Sticky bomb

Sticky bomb
Close-up view of sticky bombs being manufactured
Type	Anti-tank hand grenade
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
Used by	United Kingdom, Canada
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Stuart Macrae
Designed	1940
Manufacturer	Kay Brothers Company
Produced	1940-1943
Number built	2.5 million
Specifications
Filling	Nitroglycerine
Filling weight	About 1 lb
Detonation mechanism	Timed, 5 seconds

The Grenade, Hand, Anti-Tank No. 74, commonly known as the sticky bomb, was a British hand grenade designed and produced during the Second World War. The grenade was one of a number of anti-tank weapons developed for use by the British Army and Home Guard as an ad hoc solution to a lack of sufficient anti-tank guns in the aftermath of the Dunkirk evacuation. Designed by a team from MIR(c) including Major Millis Jefferis and Stuart Macrae, the grenade consisted of a glass sphere containing nitroglycerin covered in a powerful adhesive, and surrounded by a sheet-metal casing. When the user pulled a pin on the handle of the grenade, the casing would fall away and expose the sphere; another pin would activate the firing mechanism, and the user would then attempt to attach the grenade to an enemy tank or other vehicle with sufficient force to break the sphere. After it was attached, releasing the lever on the handle would activate a five-second fuse, which would then detonate the nitroglycerin.

The grenade had several faults with its design. In tests it failed to adhere to dusty or muddy tanks, and if the user was not careful after freeing the grenade from its casing, it could easily stick to his uniform. The Ordnance Board of the War Department did not approve the grenade for use by the British Army, but personal intervention by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, led to the grenade going into production. Between 1940 and 1943, approximately 2.5 million were produced. It was primarily issued to the Home Guard, but was also used by British and Commonwealth forces in North Africa, accounting for six German tanks, as well as by Australian Army units during the New Guinea campaign. The French Resistance were also issued with a quantity of the grenades.

Development

With the end of the Battle of France and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the port of Dunkirk between 26 May and 4 June 1940, a German invasion of Great Britain seemed likely.^[1] However, the British Army was not well-equipped to defend the country in such an event; in the weeks after the Dunkirk evacuation it could only field twenty-seven divisions.^[2] The Army was particularly short of anti-tank guns, 840 of which had been left behind in France and only 167 were available in Britain; ammunition was so scarce for the remaining guns that regulations forbade even a single round being used for training purposes.^[2]

Given these shortcomings, those modern weapons that were available were allocated to the British Army, and the Home Guard was forced to supplement the meagre amount of outdated weapons and ammunition they had with ad hoc weapons.^[3] One such weapon was invented by Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Blacker, who created the Blacker Bombard, a swivelling spigot mortar system that could launch a 9.1-kilogram (20 lb) bomb approximately 91 metres (299 ft); although the bombs it fired could not actually penetrate armour, they could still severely damage tanks, and in 1940 a large number of Blacker Bombards were issued to the Home Guard as anti–tank weapons.^[4] Having privately come up with the Bombard, its development was taken on by a department known as MIR(c), which had been created to develop and deliver weapons for use by guerilla and resistance groups in Occupied Europe.^[5]

The two members of MIR(c) were Major Millis Jefferis^[6] and Stuart Macrae,^[7] who came up with the idea of a grenade that would adhere to a tank when it was thrown, either by soldiers or members of the public. When Macrae joined experiments had been tried with plasticene filled rubber bicycle inner tubes but these were inaccurate and insufficiently adhesive.^[8] From there he took the approach that a ball was the best throwing shape.^[9] The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, who was concerned with the state of the country's anti-tank defences, learnt about the grenade and urged its development and production throughout June.^[10] Initial tests of the grenade, which had been given the name of Grenade, Hand, Anti-Tank No. 74, in June were not positive, as it was found that the grenade did not stick to tanks that were covered with dust and mud.^[10] As such, the Ordnance Board of the War Office did not approve the grenade to be used by the Army.^[11] However, Churchill ordered further tests to be conducted in July, and after personally viewing a demonstration of the grenade ordered that it immediately be put into production.^[12] His memo of October 1940 simply read "Stick bomb. Make one million".^[13] The grenades were assembled by the Kay Brothers Company, a chemical manufacturing firm in Stockport who provided the adhesive, and filled with explosive and fitted with detonators by ICI at Ardeer.^[14] Between 1940 and 1943 approximately 2.5 million were produced.^[15]

