Brixia Model 35 Mortar Bomb : Private S W Gallahar, 2/6 Ammunition Sub Depot Company, AIF

The Brixia Model 35 Mortar Bomb is fired from the Brixia Model 35 breech loading mortar by a blank cartridge ballistite charge. The top half of the bomb is made from steel and is painted black. The tail assembly is made of aluminium alloy and is painted red. The two halves are threaded and screwed together. A steel cap is attached to a steel strip and a double brass safety strip holds the cap in place. The safety strip passes through two slots near the head of the bomb and lies in a recess of the zinc striker holder. When the pin is pulled and the top cap removed it reveals a small propeller which is locked by a setback pin. On firing the pin drops back into the body and allows the propeller to rotate. This rotation winds down a firing pin into the body arming the bomb. On impact an inertia pellet shoots forward and hits the firing pin. The flash from the percussion cap travels through the inertia pellet and ignites the detonator below it exploding the bomb. Fragments are produced from an internal fragmentation coil as well as the body and fins. The effective fragmentation range of the grenade was fifteen meters.

Bomb used by the Brixia Model 35 mortar which was a standard light mortar of the Italian Army in the Second World War. This bomb was collected at Tobruk by NX11886 Private Sidney William Gallahar. Born in Sydney in 1914, Private Gallahar was 25 years old when he enlisted in the 2nd AIF in April 1940. He served with the 9th Division, Australian Army Service Corps (AASC) when he was in Tobruk, El Alamein in North Africa and Lae-Finschhafen in New Guinea, but as there were few trucks for the AASC he was employed as infantry. He fell ill in New Guinea and was invalided home. He was serving with 2/6 Ammunition Sub Depot Company, when he was discharged in November 1944.