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Interesting - so it's not thermite? That's what I expected.

Wouldn't thermite destroy the wires rather than soldering them?

So, a weld instead of solder!

Depends. It's used for welding, and the output is iron (magnetic):

I assume it would be too difficult to trigger the thermite reaction in the field with WWII tech, among other problems.

The pyrotechnic compound on the outside only has to get hot enough to melt the solder and flux inside the copper fitting.

I have no idea what the composition on the outside actually is - it’s pretty slow burning at least.