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Incendiary Bomb Demonstration

Learn how to deal with incendiary bombs the correct way in this short and fiery film from Sydney Bligh.

Amateur film 1940 3 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for Screen Archive South East

Overview

This short training film, made by Sydney Bligh, demonstrates the correct way to deal with incendiary bombs - a major cause of the extensive fires seen during the Blitz. We see a shed with items arranged close to a sparking incendiary bomb. As the fire takes hold, and grows, a man uses a stirrup-pump to spray a jet of water over the flames. The sparks fly when water hits the incendiary itself but by soaking the surroundings the fire is brought under control and then extinguished.

Sydney Bligh ran a wireless and electronics shop called S.W.Bligh, which was on North Lane in Canterbury. He was an early pioneer of radio, beginning his experiments in 1913 using the call-sign BXA. By the early 1920s Bligh was broadcasting his own shows - before becoming one of the founder members of the British Broadcasting Company. As well as his work as an amateur filmmaker he also was an early pioneer of television and developed some components that improved television reception.