England used dum dum ammunition

[George Van Amber]

I read that England used dum dum ammunition against the Germans which was outlawed. What is dum dum ammunition?

[jon prince]

'Dum-dum' usually refers these days to any 'ordinary' jacketed bullet that has been modified (usually illegally in most western contries) to easily expand/flatten when entering the body. This typically means the tip of a bullet is removed, exposing a softer lead or copper core and when the bullet hits something hard it will flatten/peel itself open to a make a more serious wound than standard ball ammo. Use of expanding munitions in war was prohibited by the Hague convention of 1899 and the British army of WW2 certainly DID NOT ISSUE expanding munitions or include their use in military training. Sometimes soldiers were known to alter standard 'ball' ammunition, but most never bothered or had enough respect for their enemies to not inflict something upon them that they'd rather not be exposed to themselves. There are lots of similar stories about the alleged use of unusual or illegal munitions from both WW1 and WW2, and most armies, often they are utterly wrong, a result of propoganda, hear-say or misunderstanding. For example many British accounts from WW2 state German snipers often used 'special wooden tipped ammunition' that would deliberately splinter when entering the body and be more difficult for medical staff to find and remove. The only German wooden topped ammunition I know of was simply drill/blank ammunition for training, but some soldier finds some, he tells someone, who tells someone else and before long myths are established as fact.

[JamesL]

George - you might want to cite your reference regarding the use of dum-dum ammunition.

[David Thompson]

There is a detailed discussion of the "dum-dum" allegation in this thread:

Le Paradis
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=70079

The name "Dum Dum" refers to an arsenal in British India.