Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Japanese Lunge Mines and Banzai Sticks — Last-Ditch Weapons in WWII” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/japanese-lunge-mines/.
Japanese Lunge Mines and Banzai Sticks — Last-Ditch Weapons in WWII
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
HayesGreener
Hellcat
They were a committed enemy. I heard stories of Pacific island battles and Naval battles from veterans when I was a boy. The Fortunately Truman had the cajones to use nukes as our casualties in an invasion would have been astronomical.
KillerFord1977
SAINT
I do have an Imperial Japanese Army bayonet. Pic here with an old army bayonet that was in need of some TLC.
Never knew what the hook was for. Learned something new.
Never knew what the hook was for. Learned something new.
It is a reasonably good article. The main criticism I'd have concerns the "lunge" mines & some conflation of the term "fougasse" (which they really aren't). I've armed many a flame fougasse and examined others, like stone fougasses & the only thing they have in common with the Lunge device is that they are single-use. (Ancient stone fougasses, like the ones on Malta can eventually be "reloaded", but unlikely during actual contact).
If the article mentioned the "Munroe Effect", I overlooked it. It is implied by the description of the shaped charge assembly which utilized this principle.
An additional oversight (unless I missed it) was characterizing these for what they were, "Pole charges" as they were known and employed in various conflicts, especially the early years of the Vietnam War. Essentially a "poor man's Bangalore Torpedo" they were used in the same manner to breach wire/berm/abatis defenses. Usually just a length of bamboo with a bagged charge and a detonating line that was also alarmingly short.
If the article mentioned the "Munroe Effect", I overlooked it. It is implied by the description of the shaped charge assembly which utilized this principle.
An additional oversight (unless I missed it) was characterizing these for what they were, "Pole charges" as they were known and employed in various conflicts, especially the early years of the Vietnam War. Essentially a "poor man's Bangalore Torpedo" they were used in the same manner to breach wire/berm/abatis defenses. Usually just a length of bamboo with a bagged charge and a detonating line that was also alarmingly short.