Design

The Grenade, Hand, Anti-Tank No. 74 consisted of a glass sphere in which was contained approximately 1.25 pounds (0.57 kg) of semi-liquid nitroglycerin devised by ICI. The sphere was covered in stockinette which was coated with a liberal amount of birdlime, an extremely adhesive substance from which the nickname 'sticky bomb' was derived.^[17] A casing made out of thin sheet-metal, and formed of two halves, was then placed around the sphere and held in place by a wooden handle, inside of which was a five-second fuse.^[17] The handle also contained two pins and a lever; the first pin was pulled out to make the casing fall away, and the second to activate the firing mechanism in the grenade. This primed the grenade, with the lever being held down to ensure the fuse was not triggered; then the user would run up to the tank and stick the grenade to its hull, using as much force as possible to break the sphere and spread the nitroglycerin onto the hull in a thick paste.^[11] Another alternative was for the user to throw it at the tank from a distance. Either way, the lever would be released and the fuse activated, and the grenade would then detonate.^[18]

The grenade did possess several problems with its design. Users were urged to actually run up to the tank and place it by hand, rather than throw it, thus the adhesive could very easily stick to their uniform in the process; the user would then be placed in the unenviable situation of attempting to pry the grenade loose whilst still holding onto the lever.^[11] It was also discovered that as time passed the nitroglycerin began to deteriorate and become unstable, which made it even more difficult to use.^[11] As the grenade was a short-range weapon, users were trained to hide in a trench or other place of concealment until the tank went past them, and then to stick the grenade to the rear of the tank, where its armour was thinnest.^[19] However, provided that they were not in line with the handle when it detonated they were relatively safe if only a few yards away.^[20] The Mark II design used a plastic casing instead of glass, and a detonator instead of a cap.^[21]

Operational history

The grenade was first issued in 1940 to Home Guard units, who appeared to have taken a liking to it despite its flaws.^[22] Although the Ordnance Board had not approved the grenade to be used by Regular Army units, a quantity were provided for training purposes.^[11] However, a number of sticky bombs did find their way to British and Commonwealth units participating in the campaign in North Africa, and were used as anti-tank weapons. During the Afrika Korps advance towards the town of Thala in February 1943, they accounted for six German tanks.^[23] They were also issued to units of the Australian Army, who used them during the Battle of Wau^[24] and the Battle of Milne Bay.^[25] A large number were also supplied to the French Resistance.^[26]

Users

Users of the grenade included:

•  Australia^[24]
•  French Resistance^[26]
•  United Kingdom^[11]

See also

• British anti-invasion preparations of World War II
• PIAT
• Blacker Bombard

References

Bibliography

• Bull, Stephen; Dennis, Peter; Delf, Brian; Chappell, Mike; Windrow, Martin (2004). World War II Infantry Tactics. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1841766631. 
• Bradley, Phillip (2008). The Battle for Wau: New Guinea's Frontline, 1942-1943. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521896819. 
• Brune, Peter (1998). The Spell Broken: Exploding the Myth of Japanese Invincibility : Milne Bay to Buna-Sanananda 1942-43. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1864486937. 
• Churchill, Winston (1985). The Second World War Volume II. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0395410568. 
• French, David (2000). Raising Churchill's Army: The British Army and the War against Germany 1919-1945. Oxford University Press. ISBN 019924630. 
• Hogg, Ian (1995). Tank Killers: Anti-Tank Warfare by Men and Machines. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 0330353160. 
• Lampe, David (1968). The Last Ditch: Britain's Secret Resistance and the Nazi Invasion Plan. Greenhill Books. ISBN 9781853677304. 
• Mackenzie, S.P. (1995). The Home Guard: A Military and Political History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198205775. 
• Macrae, Stuart (1971). Winston Churchill's Toyshop. Roundwood. ISBN 900093 22 6. 
• Watson, Bruce (2007). Exit Rommel: The Tunisian Campaign, 1942-43. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0811733815. 
• Weeks, John (1975). Men Against Tanks: A History of Anti-Tank Warfare. David & Charles. ISBN 0715369091. 

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
• School for Home Guard - news item featuring sticky bomb.. [Newsreel]. British Pathé. 7 August 1941. Event occurs at 0:27. http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=12478. Retrieved 8 March 2010.