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{{EngvarB|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox weapon
|name=No. 73
| image= Hand Percussion Grenade (anti-tank No 73 Mark I) diagram.jpg
| image_size = 250
|caption= Hand percussion grenade (anti-tank No. 73 Mark I){{sfn|Military Training Manual No 42}}
|origin=United Kingdom
|type=[[Anti-tank]] [[grenade]]

|is_ranged=
|is_bladed=
|is_explosive=yes
|is_artillery=
|is_vehicle=

|service=1940–1941<br>1943–?1945
|used_by=United Kingdom
|wars= [[Second World War]]

|designer=
|design_date=
|manufacturer=
|production_date=
|number=
|variants=

|weight={{convert|4.5|lb|kg}}
|length={{convert|11|in|mm}}
|part_length=
|crew=

|diameter={{convert|3.5|in|mm}}
|filling=Polar ammonal gelatine dynamite or nitrogelatine
|filling_weight={{convert|3.5|lb|kg}}
|detonation=Impact
|yield=
}}

The '''No. 73 grenade''', also known as the "'''Thermos'''", "'''Woolworth bomb'''",<ref name="Mackenzie92">Mackenzie, p. 92</ref> or "'''hand percussion grenade'''",<ref name="Hogg239">Hogg, p. 239</ref> was a British [[anti-tank grenade]] used during the [[Second World War]]. It got its nickname from the resemblance to a [[vacuum flask|Thermos flask]].

==Development==
With the end of the [[Battle of France]] and the evacuation of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] from [[Dunkirk evacuation|the port of Dunkirk]] between 26 May and 4 June 1940, a [[Operation Sea Lion|German invasion of Great Britain]] seemed likely.<ref>Mackenzie, p. 20</ref> The [[British Army]] was not well-equipped to defend the country in such an event; in the weeks after the Dunkirk evacuation it could only field twenty-seven divisions.<ref name="Lampe3">Lampe, p. 3</ref> The Army was particularly short of anti-tank guns, 840 of which had been left behind in France leaving only 167 available in Britain; ammunition was so scarce for the remaining guns that regulations forbade any being used for training purposes.<ref name="Lampe3" />

As a result of these shortcomings, new anti-tank weapons had to be developed to equip the British Army and the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] with the means to repel German armoured vehicles.<ref>Hogg, pp. 237–239</ref> Many of these were [[anti-tank]] [[hand grenade]]s, large numbers of which could be built in a very short space of time and for a low cost.<ref name="Mackenzie92"/> They included the [[Sticky bomb|grenade, hand, anti-tank No. 74]], also known as the "sticky bomb", which was coated with a strong adhesive and stuck to a vehicle, and the [[No. 76 Special Incendiary Grenade|No. 76 special incendiary grenade]], essentially a simple [[White phosphorus munitions|white phosphorus]] [[Incendiary device|incendiary]] contained in a breakable glass container, like a more sophisticated variation of the [[Molotov cocktail]] (which simply uses a flammable liquid such as gasoline and a burning rag as a "fuse").<ref>Hogg, pp. 239–240</ref> Ian Hogg states that the simplest of these grenades was the No. 73 grenade.

==Design==
The No. 73 grenade had a roughly cylindrical shape and plastic screw-on cap,<ref name=RottmanInfantry25>Rottman, ''World War II Infantry Assault Tactics'', p. 25</ref> similar to that of a [[vacuum flask|Thermos flask]], from which the "Thermos bomb" nickname was derived.<ref name="Longmate77">Longmate, p. 77</ref> It was approximately {{convert|3.5|in|mm}} in diameter and {{convert|11|in|mm}} in length,<ref name=RottmanInfantry62>Rottman, ''World War II Infantry Assault Tactics'', p. 62</ref> and weighed {{convert|4.5|lb|kg}}. Its explosive content consisted of {{convert|3.5|lb|kg}} of polar ammonal gelatine dynamite or nitrogelatine – both of which were highly flammable and could be detonated by the impact of small-arms fire.<ref name="RottmanInfantry25"/> When thrown at a tank or other vehicle, a weighted tape held in the users hand unravelled and pulled free a safety pin, which was attached to a Type 247 "all-ways" [[fuze]] (the same type used in the [[Gammon bomb]] and [[No. 69 grenade]]); this armed and then detonated the grenade.<ref name=Bull30>Bull, p. 30</ref> Its weight meant that it could only be thrown short distances,<ref name="Mackenzie92"/> limiting its range to between {{convert|10|and|15|yd|m|0}},<ref name=RottmanInfantry25/> and its detonation could injure the user if they did not find cover before it detonated.<ref name="Mackenzie92"/> It was able to penetrate {{convert|2|in|mm}} of armour,<ref name=Rottmanantitank>Rottman, ''World War II Infantry Anti-Tank Tactics'', p. 62</ref> and "damage severely any light tank."<ref name="Hogg239"/> It was best used against the tracks of a tank, which it could easily blow off<ref name=RottmanInfantry25/> and force its crew to waste time by stopping and repairing it.<ref>Bull, pp. 30–31</ref>

