fiendish Hun would not stoop?
I think some DO learn, and proceed with relish; and THERE's the rub.
No matter how much you think you know about WW2, This guy will show you something new every time
They don’t
You are providing a great service to the British people.
The TV show "Danger UXB has a great episode "Butterfly Winter" on a English small village.
Amazing how, even after 80+ years, the ghosts of the war still remain and are deadly. Not only an interesting video, but also a public information film! (Charlie says....). Keep up the great work!
People who live in 40s era buildings, should probably inspect their attic and roof spaces, if they reside in areas where these deadly munitions were deployed.Such a threat even today! Great stuff Mark!
Just caught up, angin there, dusty, cobwebbed and indeed, like some fat old spider, just waiting to deliver its orrible self......!!
@@suzyqualcast6269 Thing is Suzy, is I'm quite fond of arachnids, but an exploding one is something else! Seriously though, these unexploded bombs are all over the world, including nuclear bombs!!!
Ipswich was a major industrial center for munitions and there was a major RAF base just out of town. It is also near the SE coast of England for access.
I have to admit I know basic level information about munitions but these last few videos from Mark Felton are definitely filling in the gaps.
Reminded me of that TV show that aired in late 70's call " Danger UBX ". One of those episodes had a butterfly bomb. Pretty realistic mini series if you can find it.
Thanks for this, Mark. It is sobering to think of the millions of unexploded landmines, bombs, poison gas weapons and other bits of ordinance around the world left as grim reminders of conflicts past and ready to kill or maim the unsuspecting. War - the gift that keeps on giving.
The first user of cluster bombs was the USSR (RRAB-1/2/3), the first victim was Finland, the targets were civilian and the first use was in februari 1940.
The RRAB (Molotov's bread baskets) were not "cluster bombs" they contained multiple incendiary sub munitions intended to start fires when hitting the ground as opposed to butterfly bombs with contained High explosive which would lay where they landed and only detonate when the devise was disturbed.
@@lightfootpathfinder8218 The RRAB-1/2/3 could also carry HE and chemical-submunitions and it's still a cluster bomb if the cluster of bomblets are incendiary, AP, chemical or something else.
@@oloflarsson7629 ok well under that logic the first cluster bombs were used in the Spanish civil war not the winter war. Also every source iv seen states that the first use of cluster bombs(containers of multiple delayed reaction bomblets that do not detonate on impact) was by the Germans against targets in the UK.
@@lightfootpathfinder8218 The german butterfly bombs did detonate (or where at least supposed to) on impact. Just like the overwhealming majority of bomblets for clusterbombs. Only later did the SD 2 get time delay and mine fuzes.
@@oloflarsson7629ok but that doesn't dismiss the fact that cluster bombs were used before the winter war and that the first use of cluster bombs that carried delayed reaction munitions was by the Germans against the UK. Also both western and soviet Sources say the Soviet Union's first use of "cluster bombs" was in 1943.
There was a series in the 1970's called Danger UXB that was excellent. It was about a Royal Engineer bomb disposal unit during the Blitz. One episode dealt with the Butterfly Bombs and another about the Aerial Mines that you dealt with in a prior episode. I am not sure if you are aware of that series.
Yeah top show,my mother saw these and V1 buzz bombs .
I remember seeing that show here in the US. In the early 80's
Todays bomb disposal people wear special clothing especially around the neck to help stop the blast from decapitating the soldier , those poor soldiers in WWII had next to no protection but still went into danger, truly the greatest generation.
He has an episode on it from 3 years ago
Sorry Dr. Felton's output is so immense it is hard to keep track.
Thank you, Dr. Felton. And thanks to those who commented on their connections to these horrifying weapons.
Thank you Dr. Felton for this insightful video!
I was in the 1991 Gulf War and were tasked with occupying a dirt-strip airfield in southern Iraq so that it could be used for rotary-wing aircraft. Our M109s fired cluster munitions on it, and as a result the aviation unit was forbidden to use the airfield to prevent unexploded munitions from destroying friendly assets. Ooops...
Quick question... Are there any "rotary winged aircraftW that are NOT helicopters or autogyros?
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684Does a tiltrotor like V22 Osprey count as rotary wing, at least in VTOL mode?
@@Steve-GM0HUU Good call... I would suggest that the Osprey DOES constitute a "rotary winged aircraft". My point was I wonder why some people insist on using the overly "wordy" "rotary winged aircraft" when it seems that 99.9% of the time "helicopter" would suffice just as well, and be understood by a wider range of people at the same time.
Thanks for the example. 😁
They also managed to trash their own Black Horse Camp in Kuwait when one of the ammunition carriers for the M109’s blew up in the heat.
