"FLAMING ONIONS”

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 239, 4 July 1940, Page 6

"FLAMING ONIONS”

Old And New Varieties Compared

R.A.F. pilots, returned from Rights over Germany, frequently report that they have encountered “ilaining onions.” But these are very different from the “llaming onions” of the last war.

The 1914-18 type of “flaming onion” was a star shell. The stars, which varied in number, were expelled from a shrapnel case and hung about in tlie air for a considerable time. The object was to set fire to the fabric of the old type of aircraft. But tlie “llaming onions” of those days did very little damage. The Germans called them “leuchtkaninchen” (light, rabbits), which was a clear indication of their harmlessness.

The modern version of “flaming onions” is light anti-aircrafit tracer shells fitted with seif-destroying fuses in addition to percussion fuses. If the shells hit an aircraft they explode with the usual effect. If they miss the target the self-destroying fuse is fired by tlie tracer. The self-destroying fuse which is fitted into the base of tlie shell explodes the charge so that the shell shall not injure people on the ground. As the light A.A. guns fire as many as 150 rounds a minute a sitream of, shells exploded by their self-destroying fuses look as though the shells are tied together and they resemble the oldtype “flaming onions.”