Explosives Collection

Britains frogmen divers by G. H. Davis
Introducing Britains frog-men: diving wreckers who blasted open a path to the Normandy beaches. These underwater commandos worked off the D-Day beaches

Women working during the First World War. Above: in a weapons factory, filling shells with explosives. Below: an outdoor scene with a woman bus conductor

Firework rocket on stick

The French Resistance - WWII (1 / 3)
Thanks to the parachute drop of plastic explosive, the French resitance were able to blow up the track. This enabled them to intercept a German train heading for the border on the line from Marseille

Cartoon, Jeremiah O Donovan Rossa, Irish Fenian
Cartoon, Jeremiah O Donovan Rossa (1831-1915), Irish Fenian leader - The terrible monster who was frightened by a woman! He was a pioneer in the use of explosives for political persuasion

WWI German stormtroop officer demonstrating the use of cluster grenades against tanks
778974 WWI German stormtroop officer demonstrating the use of cluster grenades against tanks and bunkers, 1914-18 (b/w photo) by German Photographer (20th Century)

Members of the Bomb disposal squad measuring the length of a time delayed bomb taken from a shop in Brixton Hill, South London during the Second World War. Circa 1940

Captain Henry Morgan sacks Puerto Principe, Cuba, 19th century (engraving)
7337530 Captain Henry Morgan sacks Puerto Principe, Cuba, 19th century (engraving) by Unknown Artist, (19th century); National Maritime Museum, London, UK; (add.info.: Creator: unknown Pirate)

British sailors boarding an Algerine pirate ship (coloured engraving)
7337534 British sailors boarding an Algerine pirate ship (coloured engraving) by Fairburn, J. (19th Century); 40.7x52.2 cm; National Maritime Museum, London, UK; (add.info.: Creator: J)

Anne Bonny, female pirate, 18th century (engraving)
7337522 Anne Bonny, female pirate, 18th century (engraving) by Unknown artist, (18th century); 10x16.4 cm; National Maritime Museum, London, UK; (add.info.: Creator: unknown Dressed as a man)

Women packing dynamite cartridges, 1888. Explosives factory at, Val Bormida, near Cengio, North West Italy
538432 Women packing dynamite cartridges, 1888. Explosives factory at, Val Bormida, near Cengio, North West Italy. From La Nature, Paris, 1888. Engraving

Royal Navy six-shot Colt revolver, c.1855 (metal and wood gun)
MMM5471826 Royal Navy six-shot Colt revolver, c.1855 (metal and wood gun) by Colt, Samuel (1814-62); National Maritime Museum, London, UK; (add.info.: Colt's six-shot Royal Navy revolver)

Preparing process of the nitrate cellulose ( fulmicoton ) explosives factory. 1869 (engraving)
6426227 Preparing process of the nitrate cellulose ( fulmicoton ) explosives factory. 1869 (engraving); Private Collection; (add.info)

Berthold Schwarz, German alchemist (colour litho)
8655494 Berthold Schwarz, German alchemist (colour litho) by German School, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Berthold Schwarz)

Past & Present: Artillery (colour litho)
8668680 Past & Present: Artillery (colour litho) by English School, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Artillery. Roman Catapult)

An engraving depicting a slate quarry in North Wales, 19th century
5310738 An engraving depicting a slate quarry in North Wales, 19th century; (add.info.: Date: 1815); Universal History Archive/UIG.

Twelve Prints of Sea Engagements. The Glorious Action off Cape Francois Octr 21 1757, between the English
7341693 Twelve Prints of Sea Engagements. The Glorious Action off Cape Francois Octr 21 1757, between the English, and seven French ships of War wherin the latter were entirely defeated

The interior of the Woolwich Arsenal laboratory in 1750. Workers shape the ammunition charges
MMM5483413 The interior of the Woolwich Arsenal laboratory in 1750. Workers shape the ammunition charges. English watercolor (38x55.5 cm), 1750.; National Maritime Museum, London

The USS Commodore Jones ferryboat destroyed by an electrically-fired mine in 1864 on the James River
6867178 The USS Commodore Jones ferryboat destroyed by an electrically-fired mine in 1864 on the James River, during the American Civil War

Explosives in mines, c.1900 (chromo)
1790154 Explosives in mines, c.1900 (chromo); (add.info.: remote electrical explosives blast-off used in the mines, illustration from History of electricity in France)