Years ago there was a series called “danger UXB “ . Worth a watch for anyone interested in this kind of thing. There is an episode with butterfly bombs
Its terrible to imagine the idea that someone minding their own business might accidentally come across one of these things, or some unexploded mine, or piece of ordinance and become a casualty of a war that ended almost 80 years before.
People who go magnet fishing are taking a risk
As do children on the East half of the Malay peninsula, though 30 years closer to the wars in that area .
thank you for what amounts to a public safety video
Two videos in one week about German ordnance items, the stuff I like. I love it, please keep up the good work Mark!
My mum was working for the SOE in the New Forest during "butterfly summer" - she said that they were hanging from trees and phone line all over the place - whenever there was a windy day, you'd hear the odd *BOOM* off in the distance when one of them fell out of a tree and exploded - and she liked to ride - she said that it was a bit "nervous" riding through the forest knowing that these things were all over the place... They put a "D Notice" on the whole episode - and it worked - the Germans didn't think that they had much effect, whereas, in actuality, large swathes of the country were paralysed by these damn things.
A history lesson and PSA all in one. Well done, Dr. Felton.
On the exact same day the first cluster attack on Ipswich took place, an even more terrifying raid happened to the Chinese city Ningbo. Japanese aircraft scattered pieces of food contaminated with bubonic plague over the city resulting in a month long outbreak and well over 100 dead
Unit 731 strikes!
Bstrds in the air then everywhere.
The United States developed the M83 as their own close copy of the butterfly bomb and used it in WW2, the Korean War, and Vietnam.
My Primary School teacher grew up in Waterford during the “Emergency” and when he retired he gave me the Green tail from a 1Kg incendiary he’d collected as a boy. They’d mistaken Carnsore Point for South Wales we think.
Navigation errors like that weren't all that uncommon, with bombers attacking the North as well, added danger for civilians in Ireland was the risk of a false sense of security from the geographical distance and neutrality and assuming that the risk of getting bombed wasn't there..
Plus crews dropping their loads early before the flack got them
I recall as a small lad in the 60's, seeing a poster about these, while waiting in the surgery to see our Doctor. So even 15plus years later they were still a problem.
The British had a play with cluster munitions during WW1, there was a design of projectile for the Livens projector to deliver 12 Mills bombs simultaneously. For a reference and diagram see 'Weapons of the Trench War' by A Saunders p155
I remember these evil bombs, I was a pupil at a London school and these were shown to us by the ARP.
Thanks Mark for all this information. Here you have a Fan in Colombia who lived in the UK for 4 years and was really interested on WW1 and WW2 history. Amazed to see remanents of WW2 in Central London and some Monuments at Greenwich park. I also saw some bomb craters when looking on Google maps some areas around the Thames east of Woolwich Arsenal area. I really admire your pronunciation of German words and names. I even thinked you were a German!! Congratulations for such a well produced channel. Regards. Vladimir Moreno
The place where I lived when I was young has many building with bullets holes and traces of à huge fire as if the stones has "melted" I don't have a better word for it. I never returned since then but these building weren't fixed when I lived there in the 70s and early 80s. It was du to the allies bombing of the city during WW2.
The 1979 British Drama UXB did an episode #10 on the Butterfly Bombs. UXB was a terrific series and well worth watching.
Another very good informative video. My nan told me stories of her friends finding these little bombs in allotments, believing they had come damaged aircraft flying overhead !
She never mentioned if anyone was hurt !
My maternal grandfather had to deal with an incendiary bomb when it landed on the house next door. Fortunately he had a bucket of wet sand to cover it.
I have to say Dr. Felton, your work is incredibly fascinating. I listen to a lot of history stuff, but yours is by far the most insightful and interesting. You do amazing work, showing off obscure parts of history I'd never seen or heard. Thank you for your great work, Dr. Felton.
Gerry mandering
Thanks for sharing this timely topic Mark! Hope you have a great rest of the week!
I used to watch a program as a kid, called Danger UXB. There was an episode that was about such bombs.
It's a scary thought that something quite innocuous looking could be so deadly, even now!
Getting flashbacks to the excellent historical drama series “Danger UXB” and the controversial efforts of L/Cpl Salt in dealing with one such bomb.
As Tina Turner once said
"Your simply the best,better than all the rest!"
Anoither great episode.Thankyou Dr.Felton
Was not the "Molotov Bread Basket" bomb, that was used in the winter war 1939, the first cluster bomb that was used in combat?
Yes, but that was before Mark Felton Productions. 😉
Have you ever considered doing a video about the increase in crime due to the blitzkrieg? I think that would make an interesting video. Keep up the good work Dr. Felton.
The blackout was absolute heaven for crooks! And a few liberated ARP helmets and a whistle would let them clean out buildings unmolested too!
@@Aengus42 I heard about the blackout ripper. I think he was an RAF, Lieutenant.
