The simple tube devised in Bangalore in 1912 helped Allied forces penetrate the Nazi formations on Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944, and the days following that
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| US troops carry the Bangalore Torpedo after breaking through the German defences at Omaha Beach, Normandy (France) in this June 1944 picture. |
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| Two US soldiers put the Bangalore Torpedo to test in trying to blast a German anti-personnel mine at Omaha Beach in June 1944. Observe the deadly pipe penetrating way beyond the fence wires to reach the spot, a distance away, which needs to be blasted. |
Exactly 69 years ago, to the moment as you are reading this article, Allied forces were blasting their way through the beaches of Normandy (France), in what has historically come to be known as the D-Day (June 6, 1944) -- the day when World War-II started tilting in favour of the Allies. And what helped them significantly in this historical endeavour was a seemingly ordinary-looking long metal tube with Trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosives which could blast anti-personnel mines and enemy bunkers without posing any risk to the soldier using this. This defensive weapon was the Bangalore Torpedo -- so called, because it was devised here in Bangalore by a British Army officer Captain McClintock of the Madras Sappers and Miners (Madras Engineering Group or MEG) in 1912.
The 15-metre-long jointed torpedo was invented primarily as means to explode booby traps and blast away barricades which had been left over by the Boer War and Russo-Japanese War. But it found its way into World War-I, and then proved to be of of immense help to the Allied troops to clear mines and bunkers on the Normandy beaches. In the days and weeks following June 6, 1944, the Nazis were caught unawares by one of the most aggressive and well-planned invasions which was timed in such a manner that the Germans never expected the Allies to carry out an counter-invasion as big as this due to the prevailing poor weather conditions.
The events of the D-Day Normandy beach landings are well featured in the black-and-white multi-starrer film, Longest Day, which also shows the Bangalore Torpedo in action.
MEG officials have said the weapon was used not only to blast anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, but was innovatively used to blast away hill-based enemy bunkers on the beaches of Normandy from where they sniped on the Allied soldiers with deadly effect.
Using the Bangalore Torpedo ensured the safety of the personnel using it even as it effectively neutralised enemy position to allow the Allied troops to advance to capture the higher German positions on the beaches of Normandy.
The MEG officials said the Bangalore Torpedo is a weapon in which a Trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosive charge is placed within one or several connected tubes and the explosive exploded using a long fuse for delayed effect to ensure the user soldier's safety. It is mainly used by combat engineers to clear obstacles and enemy positions without coming under enemy fire. The weapon is also colloquially referred to as a 'Bangalore mine', 'bangers' or simply 'Bangalore'.
“It is a matter of great pride for us (at MEG) that the Bangalore Torpedo was invented here. The Bangalore Torpedo is still being used by Indian Army and many others world over,” Brigadier MN Devaya, commandant of Madras Engineer Group and Centre said, adding that the weapon still had its relevance in modern warfare.
“The fact that it is still being used by the armies and that there has been no better replacement speaks volumes about the capability of the weapon," he said.
Bangalore Torpedoes are even today being manufactured by Mondial Defence Systems of Poole, in UK, for the UK and US armed forces, while Indian Army continues manufacturing its own in Bangalore.
