The Butterfly Bomb

[supernerd1103]

These things were a lot smaller than I thought they were.

[duffie93]

lmfao when the kid goes flying the moron :P

[FourLoko619]

I also saw this on 1000 ways to die x)))))

[Davathu619]

was this from world war2 or world war 1

[MrsJosephMerrick]

I remember this information film from one of the eps of Danger UXB with Anthony Andrews

[Crappy1441]

is the kid dead?

[MISANTHROPY647]

Now I definitely never want to go to Germany.

[mducky6]

I saw this on 1000 Ways to Die. Ouch.

[krispy42008]

@mducky6 same here

[Roiitokoloshe]

So that's where the Russians got the idea for their little surprise packages from.

[wotwhatw00t]

scary stuff

[cdlgrainger]

To put this into perspective : these are still being found on Malta where they were used extensively with the airfields as primary targets. In recent years these now rusty little cylinders have tragically demonstrated that they remain as lethal as they day they were dropped.

[privateknez]

Its an equivalent of todays cluster bombs... My town was bombed with these a couple of times during the war, we had similar warnings on the tv... that was funny "These bombs are being dropped for the sole purpose of killing people". He says it like the allied bombs made germans happy...

[FiendishSquirrle]

@privateknez Retoric was easier back then

[ibonenoobs]

ugh..how the hell did it end up in the middle of a hotel? out side of a doorway...i dont understand

[martynpank]

@ibonenoobs Timed fuse! There were 3 ways that the butterfly bombs were effect. 1) They would blow up immediately. 2) They would go off after a timed fuse. or 3) They would be detonated by human contact. ie. if you touched/moved them. To reiterate- Germany could have won the battle for England if they only dropped these instead of H.E. or incenduries. Again, check out the 'Butterfly' raids on Croydon.

[martynpank]

I like to think that I'm reasonably knowledgable about the war, & in my opinion, if the Luftwaffe dropped, only 'Butterfly' bombs during the Blitz, we would have lost the war! The 'Butterfly' raid on Croydon (I believe) was almost impossible to sort out! This was a weapon that we were so glad was not used enough!

[1st503rdSGT]

@martynpank I just read that news of the bomb's effectiveness was suppressed by the Allies in order to avoid encouraging the German's to drop more.

[martynpank]

@1st503rdSGT Thanks......It, actually could have made a difference to the war!!!  Thank Heavens they only used it, the once!!!

[martynpank]

@1st503rdSGT Hardly suprising!!!

[cchanderson]

@1st503rdSGT Yeah your right...they were a fearsome weapon. The U.S. Military's cluster bombs and other similar munitions were the direct result of this weapon. They had 3 fuse types...on impact, delayed (adjustable time), and movement detonation (like a mine). If they had built these on a mass scale and had littered the beaches and landing areas with these shortly after (or before) the D-Day landings events could have turned out a little differently. If their bombers were usable that is.

[1986ahmed]

the russans are using simmilar weapon against sheshnia & georgia

[LuciferG61]

These bombs are being dropped for the sole purpose of killing people. They are not at all like the friendly bombs the Germans normally drop.

[rockyPants4000]

Funny comment! I lol'd.

[JasonBunting]

@LuciferG61 - I was thinking along the same lines when I heard the narrator say that - "Of course their purpose is to kill people - it's a war!"

I LOL'd at your comment, good stuff.

[Cooldudeguy6]

"look mom.. WTF BOOM!"

[radeakins]

In grimsby and cleethorpes, they made german POW's clear them.

[killath303]

Lol'd when the kid got his face full of hot shrapnel.

[46723565105]

butterfly bombs rule!

[GriffinHistorical]

Great film! How can i get a copy to display at re-enactment events? Doing some UXB stuff this year, would love to inform/scare the kids before they go out and find some planted around the place.

[noobstar1040]

lmao, look what i found! squeak

[jackmc2005]

lool that kid getting blown up was funny

[zadakiel009]

they blew up billy D:

[ig0tsh0t]

lol

this is where south park got "you killed kenney, you bastards!!!!"

[maglight117]

before he got his daily pentration by his creepy uncle

[darthspeaks]

Man they sacrificed a child for a film! argh! I'm not serious. They are effective for sure!

[suh1289]

The Indian army used a similar type of toy-disguised-bomb in Kashmir against Pakistani Kashmirs... a kid i knew lost a hand cuz of these bombs...

[LuvvyDuck]

Poor kid.

[LuvvyDuck]

My father worked with munitions during the Korean War and he learned about these bombs. He said they were painted bright red and yellow and it made them look like toys to kids; they must have been designed ESPECIALLY to kill children.

[schnellbomber87]

I'm quite a sadist, but that, THAT'S just sickening! (replying to Luvvyduck)

[LuvvyDuck]

Yep, it is. And macabre, as my dad said. (And you can't be that much a sadist if you feel that way. ~_^ )

[stuartthegrant]

How typical of the Americans to deploy it

[jimmy2820]

Just saw a programme about how these bombs were dropped on fields and the land army would accidentally detonate them whilst bringing in the harvest. Nasty little things!

[keeprighton2007]

stupid boy!

[rockinroy555]

me neither, great clip!

[A20havoc]

wow...this is new ...thanks for the infro!

[Wombat403]

Yeah, I heard the Palestinians have lots of them but they are just too nice to use them against the Israelis....

[SmiertSpionem]

Nasty weapon, like landmines continue to kill and maim innocents long after the conflict ends.

[basicsandwich]

Sad to hear Israel is using them against Palestine people

[sdhcinci]

Israel used tons of them on Palestine and there are countless of them unexploded and just waiting to injure and kill innocent people.

And of course Israel will not be held accountable for doing that (which is a war crime).

Israel is a terrorist state.

[stjohnstjohn]

Try and keep this channel politic free please.

[denberg2]

Keep 'em coming, Bomberguy!

I always thought I knew a lot about WW2, but I've never even heard of these.

[pinz2022]

I had read of the "butterfly bombs" from the Battle of Britain. They were used only a few times against the Brits and the government did its best to suppress all reporting of them so as not to let the Germans know of the absolute terror and havoc they caused, especially the ones with the 30-minute fuze and the contact-only fuze. Amazing that this clip has survived.

[bio2020]

@denberg2 Probably because British government did everything possible to keep it a secret. They did not allow reporting, of any kind, on this subject. Simply because the damage was so great, and it instilled fear and panic... that the British gov't did not want to encourage the Germans to use it more.

It's been said, that if the Germans had continued to bombard the island with butterfly bombs... the UK would have had to surrender.