The British Sticky Bomb Problem: Why the No. 74 Grenade Failed Its Own Soldiers

Описание: It looked improvised, fragile, and strangely unfinished. A smooth sphere hidden beneath a metal shell, carried by hand and meant to be pressed directly onto enemy armor. On paper, it promised a simple answer to a terrifying problem. In reality, it exposed the limits of emergency weapon design under extreme pressure.

In 1940, Britain faced the realistic prospect of armored invasion. Anti-tank guns were scarce, industrial capacity was strained, and time was measured in weeks. Infantry units lacked reliable close-range weapons capable of stopping tanks, forcing planners to accept concepts that would normally never pass formal evaluation.

This film examines the engineering reality of the Anti-Tank Hand Grenade No. 74. A glass sphere filled with nitroglycerin, coated in adhesive, and armed only after its protective casing was removed. The design demanded physical contact with enemy armor, flawless handling, and perfect conditions. Manufacturing shortcuts, inconsistent materials, and ignored safety concerns turned it into a hazard not just to tanks, but to the soldiers issued to use it. Through production records, testing failures, and internal objections, this is the story of how urgency overruled practicality.

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