大象传媒

Some of the items use to get into circulation with the school boys. One incident I clearly remember - I made a mortar out of a brass footpump, this was meant to protect a wooden shell but the explosive was too violent and blew the pump up instead of protecting it. The explosive was a black powder called G12.

The venue of this experiment was in Mr & Mrs Dance's garden in Irwin Road Bedford. Mr Dancer had dug an 8' hole in his garden as an air raid shelter. The 'mortar' was buried a foot deep and the resulting explosion showered Mrs Holt with earth who lived around the corner at Philpotts Avenue! Mrs Holt told us never to come again! And I went home to Goldington Road 300 yards away. My father took one look at me and said 'What on earth have you been getting up to now?' It was his pump!
I said ' we have just made a bomb out of gunpowder' ( which was sulphar, charcoal and salt petre) Within the next minute 2 police came round carrying the remains of the pump! My father managed to excuse me after some consultation the next day, saying that youngsters must surely be permitted to experiment. We heard no more after this.

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