Japanese Airfields, Equipment & more #18 - revised

Bomb & torpedo trolleys

The IJNAF used these bomb trolleys, 一五式中爆弾車改三 (15shikichubakudansha-kai3 - Type15 medium bomb trolley - kai3) to carry around their 250kg bombs.

For bigger-than-250kg bombs, the IJNAF used a bigger type of trolley. I was not able to find the official designation of this trolley. If you know, leave a comment.

The trolleys above, were found after the end of the War at the seaplane base in Otsu, the capital of Shiga prefecture, next to Lake Biwa, the biggest lake in Japan.

This photo was taken in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Note the big, probably 500kg, bomb on the right next to the smaller 250kg and 60kg bombs.

Illustrations of the bigger IJNAF trolley I spotted on X.

The same bigger trolley was used for torpedoes too.

In the photo above, IJNAF ground crew members are loading a torpedo on a Mitsubishi Ki-67 "Hiryu" (Peggy) "Yasukuni".

One more illustration of the bigger IJNAF trolley I spotted on X, this time with a torpedo.

It seems that later in the war a longer type of torpedo trolley was adopted. In the photo below, we can see a torpedo getting loaded from a crane truck on the previously mentioned bigger bomb trolley but compare it with the trolley further in the background.

Two more photos of the longer torpedo trolley from the getty collection. The aircraft are Nakajima B6N "Tenzan" (Jill) belonging to the 131 Kokutai.

A Nakajima B6N "Tenzan" (Jill) is getting loaded with a torpedo. Note the trolley.

The IJAAF didn't face the same challenges with big bombs the IJNAF had. The most common bomb used by IJAAF bombers was the 60kg which could be loaded by two to four ground crew members. In this photo, we can see 100kg bombs getting loaded on a Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally", which would require some serious muscle.

For bigger bombs up to 500kg, the IJAAF used this trolley which, as you can see it's different from the IJNAF type. Nevertheless, these trolleys were not common at the front and they could be found only in the main airfields of Japan mainland.

The 60 Sentai improvised this contraption to load really big bombs...

...that resembles a mikoshi.

It should be noted that the IJAAF bombers didn't usually carry bombs heavier than 100kg. 250 or 500kg bombs were used only against fortifications or, later in the war, against ships. In the Papua / New Guinea front, for example, 250kg bombs were quite rare, and, occasionally, IJAAF bombers had to "borrow" some from Navy units.