“Uncover the Fiery Origins of the Molotov Cocktail: A Name That Speaks Volumes of War and Rebellion!”
Two versions of the SIP grenade were manufactured: a thin-walled version with a red cap for hand throwing and a thick-walled version with a green cap for use with the 2.5in Northover Projector, a crude mortar designed specifically for Home Guard use. The maximum range of an SIP grenade fired from a Northover projector was around 200 yards, though at this point the grenade would be tumbling so erratically that the chances of actually hitting a tank would be next to nil. British engineers also developed larger versions of the Molotov cocktail concept such as the Flame Fougasse, Demi-Fougasse, and the Hedge-Hopper. These consisted of a 50-gallon drum filled with gasoline and fuel oil and fitted with a guncotton propellant charge, which were hidden at crossroads and other ambush points. When an enemy vehicle approached the charge would be remotely detonated, launching the drum and covering the target in a sea of flame. By June 1941 nearly 7000 flame traps and 6 million SIP grenades had been manufactured and distributed to the Home Guard. Thankfully the feared German invasion never came and none were ever used in combat, though buried caches of them do still turn up from time to time – much to the chagrin of homeowners and construction workers.
The United States also produced an official Molotov cocktail, designated the M1 Frangible Grenade. Similar to the British SIP, it consisted of a small sealed glass bottle filled with various combinations of alcohol, gasoline, naphthalene, or napalm, ignited by white phosphorus or various chemical and mechanical fuzes. Versions were also made filled with chemical warfare agents such as cyanide and mustard gas. These were not intended for use by regular troops but rather for distribution to guerrilla groups in Japanese-occupied Asian countries. But like many such weapons few if any were ever used in combat and all stocks were destroyed at the conclusion of the war. For while cheap and easy to manufacture, Molotov cocktails are often as hazardous to their users as to the enemy, and have thus largely remained a weapon of last resort. Perhaps their most famous use during WWII was during the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, when a thousand Polish Jews equipped mostly with improvised weapons bravely resisted Nazi attempts to liquidate the ghetto and deport its inhabitants to the extermination camps at Majdanek and Treblinka.
