From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Blacker Bombard was a cheap anti-tank weapon devised by Lt-Col Blacker in the early years of the Second World War. Although intended for use by the regular units of the British Army it was replaced by the PIAT before that was necessary and was given over to the British Home Guard for their use.

Spigot mortar emplacement (reconstructed)

In 1940, Blacker, who was a private inventor of weapons, drew up the Bombard based on the spigot discharger. The official designation was 29 mm Spigot Mortar (Blacker Bombard).

The unit consisted of a thin metal "barrel" (just sufficient to contain the propelling blast away from the operator) with the spigot in the centre. The round was loaded by sliding it on over the spigot. A spring pushed against a 12 pound (5 kg) steel canister and rod that rode up the inside of the spigot and impacted with the rear of the round, igniting a small propulsion charge. The primary use of the heavy bolt and rod was to damp out the recoil of the round. The recoil also acted to reset the spring, meaning that the weapon only had to be cocked for firing once, by pulling up on the tube while standing on a handle mounted at the rear.

Aiming was done by turning the Bombard in the direction of the enemy then tilting back the barrel until a pointer lined up with the appropriate range marked on the gunners shield.

The anti-tank round was a 20 lb (9 kg) finned bomb full of high explosive. The propellant was black powder for economy. This was sufficient to give it a range of over 100 yards albeit with a curved trajectory. Against German tank designs of the early part of the war such a warhead would have been quite effective. There was also an anti-personnel round that weighed "only" 14 lb (about 6 kg) which could be fired out to 500 yards.

The whole Bombard unit on its squat flat four-legged mount weighed around 350 lb - necessitating a large crew just to move it. In Home Guard deployments the Bombard could be set up on a more permanent position - a hole in the top of a substantial concrete block was sufficient.

• Weight: 156 kg
• Range: 823 m
• Calibre: 29 mm (nominal calibre - diameter of spigot)
• Rounds:
  • Anti-tank HE 20 lb
  • HE 14 lb
  • plus training rounds Anti-tank Practice 20 lb, Practice Inert 15 lb etc

• Pictures of Surviving Spigot Mortar Emplacements in the UK.
• Photos of Surviving Spigot Mortar Emplacements in the UK.
• Blacker Bombard in training (images) Imperial War Museum on-line collection: search for "Blacker Bombard".
• Recollections of a Home Guard soldier (audio) Imperial War Museum on-line collection: accession number 17834.
• Love, Hate And The Spigot Mortar by Philip Clifford