Passaglia Grenade
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| P Bomb | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Anti-tank grenade |
| Place of origin | Kingdom of Italy |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Royal Italian Army |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Lieutenant Passaglia |
| Designed | 1941 |
| Manufacturer | Improvised explosive devices |
| No. built | 30000 produced on North African theater |
| Specifications | |
| Filling | TNT or Romite |
| Filling weight | 1 kg or 2 kg |
Passaglia Grenades, also known as P Bombs or Pazzaglia, are homemade weapons used by Italian soldiers during World War II, especially in the North African theater to overcome the chronic lack of effective weapons against armored enemies.
The bomb consisted of a block of explosive, into which was inserted a metal tube of about 7 cm containing an OTO Mod. 35 hand grenade (known to the British as the "Red Devil") to serve as a detonator. The whole assembly was then covered with a canvas bag fitted with a transport hook.
Built in two variants of 1 kg and 2 kg, they required a good physical strength for the launch because of the weight but they were only effective if launched precisely on the engine compartment, in which case they were able to destroy any armored vehicle. For this reason the soldier who wanted to use it necessarily had to approach the objective avoiding being hit by machine-gun fire on board or by the infantry who followed the tanks during their advance.[1]
In 1942 samples of "Pazzaglia" Bombs were sent to be studied in Italy by the military engineering but they never were mass-produced in homeland factory.[2]