Napoleon Bonaparte and his Army retreating from the battlefied of Liepzig
FLO4608636 Napoleon Bonaparte and his Army retreating from the battlefied of Liepzig, after the premature destruction of the bridge on the Elster River, 1813

A Dangerous Firecracker to Light (engraving)
8672733 A Dangerous Firecracker to Light (engraving) by American School, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: A Dangerous Firecracker to Light)

An engraving depicting a slate quarry in North Wales. Three explosive charges were detonated
5310732 An engraving depicting a slate quarry in North Wales. Three explosive charges were detonated. Illustrated by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (1792-1864) a topographical watercolour artist

The loss of the iron steamer 'Elberfeld', 1850
3478496 The loss of the iron steamer 'Elberfeld', 1850; (add.info.: Illustration depicting the loss of the iron steamer 'Elberfeld')

Miners working in the gypsum mine, Mountfield, Sussex (b/w photo)
8675996 Miners working in the gypsum mine, Mountfield, Sussex (b/w photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Miners working in the gypsum mine, Mountfield)

The Battle of the Nile: Destruction of 'L'Orient', 1 August 1798, 1825 (oil on canvas)
7337688 The Battle of the Nile: Destruction of 'L'Orient', 1 August 1798, 1825 (oil on canvas) by Brown, Mather (1761-1831); 103.4x123.2 cm; National Maritime Museum, London

The destruction of 'L'Orient' at the Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798, 1825-27 (oil on canvas)
7337687 The destruction of 'L'Orient' at the Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798, 1825-27 (oil on canvas) by Arnald, George (1763-1841); 185.5x269 cm; National Maritime Museum, London

Nitroglycerin processing plant, explosives factory, Val Bormida, near Cengio, North West Italy, 1888
538429 Nitroglycerin processing plant, explosives factory, Val Bormida, near Cengio, North West Italy, 1888. From La Nature, Paris, 1888

Franco Prussian War (1870-1871), Battle of Sedan in the Ardennes on September 1, 1870 (engraving)
AIS5337314 Franco Prussian War (1870-1871), Battle of Sedan in the Ardennes on September 1, 1870 (engraving); © Iberfoto.

Blowing up the Eastern Arch of the Great Exhibition Building, 1864. Creator: Unknown
Blowing up the Eastern Arch of the Great Exhibition Building, [South Kensington, London], 1864. Demolition of an '...arch which supported the eastern gable end of the nave of the International

Ruins of the Great Exhibition Building of 1862, (1864). Creator: Unknown
Ruins of the Great Exhibition Building of 1862, [London], (1864). Engraving from a sketch '...looking in an easterly direction along the Cromwell-road...The grand central entrance appears in

Scene of the fire at Dockhead, Bermondsey, sketched on Saturday morning, 1864. Creator: Unknown
Scene of the fire at Dockhead, Bermondsey, [London], sketched on Saturday morning, 1864. 'a great fire broke out in the waterside premises of Messrs

The War in Denmark: ruins of the Langaa Railway Bridge, in Jutland, lately destroyed by..., 1864. Creator: Unknown
The War in Denmark: ruins of the Langaa Railway Bridge, in Jutland, lately destroyed by the Prussians, 1864. 'The most uncivilised thing the Prussians have done in Jutland is the blowing up of

The Blowing Up of the Vanguard Rock at Plymouth on Friday, the 5th November, 1858. Creator: Unknown
The Blowing Up of the Vanguard Rock at Plymouth on Friday, the 5th November - from a sketch by Major Bredin, R.A. 1858. Displacement of...the rock at the entrance of the Devonport harbour...One of

A Journey into the Herzegovina: Fire at a Gunpowder Depot at Grahovo, 1876. Creator: C.R
A Journey into the Herzegovina: Fire at a Gunpowder Depot at Grahovo, 1876. It is reported from Constantinople that the new Government of Sultan Mourad V. will allow an armistice of six weeks

Holyhead Harbour Works...the Face of the Mountain after the Grand Blasting Operations... 1857. Creator: Unknown
Holyhead Harbour Works - View of the Face of the Mountain after the Grand Blasting Operations, Jan. 16, 1857: the Quantity of Quartz Rock Displaced 120, 000 Tons, by a Charge of 16

Jan van Speijk lights the gunpowder fuse, 5 February 1831, (1831-1850). Creator: Jacobus Schoemaker Doyer
Jan van Speijk lights the gunpowder fuse, 5 February 1831, (1831-1850). Dutch naval lieutenant commander with the United Netherlands Navy who became a hero in the Netherlands for his opposition to

