Operational Use
According to a War Office training pamphlet dated 29 August 1940, the sticky bomb should be regarded as a portable demolition device which can be "quickly and easily applied". It was reckoned to be effective against armour of up to one inch (25 mm) thickness and was suitable for use against "baby" tanks, armoured cars and the vulnerable points on medium and heavy tanks. The safest and easiest application was simply to drop it from an upstairs window; otherwise, it could be used in an ambush of mobile tanks moving along a narrow road or in an attack on tanks parked up for the night. The sticky bomb could be either thrown or slapped in place by hand, in the latter case, the advice was to use sufficient force to break the glass thereby creating a greater area of contact resulting in a more effective explosion. Finally, there was also the option of placing the bomb first and then pulling out the pin at a safe distance by means of a length of string.
Macrae credits the Australian army with developing the technique of slapping a sticky bomb directly onto a tank instead of throwing it from a relatively safe distance. Because the bomb used a blast effect, it was safe to do this and walk away provided only that the bomb's handle was pointing away from the bomber – the handle would be shot away from the explosion "like a bullet." Macrae gives no date for the development of this tactic. Macrae confirmed that placing the bomb rather than throwing it gives better adhesion and allows thicker plates to be penetrated.
The potential of the sticky bomb for physical humour has frequently proved too tempting to be neglected, a good example being David Niven’s novel Go Slowly, Come Back Quickly. The unfortunate officer Stanni, while attempting to demolish a smelly privy, loses his dignity and a large section of trouser fabric to such an incident. The sticky bomb also featured in the British television comedy series Dad's Army. In the episode Fallen Idol Lance-Corporal Jack Jones sticks his grenade to an improvised target and retires as instructed but keeps a hold of the grenade which is now primed and stuck to an old dustbin lid.
However, the dangers inherent in the weapon were real enough, if the bomb became inadvertently stuck in mid-throw, it could easily be pulled from a soldier's hand triggering the firing mechanism and putting him in mortal danger. There were tragic accidents during training.
By July 1941, 215,000 sticky bombs had been produced. Of these, nearly 90,000 had been sent abroad to North and South Africa, the Middle East and to Greece where it did useful service. The remainder were stored at Ordnance Depots or distributed to army and Home Guard units. There were many calls for the total production to be cut back and it is not clear how many were manufactured by the end of the war, but it was probably not much more than 250,000.
The grenade was first issued in 1940 to Home Guard units, who appeared to have taken a liking to it despite its flaws. Although the Ordnance Board had not approved the grenade to be used by Regular Army units, a quantity were provided for training purposes. 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. They were also issued to units of the Australian Army, who used them during the Battle of Wau and the Battle of Milne Bay. A large number were also supplied to the French Resistance.
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