The report below describes a nose extension rod for German bombs. The article originally appeared in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 23, April 22, 1943. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

GERMAN BOMB WITH NOSE EXTENSION ROD While the German airplane bomb usually detonates below the ground level forming a crater, and permitting persons in the vicinity to get some protection by lying down, a new type of bomb with an extension rod screwed into the nose to give a "daisy-cutter" air-burst has been discovered in Libya. Against such a bomb, both vertical and horizontal cover is needed. There is evidence that similar rods are used in the 250-kilogram (550-lb), 500-kilogram (1,100-lb), and 1,000-kilogram (2,200-lb) bombs in attacks on buildings and small craft. The rod adapted to a 250-kilogram bomb, shown in the accompanying sketch, lacked a cardboard ballistic cone, but there is no doubt that one was fitted to it. From Malta have come reports of "dumbbell bombs," and probably bombs fitted with these rods would have such an appearance when viewed from the ground while falling, particularly if they wobbled a bit.

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