Destruction of the Docks, Sebastopol - from a sketch by J. A. Crowe, 1856. Creator: J. A. Crowe
Destruction of the Docks, Sebastopol - from a sketch by J. A. Crowe, 1856. Crimean War. It was the intention of our engineers to blow in a portion of the English half of the docks...the charges in

Results of the Great Blasting Operation at Holyhead, North Wales, 1856. Creator: Unknown
Results of the Great Blasting Operation at Holyhead, North Wales, 1856. Building a new harbour and breakwater....in the lower quarries of the mountain a most stupendous

Sébastopol, 19th century. Creator: Honore Daumier
Sebastopol, 19th century

La surveillance de la mer; Les Allemands ont deja seme, dans la mer du Nord, des mines, 1914. Creator: Henri Rudaux
'La surveillance de la mer; Les Allemands ont deja seme, dans la mer du Nord, des mines flottants fort dangereuses pour le securite des transports, 1914

Blowing Up the Cashmere Gate, (1902). Creator: Unknown
Blowing Up the Cashmere Gate, (1902). Scene from the Great Sepoy Rebellion (also known as the Indian Mutiny), 14 September 1857

Reconnoitring at Cronstadt, 1854. Creator: Unknown
Reconnoitring at Cronstadt, 1854. Crimean War. Fort Peter I.; Fort Alexander; Fort Menschikoff; "Bulldog"; "Phlegethon"

The Great Explosion at Seaford - the Explosion - Cliff Falling, 1850. Creator: Unknown
The Great Explosion at Seaford - the Explosion - Cliff Falling, 1850. Long shore drift at Seaford in Sussex was causing deposition of debris to such an extent that Seaford Bay

The Great Explosion at Seaford - the Cliff, after the Explosion, 1850. Creator: Unknown
The Great Explosion at Seaford - the Cliff, after the Explosion, 1850. Long shore drift at Seaford in Sussex was causing deposition of debris to such an extent that Seaford Bay

The Great Explosion at Seaford - Seaford Bay and Cliff, 1850. Creator: Unknown
The Great Explosion at Seaford - Seaford Bay and Cliff, 1850. Long shore drift at Seaford in Sussex was causing deposition of debris to such an extent that Seaford Bay

In mid air A wonderful blast in building railroad to Deadwood, 1890. Creator: John C. H. Grabill
In mid air A wonderful blast in building railroad to Deadwood, 1890. Black cloud from explosive blast on side of mountain

Berthold Schwartz, german chemist, 1865 (engraving)
7345958 Berthold Schwartz, german chemist, 1865 (engraving) by Montaut, Henri de (1829-89); Private Collection; (add.info)

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"Explosives: Unleashing Power and Defying Conventions" During the First World War, women shattered societal norms as they fearlessly entered the workforce, including in explosive factories. Their dedication fueled the war effort. A firework rocket on a stick illuminates the night sky, captivating spectators with its vibrant colors and thunderous booms. A symbol of celebration and excitement, it reminds us of our fascination with controlled explosions. In a cartoon by Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, an Irish Fenian revolutionary, explosives become a metaphor for resistance against oppression. The power to ignite change lies within these volatile substances. A German stormtroop officer during WWI demonstrates cluster grenades' devastating potential against tanks—a stark reminder of how technology transformed warfare forever. The French Resistance in WWII exemplified courage amidst danger. These brave individuals clandestinely used explosives to disrupt enemy operations and protect their homeland. G. H. Davis's depiction of Britain's frogmen divers showcases their expertise in underwater demolitions—an integral part of neutralizing threats lurking beneath the surface. Members of the bomb disposal squad meticulously measure the length of a time-delayed bomb—every second counts when defusing these deadly devices that threaten innocent lives. Willingham House stands as a testament to history—a former ammunition depot turned into a memorial site honoring those who handled explosives during times of conflict. WWI witnessed unimaginable destruction on an unprecedented scale—the harnessing of atom depicted by G. H. Davis highlights humanity's relentless pursuit for even more powerful explosives. Various types of grenades were deployed during WWI—each designed for specific purposes but sharing one common trait: unleashing devastation upon impact with unwavering force. Fort de la Bonnelle in Saint-Geosmes, Haute-Marne, France serves as a haunting reminder that once this fortress guarded secrets behind its walls—explosives poised to defend or destroy at command. From women working tirelessly to the French Resistance's bravery, they have played a pivotal role in shaping history.