Item:
ONSV6925

Original Italian WWI Bangalore Torpedo Explosive Tube for Clearing Obstacles

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. A Bangalore torpedo is an explosive charge placed within one or several connected tubes. It is used by combat engineers to clear obstacles that would otherwise require them to approach directly, possibly under fire. It is sometimes colloquially referred to as a "Bangalore mine", "banger" or simply "Bangalore".

The Bangalore torpedo was first devised by Captain R. L. McClintock, of the Royal Engineers while attached to the Madras Sappers and Miners unit of the Indian Army at Bangalore, India, in 1912. He invented it as a means of blowing up booby traps and barricades left over from the Second Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War. The Bangalore torpedo could be exploded over a mine without a sapper having to approach closer than about 3 m (10 ft).

The design quickly spread worldwide to Pioneer troops as a very effective way for clearing obstacles, whether they be mines, barbed wire, or other installed field obstacles. This example is a version used by Italy during the WWI period, and measures about 16 inches in length, not including the fuse.

The construction is relatively simple, as it is pretty much a steel pipe with wooden end plugs, one of which still has part of the original fuse. Originally blued steel, it now has a lot of light surface rust, but it is still solid.

A very hard to find an interesting WWI Italian "Bangalore Torpedo", ready to add to your inert ordnance collection!

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