U.S. ARMY WWII EXPLOSIVES AND DEMOLITION TRAINING FILM BANGALORE TORPEDO FILM 16004

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“Explosives and Demolitions: Bangalore Torpedoes” is a War Department Official Training Film of the Army Service Forces from 1944. It is produced by the Army Pictorial Service in black and white. It is an instructional video on Bangalore torpedoes, which are primarily used to clear paths through wire obstacles and heavy undergrowth.

The film opens on a barbed wire fence, slowly panning towards soldiers crawling along the ground as they slide a Bangalore torpedo under the fence (0:42). A Bangalore torpedo is a thin metal tube packed with TNT (Trinitrotoluene), invented by the British at the Bangalore Cantonment in India. The soldier is seen lighting the fuse, then he runs for cover (1:19). The torpedo explodes in a wooded area, unleashing a small mushroom cloud of smoke.

Soldiers unpack a box containing torpedoes, removing one of them. A diagram describes the dimensions of the torpedo: 5 feet long, 2⅛ inches in diameter, weighs 14 pounds, with a waterproof case of 20 gauge sheet metal (1:38). It contains an explosive of 80/20 amatol with 4 inches of crystalline TNT at each end. The fragmentation of the metal case allows for the successful breaching of barbed wire.

Soldiers handle the torpedo, putting together sections attached by sleeves with spring clips, which prevent the sections from being pulled apart (2:04). They demonstrate trying to pull apart the torpedo. They place a nose sleeve on the end, preventing wires, brush, and other obstacles from catching on the front end (2:25). Viewers see the well at the end of a section, about three inches deep. Soldiers prepare an electric blasting cap and insert it in the well. The soldier secures it by creating a half hitch knot around the end of the section, fitting it securely. The soldier inserts a non-electric cap, time fuse, and fuse lighter, wedged into place with a small piece of wood (3:00). The soldier demonstrates threading the well (3:14).

Soldiers are seen on a field, carrying a torpedo in their sack (3:26). They set up primer cord on the field, in order to explode several torpedoes at once. They connect branch lines to the main primer cord line, place them in the wells of the torpedoes, knot the cord and wedge it with a piece of wood. They create an improvised torpedo, pouring explosives down a tube and packing it in. Viewers see a close-up of the soldiers packing the casing with broken TNT around the standard blocks (4:00). The primer is created with one block with three turns of primer cord. The soldiers use a wooden plug to keep it all in place, firmly packing it in (4:18). A soldier prepares detonating assemblies by crimping a non-electric cap to one end of the fuse (4:25). A soldier tapes about 18 inches of primer cord to the cap, carefully wrapping the tape to secure it in place (4:40). He inserts the other end of the fuse into the fuse lighter.

Three soldiers join sections using a wooden plug (5:20). After testing the stability of the sections, they walk off with the torpedo. A soldier snakes an improvised torpedo under barbed wire fence (5:46). They prepare to light the fuse, and one of the two quickly retreats. Viewers see a close-up of the second soldier tying a square knot to connect the primer cord lead to the detonator assembly (6:03). He pulls the lighter and quickly takes cover (6:08). Viewers see an explosion in a lightly wooded area.

Soldiers push a board with explosives latched to it under a barbed wire fence (6:26). A soldier prepares the fuse and runs for cover and another explosion is seen (6:46). Soldiers snake another torpedo under a fence (7:07). As one crawls away, the second looks at his watch, waiting for the last possible moment to fire. He lights the fuse and they both run for cover (7:28). The torpedo explodes leaving a cloud of black and gray smoke.

Soldiers charge forward, weapons in hand (7:45). The Bangalore torpedo leaves a 15 foot channel through any entanglement, and the ground is left uncratered. The soldiers are seen on a bridge, securing Bangalore torpedoes between sandbags to use in a bridge demolition (8:00). Soldiers demonstrate the use of the Bangalore when an elongated charge is needed. They stack the torpedoes upright against a concrete structure (8:24). Two soldiers hang a torpedo among brush, creating an anti-personnel mine (8:35). The soldier adjusts the igniter, then conceals it among the foliage (8:50). The film closes with a group of soldiers charging through a gap in a wire entanglement that had been created by a torpedo (9:01).

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com