Sticky bomb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| No 74 ST Grenade | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Hand grenade | ||
| Nationality | United Kingdom | ||
| Era | World War II | ||
| Platform | Individual | ||
| Target | Vehicle/Tank | ||
| History | |||
| Date of design | 1940 | ||
| Production period | |||
| Service duration | |||
| Operators | United Kingdom | ||
| War service | World War 2 | ||
| Specifications | |||
| Type | High Explosive | ||
| Filling | nitroglycerine | ||
| Detonation | Timed., 5 seconds | ||
| Weight | 2 lb 4 oz / 1000 g | ||
| Filling weight | 600 g | ||
| Length | 241 mm | ||
| Diameter | mm | ||
| Variants | Mk I and II | ||
| Number built | about 250,000 | ||
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.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
This was an early attempt at an anti-tank grenade. To get the explosive to detonate against the vehicle it relied upon an adhesive, 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 has considerable independence allowing novel ideas to be rapidly developed.[1]
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 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.[2]]
Other accounts also liken the weapon to a sticky toffee apple.[3]
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.
[edit] In popular culture
- In the 1998 movie Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks' character resorts to using sticky bombs as a last 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, then coated with axle grease to provide the stickiness. It blew up one of the bomb's handlers.[4]
- Sticky bombs are used in Call of Duty: Finest Hour during the first two missions in the North African campaign.
- In Company of Heroes, the same type of bomb as used in Saving Private Ryan is implemented as a standard Rifleman squad special ability.
- In Halo, the popular video game series, a sticky hand grenade (the plasma grenade) can be stuck to an opponent, killing them instantly upon detonation.
- In the computer game Battlefield 2142, one of the unlocks in the expansion pack Northern Strike is a shotgun type weapon that fires explosive anti-personnel rounds that stick to the target surface.
[edit] References
- ^ Thomson, George; William Farren [1958]. "Fredrick Alexander Lindemann, Viscount Cherwell", Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Volume 4. London: Royal Society, p63.
- ^ Bill Miles, [1] WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC. The archive can be found at http://bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar
- ^ Memories of life in "D" Company, 32nd (Aldridge) Battalion South Staffordshire Home Guard, in Pelsall, 1942 - 1944. Retrieved on January 29, 2007.
- ^ http://www.sproe.com/s/sticky-bomb.html
- Hogg, Ian V. (1977): The Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of World War II. Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-281-X
[edit] External links
- Home Guard site
- The Home Guard Pocket Manual, by Capt. A. Southworth, M.B.E., p47-48: description of the sticky bomb, use and diagram.
- Imperial War Museum Online Collection. 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.
- Manufacturing at Kay Brothers
| British Grenades of World War I & World War II |
|---|
| Anti-personnel |
| Grenade, No 1 Hales | No.s 5, 23, 36 Mills | No. 69 | No.s 8, 9 Double Cylinder Jam Tin |
| Anti-tank |
| No. 68 AT (Rifle) | No. 73 Thermos | No. 74 Sticky bomb | No. 75 AT Hawkins | |
| Special Types |
| No. 82 Gammon | No. 76 (WP) | No. 77 (WP) | "Lewes bomb" |
