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Screaming bombs


PyroAce

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A section in Weingarts book on picric acid reads "The screaming bombs used in the beginning of the present war employed this product for the purpose of softening the morale of non-combatants and weakening their nerves"

 

Does anybody know which type of bomb he is referring too?

 

Also, this may sound silly, but as I have not been to war nor been near a war, when bombs were dropped from planes did they really make those sounds when they were dropped like you hear in the movies, and also a military mortar or artillery shot, does the mortar/artillery round make the same sound you hear in the movies as it drops down, or is this just Hollywood effects?

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Also, this may sound silly, but as I have not been to war nor been near a war, when bombs were dropped from planes did they really make those sounds when they were dropped like you hear in the movies, and also a military mortar or artillery shot, does the mortar/artillery round make the same sound you hear in the movies as it drops down, or is this just Hollywood effects?

 

http://www.youtube.c...kziSSo0Bg#t=90s

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That's crazy, thanks that's what I wanted to know.

When you hear that distant thud you know you only have about 4 seconds to get the hell out of there!

Can anyone guess how far away that artillery piece would be if it takes around 4 seconds to hit the target?

 

And would a bomb dropped from a plane such as in WW2 make that screaming sound you hear, obviously it is not traveling as fast as an artillery round?

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Not too often do you get to count prior to the crap hitting the fan in the world of pyrotechnics.

It is true that bombs in World War II would make a whistling sound as they fell. This could be heard by both the pilot and the target, however due to the Doppler effect, they heard different things. The pilot would hear a high pitched whistle and as the bomb accelerated it lowered in pitch. The target would initially hear a higher pitched whistle than what the pilot heard because the target is in front of the bomb and the pilot is behind the bomb. The pitch would continue to increase until the bomb struck. This is assuming the bomb is going slower than the speed of sound. The bomb will not reach the speed of sound until it has fallen ≈19 500 ft.

The whistles were purposefully attached to the bombs. Their purpose was to weaken enemy morale and to enhance the intimidation of dive-bombing. Look at the Stuka dive-bomber, a similar case. What other purpose did it's sirens have? As far as warning the target, it's too late to get to safety once you hear the whistle if you're not there already (bombs fall fast). Not all bombs were equipped with whistles, but they still all made noise as they fell due to air displacement (just not the famous whistling sound).

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Thank you for the information mikeee.

So the screaming bombs Weingart refers to are basically a whistle device attached to the bomb? How did these get ignited? I wonder if they started screaming as soon as they left the plane, or did they ignite closer to the ground?

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