Koenig

Thanks to all those who showed interest in this matter. About the unfair lack of AT capability of Commonwealth forces in CMAK, I can only agree. However I don't know much about it, so I'll leave the matter to Allied grogs. I can tell that Australian troops used the S.T. granade since the 1941 siege of Tobruk. I don't know if it was used earlier. Generally speaking, I think it can be of interest the S.M.R.E. study of September 1941 I quoted above. I'll translate some passages. They are written in a bad Italian, and I doubt that my translation will improve it. Anyway I have tried to be as close as possible to the original. 'Considering that: -anti-tank granades are widely and effectively used by the German, British and Russian army (the Germans use granade sticks, packets of seven granades where only the central one retains the handle; the Russians use the incendiary bomb 'Molotov Cocktail' and AW phosphorus granades, two kind of incendiary bombs; the British employ the same bombs as the Russians and an S.T. granade with a charge of about 400 gr. of nitroglycerine) by tank-hunter teams; -expecially for a question of morale, it is very important that the infantry soldier has a weapon to counter effectively tanks; we agree about the opportunity to resume the study for the adoption of an anti-tank granade. Because we believe incendiary bombs are more effective against tanks than explosive ones, it is opportune that an incendiary bomb which can be thrown even from short distance, from an open position, is developed (offensive granade). Explosive granades, instead, to be effective should contain a higher quantity of explosive than ordinary granades so, besides being less handy, can not be thown without risk from short distance.' It is curious to note that the safe distance for the explosive Breda mod.42 is quoted as 5-8 meters, as for the incendiary O.T.O. mod. 42 it is 10 meters! By the way, you were obviously right about the latter, Gibson m. Regards Koenig

I noticed the total absence of AT weapons in Italian squads. I understand the subject is rather obscure, so I'd like to bring some light on it, in the hope the situation can be modified in a future CMAK patch. Because of the lack of effective AT weapons, the Italian soldiers were forced to use unconventional means. The most common was obviously the Molotov cocktail, used since the Spanish Civil War. General Trocchia wrote in the 'Relazione sugli avvenimenti dal 9 dicembre 1940 al 5 gennaio 1941 dall'Halfaia a Bardia' ('Report on the events from 9th December 1940 to 5th January 1941 from Halfaia to Bardia'): 'Makeshift incendiary bombs (granades stuck to bottles filled with petrol) did not inspire trust, despite the throwers had witnessed the use by Moroccan troops in Spain. To the Regiment Commanders I had said: 'Better than nothing'.' Very popular was the 'hand granade Passaglia', after the name of the Engineer officier that invented it. It was made of a metal handle 40 cm long, attached to a canvas sack treated with castor oil and filled with explosive. The primer was inside the handle; alternatively an O.T.O. mod.35 granade was used. The Passaglia granade was effectively used by the regiment 'Giovani Fascisti' in its heroic stand at Bir-el-Gobi, in December 1941. Given the widespread use of makeshift AT bombs, in September 1941 S.M.R.E. (General Staff of Royal Army) made a study to start the industrial production of such weapons. On 4th March 1942 the Inspectorate of Infantry issued the circular n. 1926 Difesa controcarri. Criteri d'impiego delle armi controcarri. (Anti-tank defence. Criteria of employment of anti-tank weapons), where the use of Molotov cocktails was codified. The Folgore division was expecially successful with them. Lt. Col. Bechi, commander of 187th Regiment Folgore, wrote in his report 'Esperienze ed ammaestramenti tratti dall'impiego della div. Folgore' (Experiences and learnings from the employment of the Folgore division): '...incendiary bottles that, well handled, gave excellent results against tanks. (...) Gradually flamethrowers were discarded and with their personel Molotov cocktail thrower teams were formed; they proved to be very useful.' In 1942 two models of anti-tank granade entered service. The first was the Breda mod.42. This was basically an ordinary Breda mod.40 granade which at the bottom had an aluminium sphere containing a supplementary charge of 575 g. of explosive. The granade could penetrate plates up to 20mm and cause flaking to 40mm ones. The safe throwing distance was 5-8 meters. 40,000 Breda mod. 42 were ordered. The second was the O.T.O. mod. 42 incendiaria. This was an O.T.O. mod. 35 with a modified safety, without explosive, with a glass container screwed to the bottom and filled with 600 cl. of a mix of flamethrower liquid, petrol and sticky incendiary material. The granade weighted about 1 kg and could be thrown at over 20 meters of distance; the safe distance was 10 meters. Another weapon used by the Italian infantry was the war-prize British S.T. type, for which the Inspectorate of Infantry issued Circular n. 591 in 1942. I suppose you know the technical features of this weapon so I won't list them here. By the way, I hope Commonwealth troops in CMAK are issued with them in the future! In 1942 training courses for tank hunting were organized for anti-tank, recon and pioneer platoons. On 8th February 1943 the Training Office of S.M.R.E. issued circular n. 2000 'Squadre pattugliatori-cacciatori di carri' (Tank patrol-hunter squads). These were to be formed by 3-7 men per infantry company and be composed by 'selected and expecially trained men who, being free from other duties in occasion of close fighting with tanks, can pursue with superior effectiveness their specific duty'. In the same circular it was specified that anti-tank training was nevertheless to be given to all infantry soldiers. With Circular n. 77340/3 of 9th July 1943 (the day before Sicily landing!) tank-hunters squads were established for coastal battalions too. Other weapons entered service a few months before the armistice, such as the Anti-tank Smoke Bottle, the Adhesive Anti-tank Magnetic Granade and the Anti-tank Sticky Bomb D.S. mod 43. The Smoke Bottle was a glass container with 45 gr. of fossil flour (not sure the translation is right here lol) and 550 gr. of smoke liquid. 50,000 were ordered. It lasted 8 minutes and could cause the tank crew to abandon the vehicle; anyway it was good to cover tank hunters using magnetic mines. These ones weighted 3.4 kg and could penetrate up to 150 mm of armour. The mine exploded 6-7 seconds after the safety was pulled. 10,000 were ordered. The Breda D.S. mod. 43 sticky bomb used viscous substances to adhere to the armour, weighted 1.8 kg and could penetrate 60mm plates. If the Germans had granade bundles, at least the Italians had Molotov Cocktails. Actually something more, as I wrote above... Regards Koenig