24. A Weapon That Backfired in Hilariously Gruesome Ways
The Sticky Bomb had a second and even bigger problem. Not only did it often fail to stick to a tank like it should, it had an unfortunate tendency to stick to what it should not: the user. In cartoon-like fashion, the adhesive tended to leak and glue the bomb to its thrower’s hand or uniform. As a result, there were likely many situations that would have been funny had they not ended so tragically and gruesomely. A Sticky Bomb user could pull the pin to arm the five-second fuse, then attempt to stick the bomb to a tank or throw it at one, only to discover to his horror that it was stuck to his hand instead.
He would probably spend the last moments of his life frantically shaking his hand like Wile E. Coyote with a stick of TNT glued to his paw. As recounted by a British Home Guard member: “It was while practicing that a Home Guard bomber got his sticky 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.” Despite the shortcomings, the weapon was issued to the British Army and Home Guard in 1941 and remained in the stocks until it was declared obsolete in 1941.