Butterfly Bomb arming spindles c1943

Original arming spindles. As a bomblet fell, the wings and the spindle turned clockwise. After the spindle had revolved about 10 times, it had unscrewed itself enough to arm the fuze set within the Butterfly Bomb (SD 2).

The arming spindle on the left was connected to a Type 70 fuze. This actual spindle was used in the Grimsby raid which took place on 14th June 1943. It has a pointed end unlike the other two examples which were connected to another fuze type. The spindle obviously became detached from the 2kg bomblet and remained with the wings. The Type 70 fuze was the deadliest fuze of the three types used in the Grimsby raid. It was an anti-tamper fuze making it highly dangerous to touch or disturb. The Butterfly Bomb was the world’s first operational cluster munition. The Type 70 fuze made it a booby trap/landmine.