Good heavens, that was quick Mark...l only mentioned your thoughts on Butterfly bombs a few days ago, or did you already have a programme in the 'pipeline'..either way up to your usual high standard of informative WW2 history...Sure was dangerous being a little kid in wartime Great Britain...
Your content is always great; you manage to provide esoteric history with PSAs.
As always, Dr Felton, you have made a great short lesson on a little known aspect of the War. A scary one at that! Thanks ever so much.
That is one gutsy sergeant who guessed right in how to disarm that bomb. Glad he was decorated.
This episode was very, Very Interesting, Thank You. I'm from Buffalo, New York. U.S.A. Both my parents met during the war. My Father was American and my Mother was British. My Mother spoke several times about such things but I was to little to understand.
Always have a good day when Mark posts a new video
Hi Mark, thanks for a good documentry, as always. But was the Soviet "Molotow Breadbasket", used in the Finish Winterwar, not technicaly seen the first clusterbomb used in combat ?
It took a special kind of bravery to pick that bomb up, quickly analyze it, and de-fuse it. A well earned medal indeed! Great (as usual) information thank you sir!👍👍
Being in primary school in the mid 50's I distinctly remember we were shown a film about the dangers of UXB when we were out playing. The man said "it might look like a tin can but don't touch it"
We were told to mark the area with a stick and find a policeman, that might be quite a job these days? It is sobering to think that even now in 2023 stuff like these could be lying rusting away unseen.
History is fascinating, but even more so when Dr. Felton is teaching us about it! 😀
Once again Mark Felton proves that Split Enz is wrong. They did song in the eighties "History never repeats, I tell myself before I go to sleep"
Once again Mark proves that history does repeats, over and over again...
Modern version of butterfly bombs can be found in Donestk fields now days.
My father was in the 735 MP Battalion, U.S. Army, stationed in London and environs. I can't believe he actually defused one.
A very brave man
Fantastic content , this has to be the best channel on you tube 👍🙂
I have a DEWAT SD-2 in my collection that was recovered in Ukraine in the 2000s, plus the U.S. copy and a near perfect example of the clockwork fuze. The U.S. copied the SD-2 (designated the M83) and made great use of them during the war, improving the fuze and adding additional settings. With the so-called boobytrap fuzing the SD-2 made for an effective Area Denial Weapon, essentially making any area scattered with such munitions a mine field.
It never ceases to amaze me how much nazi thought went into terrorising civillians and how little such weapons were used in a strategic manner against targets such as airfields and ports.
Just like them using the V1 & V2 on cities rather than the invasion ports and beaches.
Did the allies produce their own version of the butterfly bomb and if so how did we use it?
@stephenpayton4222 The M83 was used by the U.S. against the Japanese occupied territories. Submunitions and clusterbombs were used by the Germans to great effect. I have a number of German types and many more types developed after WW2 as I collect these items.
Mark will simply never run out of content! Bravo
I watched the Brit TV show "Danger UXB" where they had these around people's houses or the kids brought it home. It was quite an explosive episode!
Kids actually did take them home. They used to gather shrapnel and other debris as souvenirs after raids and unexploded butterfly mines were seen as treasure trove because, at first, they didn't realise what they were collecting could blow them to bits.
Great video. Have you ever done a video on the experimental “bat bombs”? I’d love to see that.
I had one of those on my mantle piece for years.
And, well .... what did you do with it?
@@suzyqualcast6269 After discovering it was quite possibly still active, I gifted it to my sister's ex.
Russian 'Molotov bread basket' was too amongst early cluster munitions.
Dropping bread to the starving Finnish masses, of course.
The Soviets used butterfly mines and bombs quite a bit in Afghanistan in the 80s.
The Russians are using 'butterfly mines' in Ukraine. With the similar attraction to children.
The Soviet PFM-1 is a totally different weapon to the SD-2. They share a nickname. The Russians are still using PFM-1 in Ukraine
another great video mark, thank you for what you do
Always a great day when a Mark Felton video notification pops up!
Again, something didn’t know. I will never tire of watching Dr. Felton’s WWII videos. Many thanks for today’s installment.
This is another type of bomb featured in the tv series "Danger UXB", just as the air dropped sea mines were.
I heard a story of a Frenchman who found the canister in his field. Didn't know what exactly it was and so welded it to a metal pipe and made a mallet.
Started to pound in some fence posts and well... You can guess the rest
Fun fact: Some of the bombs air arming was removed to purposely fall on the ground and activate after one manual twist to appear as duds that did not explode and take out more people, in actuality it was just a different variant mixed in.
Very accurate description in this video documentary. I remember watching the old 'Danger UXB' Series on tv as a child. One of the episodes was 'Butterfly Winter'