Us Official Photographs

9th A.F. fighter-bombers drop fire bombs

Since D-Day fighter-bombers of Maj. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg's 9th A. F. have been dropping a new type incendiary bomb against enemy pin-point targets. Known as "fire bombs", "jell bombs" and "French fries," the missiles consist of jettisonable fuel tanks, mostly from captured German stocks, filled with gasoline and a jell substance. An incendiary grenade attached to the outside of the tank fires the bomb, and another grenade inside the tank explodes on impact with the target. A different type fuze is used on water targets. The teardrop-shaped burst area measures approximately 100 yards in length and 20 to 30 yards in width.