433 Squadron - bomb loads

[33k in the air]

Recently I completed going through the ORBs for 433 Squadron (RCAF) of Bomber Command, noting the listed bomb loads for each aircraft dispatched on a bombing mission. This covers Jan. 1944 through Apr. 1945. During this period the squadron operating the Halifax III and Lancaster I aircraft. There were a total of 1,672 bombing sorties for the Halifax III and 317 for the Lancaster I. The basic bomb loads are as follows:

Halifax III

590 = 16 x 500-lb
196 = 9 x 1,000-lb and 4 x 500-lb
74 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 1,080 x 4-lb
50 = 5 x 1,000-lb and 10 x 500-lb
36 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 6 x 1,000-lb and 4 x 500-lb
35 = 7 x 1,000-lb and 6 x 500-lb
35 = 810 x 4-lb and 24 x 50-lb
34 = 630 x 4-lb and 64 x 30-lb
31 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 11 x No. 14 Cluster Projectiles (1,166 x 4-lb, although the ORBs list it as either 1,320 x 4-lb or as "500-lb cluster")
30 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 7 x 1,000-lb and 4 x 500-lb
29 = 13 x 500-lb
28 = 540 x 4-lb and 48 x 40-lb
27 = 18 x 500-lb
27 = 2 x 1,000-lb and 1,080 x 4-lb
25 = 9 x 1,000-lb
21 = 630 x 4-lb and 40 x 30-lb
20 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 5 x 1,000-lb and 6 x 500-lb
19 = 15 x 500-lb
18 = 1 x 2000-lb and 6 x 1,000-lb and 5 x 500-lb
17 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 630 x 4-lb and 24 x 30-lb
16 = 8 x 1,000-lb and 7 x 500-lb
16 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 11 x 500-lb
15 = 2 x 1,000-lb and 15 x 500-lb
15 = 9 x 500-lb and 7 x 250-lb
15 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 48 x 30-lb and 6 x No. 14 Cluster Projectiles (636 x 4-lb)
14 = 9 x 1,000-lb and 2 x 500-lb
14 = 6 x 1,000-lb and 6 x 500-lb
14 = 3 x 1,000-lb and 10 x 500-lb
14 = 14 x 500-lb
14 = 450 x 4-lb and 56 x 30-lb
13 = 4 x 1,000-lb and 10 x 500-lb
12 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 4 x 1,000-lb and 8 x 500-lb
11 = 6 x 1,000-lb and 8 x 500-lb
11 = 13 x 500-lb
11 = 9 x 500-lb
10 = 8 x 500-lb and 8 x 250-lb
10 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 540 x 4-lb and 56 x 30-lb
10 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 540 x 4-lb and 24 x 30-lb
9 = 9 x 1,000-lb and 3 x 500-lb
9 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 12 x No. 14 Cluster Projectiles (1,272 x 4-lb, although the ORBs sometimes lists it as 1,440)
9 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 900 x 4-lb and 24 x 30-lb
9 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 450 x 4-lb and 48 x 30-lb
9 = 10 x 500-lb
8 = 8 x 1,000-lb and 5 x 500-lb
7 = 7 x 1,000-lb and 6 x 500-lb
6 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 450 x 4-lb and 40 x 30-lb
5 = 4 x 1,000-lb and 9 x 500-lb
4 = 9 x 1,000-lb and 6 x 500-lb
4 = 8 x 1,000-lb and 4 x 500-lb
4 = 540 x 4-lb and 56 x 30-lb
3 = 5 x 1,000-lb and 8 x 500-lb
2 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 390 x 4-lb and 40 x 30-lb
1 = 6 x 1,000-lb and 7 x 500-lb
1 = 7 x 1,000-lb and 5 x 500-lb
1 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 4 x 1,000-lb and 6 x 500-lb
1 = 3 x 1,000-lb and 12 x 500-lb
1 = 7 x 1,000-lb and 4 x 500-lb
1 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 600 x 4-lb and 24 x 30-lb
1 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 390 x 4-lb and 48 x 30-lb

 

[33k in the air]

Lancaster I

42 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 12 x 500-lb and 4 x 250-lb
35 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 10 x 500-b and 6 x 250-lb
34 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 1,584 x 4-lb
32 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 1,500 x 4-lb
21 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 5 x 500-lb and 4 x 250-lb
15 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 1,650 x 4-lb
15 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 11 x 500-lb and 4 x 250-lb
15 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 11 x 500-lb
14 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 1,200 x 4-lb
11 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 4 x 500-lb and 6 x 250-lb
10 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 4 x 1,000-lb and 8 x 500-lb
10 = 7 x 1,000-lb and 9 x 500-lb
9 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 6 x 1,000-lb and 4 x 500-lb and 4 x 250-lb
9 = 6 x 1,000-lb and 10 x 500-lb
9 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 8 x 500-lb and 6 x 250-lb
9 = 1 x 2,000-lb and 1,800 x 4-lb
9 = 1 x 1,000-lb and 1,484 x 4-lb
7 = 1 x 1,000-lb and 1,950 x 4-lb
5 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 1,484 x 4-lb
4 = 1 x 1,000-lb and 1 x 500-lb and 1,484 x 4-lb
1 = 1 x 4,000-lb and 1,378 x 4-lb
1 = 6 x 1,000-lb and 4 x 500-lb and 4 x 250-lb

 

[Milosh]

A Halifax III of 429 Sqd, MZ906, MIA on a mission to Essen Oct 23 1944 carried:
6 x 500 lb MC bomb
1 x 2000 lb HC bomb
5 x 1000 lb SAP bomb

 

[33k in the air]

429 Squadron is on my list to do, but it'll take awhile before I get to it. I'm currently working on 408 Squadron, after which I'll probably do 106 Squadron.

I can also relate this information for 433 Squadron: of 1,214 sorties of the Halifax for which the full crew complement was listed, 3 sorties had only six crew members, 1,112 had seven, and 113 had eight (with the eighth member being a second pilot). The mid-under gun position does not seem to have been fitted to any of 433 Squadron's Halifax bombers.

 

[EwenS]

You will find details of typical Lancaster loads here for each type of target with the Bomber Command code words to describe them

Bomb Loads

Lancaster Archive

www.lancaster-archive.com

All of course subject to the length of the route being flown to the target on a particular raid and sometimes bomb availability on a particular base.

 

[33k in the air]

You will find details of typical Lancaster loads here for each type of target with the Bomber Command code words to describe them

Bomb Loads

Lancaster Archive

www.lancaster-archive.com

All of course subject to the length of the route being flown to the target on a particular raid and sometimes bomb availability on a particular base.

I've seen that graphic before, but from the loads I've seen listed in ORBs, I don't think it's that accurate. The text, for example, mentions SBCs with 236 x 4-lb incendiaries. SBCs when filled with 4-lb typically carried 60 or 90, and later a larger version was introduced which held 150. When filled with 30-lb incendiaries, it held 8, then later 12, and the largest held 16.

The No. 16 Cluster Projectile contained 235 x 4-lb incendiaries, but it wasn't used by the squadrons I've examined as far as I have seen. The much more commonly used CPs are the No. 14 with 106 x 4-lb and, later, the No. 15 with 158 x 4-lb. (The No. 4 CP held 14 x 30-lb "J"-type incendiaries.)

This is one of the reasons I decided to do a more systematic examination of the bomb loads actually carried. The reality of bomb loads for Bomber Command aircraft appears to be quite varied in practice.