KA-BOOMM-mmm! ......... Surr-prriizze!

[xylstra]

Now remember what your mum always told you about the dangers of playing with fireworks!
........... but then you grew-up and joined the air-force (funny how the pilot selectors failed to notice the missing fingers on your right hand ....Hmmm) - so now you get to play with REALLY big fireworks that make an even bigger BANG!
God knows, there is no shortage of information describing the whole 'supermarket' of munition types available so the inquisitive mind is easily satisfied. Yet there is one aspect of the 'BIG BANG' that is almost never heard of, namely the Demolition/Sabotage/Booby-Trap explosive charge, usually deployed in the event of a crash or forced landing in enemy territory to prevent the aircraft or various pieces of its intelligence-sensitive equipment from being captured.
So, the purpose of this post is to provoke discussion of the topic, be it technical descriptions of the munition types, deployment procedures or standing orders, anecdotal stories - amusing or serious, historical or recent, etc, etc.....
I myself, remember reading an account of the allied capture of German WWII aircraft and the technical recovery/investigation teams subsequently finding explosive demolition charges concealed in the wings - yikes!
To give you something to ponder have a look at the equipment schedule for the Spitfire which includes one of said explosive charges (item #20) - very interesting.....

 

[bobbysocks]

I do remember reading about a mustang pilot who was shot down strafing an airfield. he was able to actually land his plane on the german strip and toss some sort of charge into the plane before the soldiers surrounded him and his plane. that was the only account I ever read. I do remember many stories about them destroying the gunsites...

 

[stona]

Small charges were often installed early in the war on secret or sensitive equipment, like the IFF system in RAF fighters and some navigation devices in Luftwaffe bombers.
There are many accounts of Luftwaffe airmen downed on British soil being prevented from destroying their aircraft, some were shot at and wounded. Often they attempted to set the machine on fire using their standard issue flare gun.
Cheers
Steve