Wellington MG ammunition

[Marcel L.]

Hi,

I wonder what kind of ammunition Wellington bomber had in their machine guns. I know that these were the .303 caliber ones, but is it true that normal bullets were mixed with tracer bullets? Does anyone know more about it?

Thanks.

Marcel

[alclark]

I believe the mix was either 4:1 or 5:1 ball:tracer. Experience of finding ammunition at crash sites says there was a lot more ball but tracer is also common enough.

[Graham Boak]

Fighters in the battle of Britain also used an explosive bullet called the De Wilde. I don't know whether this was carried on bombers but I don't see why not - other than explosive rifle-calibre bullets being banned under international agreements. This was an early constraint on its use by fighters, but these stayed within the UK at the time whereas bombers could get shot down over enemy territory and so could be said to providing a gift to enemy propaganda.

The other use for tracer was loading it in greater number just before the supply of ammunition ran out.

[Marcel L.]

Thanks for your answers. I have heard the version about using 4:1 or 5:1 before, so that could be it.

Marcel

[Theletterwriter]

Marcel

My uncle, while at 1 AGS Pembrey in March 1943, had gunnery exercises with tracer 1 : 4. I would assume this must have been a mirror image of operational conditions.

Douglas

[Marcel L.]

Hi Douglas,

thanks for your reply. Good to know.

Marcel

[Juha]

Fighters in the battle of Britain also used an explosive bullet called the De Wilde...

Just a short note. So called "De Wilde" bullet (more appropiate name would have been "Dixon bullet" ) wasn't an explosive but an incendiary bullet. I admit that this is a bit hair splitting because "De Wilde" flashed into flame when it hit, but anyway the correct term for it was incendiary bullet.