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Sticky bomb
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Popularly known as the sticky bomb, the No 74 ST Grenade was an unusual British hand grenade issued in World War II. Inherently dangerous for the user, it was eventually relegated to Home Guard use. Sticky bombs were employed in the North African Campaign from early 1942, probably as a stop-gap given the ineffectiveness of other anti-tank weapons available to British infantry. It was subsequently replaced by the Gammon bomb, which was a superior weapon in all respects.
was an early attempt at an anti-tank grenade.
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Encyclopedia
Popularly known as the sticky bomb, the No 74 ST Grenade was an unusual British hand grenade issued in World War II. Inherently dangerous for the user, it was eventually relegated to Home Guard use. Sticky bombs were employed in the North African Campaign from early 1942, probably as a stop-gap given the ineffectiveness of other anti-tank weapons available to British infantry. It was subsequently replaced by the Gammon bomb, which was a superior weapon in all respects.
Overview
This was an early attempt at an anti-tank grenade. To get the explosive to detonate against the vehicle armour it relied upon an adhesive coating to hold the bomb in place, hence "Sticky".
The design was a product of an experimental department, MD1, set up in 1940 by Professor Lindemann under Major-General Jefferis. Department MD1 had considerable independence allowing novel ideas to be rapidly developed.
The grenade was formed of a glass sphere containing the liquid explosive and a plastic (Bakelite) handle containing the fuse. The sphere was wrapped by a knitted woollen cover that was coated with a very sticky resin-based adhesive - enough to hold the grenade onto a tank hull. As supplied, a light metal protective case shrouded the adhesive.
In use, pulling one pin released the protector, a second was the safety pin for the fuse. When thrown it had the same action as a Mills bomb; a handle was released, igniting the fuse. If all went well, the grenade would hit the target up to 60 feet away, stick, and then explode.
However, if the grenade stuck to something else, such as the thrower's clothing, then he was in mortal danger, with an armed or - worse - ignited grenade stuck to him.
A young member of the Home Guard remembers witnessing a training incident with the sticky bomb:
- The sticky bomb was more complicated. It was like a large toffee apple. There was a white tape that you stripped off, you then gave the bomb a shake and two halves fell away leaving you with a sticky toffee apple type bomb full of nitro glycerin. You pushed a button in the handle and then whacked it onto the side of a passing enemy tank, which in our case was an old iron boiler towed along behind a lorry. It was while practicing that a HG. bomber got his stick [sic] bomb stuck to his trouser leg and couldn’t shift it. A quick thinking mate whipped the trousers off and got rid of them and the bomb. After the following explosion the trousers were in a bit of a mess though I think they were a bit of a mess prior to the explosion. [Bill Miles, WW2 People's War.]
Other accounts also likened the weapon to a sticky toffee apple.
Even when not used, the glass was a fragile element and easily cracked in transit. The filling, nitroglycerin, was sensitive to shock too. Consequently, although possibly effective, the sticky bomb was never popular.
Sticky bombs were issued to British forces in the Middle East in 1942. The bombs proved to be effective against enemy tanks, with a number of enemy tanks being destroyed by sticky bombs in the fighting at Alamein.
In the 1998 movie Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks' character resorts to using "sticky bombs" as a last-ditch defense against the German Panzer VI Ausf.E Tiger I heavy tanks. These sticky bombs are not British-designed No. 74 ST Grenades, but improvised ones created by filling the GI's socks with composition B and coating the sock in axle grease as an adhesive.
General references
- Hogg, Ian V. (1977): The Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of World War II. Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-281-X*
External links
- , p47-48: description of the sticky bomb, use and diagram.
- . Search for sticky bomb for extensive collection of photographs of sticky bombs being made in a factory. Also, photograph H 30178 shows Home Guardsmen training with the sticky bomb.
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