==Operational history==
The No. 73 grenade was first issued in the last months of 1940, but it was rarely used as an anti-tank grenade; instead the fuze was usually removed and it was used as a demolition charge. It was withdrawn from service within a year, and reissued again in 1943 for the express purpose of being used for demolition work.<ref name=RottmanInfantry25/> On 27 May 1942, a modified version of the grenade was used in the [[Operation Anthropoid|assassination of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich]], when paratrooper [[Jan Kubiš]] threw it at Heydrich's car in Prague. The bomb used for this purpose had been shortened.<ref>Šolc, Jiří: Nikdo nás nezastaví. Prague 1992</ref>

==See also==
* {{annotated link|British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War}}
* {{annotated link|RPG-40}}
* {{annotated link|Blacker Bombard}}
* {{annotated link|Smith Gun}}
* {{annotated link|Northover Projector}}
* {{annotated link|PIAT}}

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book
| last=Bull
| first=Stephen
|author2=Dennis, Peter |author3=Delf, Brian |author4=Chappell, Mike |author5= Windrow, Martin
| title=World War II Infantry Tactics
| publisher=Osprey Publishing
| year=2004
| isbn=1-84176-663-1}}
*{{cite book
| last = Hogg
| first = Ian
| title = Tank Killers: Anti-Tank Warfare by Men and Machines
| publisher = Pan Macmillan
| year = 1995
| isbn = 0-330-35316-0}}
*{{cite book
| last = Lampe
| first = David
| title = The Last Ditch: Britain's Secret Resistance and the Nazi Invasion Plan
| publisher = Greenhill Books
| year = 1968
| isbn = 978-1-85367-730-4}}
*{{cite book
| last = Longmate
| first = Norman
| title = The Real Dad's Army: The Story of the Home Guard
| publisher = Hutchinson Library Services
| year = 1974
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Lowry
| first = Bernard |author2=Taylor, Chris |author3=Boulanger, Vincent
| title = British Home Defences 1940–45
| publisher = Osprey Publishing
| year = 2004
| isbn = 1-84176-767-0}}
*{{cite book
| last = Mackenzie
| first = S.P.
| title = The Home Guard: A Military and Political History
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| year = 1995
| isbn = 0-19-820577-5}}
*{{cite book
| last=Rottman
| first=Gordon L.
|author2=Noon, Steve |author3=Windrow, Martin
| title=World War II Infantry Anti-Tank Tactics
| publisher=Osprey Publishing
| year=2005
| isbn=1-84176-842-1}}
*{{cite book
| last=Rottman
| first=Gordon L.
|author2=Dennis, Peter
| title=World War II Infantry Assault Tactics
| publisher=Osprey Publishing
| year=2008
| isbn=978-1-84603-191-5}}
*{{Cite book
| title = The Hand Percussion Grenade (Anti-tank No. 73, Mark I)
| series = Tank Hunting and Destruction, Military Training Manual No 42, Appendix D
| publisher = [[War Office]]
|date=February 1941
| ref = {{harvid|Military Training Manual No 42}}
}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
*{{cite video
| date = 7 August 1941
| title = School for Home Guard – news item featuring thermos bomb.
| url = http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=12478
| medium = Newsreel
| publisher = British Pathé
| access-date = 8 March 2010
}}
*[http://www.home-guard.org.uk/hg/gren73.html Home Guard website article]

{{WW1and2 British Grenades}}

[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II grenades of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Anti-tank grenades]]
[[Category:Hand grenades of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1940]]

No. 73 grenade - Bewerkingsoverzicht

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