Editing Blockbuster bomb (section)

==Operational use==
[[File:Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. CH18371.jpg|thumb|right|[[No. 57 Squadron RAF|57 Squadron]] [[Avro Lancaster]] with the "Usual" area bombing load of a {{convert|4,000|lb|t|abbr=on}} bomb and 12 Small Bomb Containers, each filled with {{convert|4|lb|kg|abbr=on}} incendiary bombs]]
The first type of aircraft to carry {{convert|4,000|lb|t|abbr=on}} bombs operationally was the [[Vickers Wellington|Wellington]] during a strike on [[Emden]] in April 1941;<ref>{{cite book | last1=Polmar | first1=N. | last2=Allen | first2=T.B. | title=World War II: the Encyclopedia of the War Years, 1941-1945 | publisher=Dover Publications | series=Dover Books on Military History | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-486-47962-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30gRAGjXrIIC&pg=PA166 | access-date=2020-03-13 | page=166}}</ref> carriage of the bomb required the bomb beam to be removed from the bomb bay and a slot cut in the bomb doors - the bomb protruded slightly through this and, on release, simply fell out through the hole.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Murray | first1=Iain | title=Vickers Wellington Manual | publisher=Haynes | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-85733-230-1 | page=100}}</ref> The bomb later became part of the standard bomb load of the RAF's heavy night bombers and [[de Havilland Mosquito|Mosquitoes]] of the [[Light Night Strike Force#Light Night Striking Force|Light Night Strike Force]], whose aircraft would sometimes bomb [[Berlin]] twice in one night, flown by two different crews.

The 2,000 lb HC was used until the end of the war, its usage peaking in 1944 with over 16,000 dropped.<ref name=Boyd2000 />

The {{convert|8,000|lb|t|abbr=on|adj=on}} and the {{convert|12,000|lb|t|abbr=on|adj=on}} could be carried only by the [[Avro Lancaster]] which needed to be slightly modified with bulged bomb-bay doors.
[[File:RAF Bomber Command HU95286.jpg|thumb|A 4,000 lb HC bomb, marked "Happy Xmas Adolf" being loaded onto a de Havilland Mosquito of [[No. 128 Squadron RAF]] ]]
The first use of the {{convert|8,000|lb|t|abbr=on|adj=on}} HC was by [[No. 15 Squadron RAF|15 Squadron]] Lancasters against Berlin on 2 December 1943. Bad weather and other factors meant their effectiveness was not noted.<ref>Maynard, John ''Bennett and the Pathfinders'' 1956 Arms and Armour Press. p148</ref>

The {{convert|4,000|lb|t|abbr=on}} "cookie" was regarded as a particularly dangerous load to carry. Due to the airflow over the detonating pistols fitted in the nose, it would often explode even if dropped in a supposedly "safe" unarmed state. The safe height above ground for dropping the "cookie" was {{convert|6000|ft|m|abbr=on}}; any lower and the dropping aircraft risked being damaged by the explosion's atmospheric [[shock wave]]:
{{blockquote|We were flying at 6,000 feet which was the minimum height to drop the 4,000 pounder. We dropped it in the middle of town [Koblenz], which gave the aircraft a hell of a belt, lifted it up and blew an escape hatch from out of the top.|Jack Murray, pilot of "[[G for George]]", reporting on G for George's mission on 17th April 1943.<ref>"G-for-George" by Michael Nelmes and Ian Jenkins. Banner Books, Maryborough QLD, 2002. {{ISBN|1-875593-21-7}}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2020}}}}

[[No. 617 Squadron RAF|617 Squadron]] developed a technique of dropping a 1,000 lb MC bomb just before a 12,000 lb HC bomb. The shock wave from the 1,000 lb explosion fired the pistols on the 12,000 lb bomb, causing an "air burst"; this technique was used successfully in attacks including the Michelin factory at Clermont-Ferrand in March 1944.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Murray | first1=Iain | title=Dam Busters Manual | publisher=Haynes | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-85733-015-4 | page=66}}</ref>