Italian Forces

The Italian “Thermos” bomb

Cross-section of an Italian "Thermos" bomb; picture abstracted by "Italian and French Explosive Ordnance", Bureau of Ordnance (US Navy) publication 14 June 1946. “Thermos bomb” is the nickname of the Anti-personnel (AP) Bomb Manzolini, or 4 AR, for the Italians “Spezzone”, employed in Libya during the first phase of the war both by the S.79 (which used also the 2 kg “spezzoni”) and Breda 65 of the 50th Stormo Assalto. In substance a multipurpose mine scatterable by aircraft used against airfields, vehicles and personnel. The bomb was a cylinder with lenght 31 centimetre long and weight 3.68 kilograms. It could be fitted with a very sensitive motion-sensitive fuze that would detonate if any attempt was made to move it, and could be lethal in the open up to around 35 metres away. A later variant of the fuze introduced an additional time delayed detonation, which was triggered between 60 to 80 hours after. Victor Sierra