TYPES OF BOMBS.

Evening Post, Volume XC, Issue 92, 16 October 1915, Page 12

TYPES OF BOMBS.

According to an expert on bombs and bomb throwing, who explains the mystery of the craft in a recent issue of Blackwood's, there are four types of bomb : The hair-brush. The cricket ball. The policeman's truncheon. The jam-tin. "The hair-brush," he says, "is very like the ordinary hair-brush, except that the bristles are replaced by a solid block of high explosive. The policeman's truncheon has gay streamers of tape tied to its tail, to ensure that it falls to the ground nose downwards. Both these bombs explode on impact, and it is inadvisable to knock them against anything — say, the back of the trench — when throwing them. The cricket ball works by a time-fuse. Its manipulation is simplicity itself. The removal of a certain pin releases a spring which lights an internal fuse, timed to explode the bomb, in five seconds. You take the bomb in your right hand, remove the pin, and cast the thing madly from you. The jam-tin variety appeals more particularly to the sportsman, as«^ the element of chance enters largely into its successful use. It is timed to explode about ten seconds after the lighting of the fuse. It is, therefore, unwise to throw it too soon, for then there will be ample time for your opponent to pick it up and' throw it back. On the other hand, it is unwise to hold on too long, as the fuse is uncertain in its action and given to short cuts !"