Today’s post is on grenades. We will start at the beginning of the war
with some of the early hand grenades, and in a later post we will look at
what they evolved into. Before we start, I want to point out that it is
very important to know what you are doing when handling antique grenades.
Unless you are a trained EOD expert who is familiar with the type of
grenade you will be handling, you need to be sure the grenade has been
correctly rendered inert before have anything to do with it. Many of the
explosives used in the older grenades become very unstable with age. The
best way to determine if the grenade is inert is to see a photo of the
cavity of the grenade body before you agree to acquire it. This has one
problem, the State of California decided that all inert grenades should
have the body filled with an inert substance so they could not be filled
with explosives. This makes many of the grenades that have traveled
through that state something that every collector should avoid. The only
way to tell if the filling in the grenade is inert, is to do an analysis
of the “inert†substance. There has been more than one case where
someone has lost their life trying to remove the filling from an antique
grenade, leave that to the EOD experts, and in most cases they will do it
with an explosive charge.
1.
It is amazing to me the number of designs and expense of manufacture that
went into these small devices that were intended to do grievous harm to
our fellow man. The early grenades, for the most part, were simple,
hollow, round, cast balls filled with black powder and a fuse. Those of
us who grew up watching Rocky and Bullwinkle on Saturday morning will
remember the grenade that Boris Badenov was always throwing at our heroes.
2.
In this photo, on the left is a French M1847 ball grenade with an M1882
friction fuse that could be attached to a cord that would pull the igniter
when the grenade was thrown. This type of fuse replaced the wick fuse,
but as it was just a wooden body pressed into the grenade, it had the
possibility of pulling the whole fuse out with the igniter. On the right
is the French M1914 grenade, the only real change was to design a fuse
that had a metal base that screwed into the grenade body. These grenades
could also be launched with a catapult.
3.
Compare the French ball grenades with the German Kugelgrenaten (ball
grenades) which are the same size and weight, but differed greatly in that
the French grenades were internally segmented, while the German grenades
were externally segmented. In the photo on the left is an M1913
Kugelgrenate, on the right is an example of the M1915 grenade. In the
center is an example of recovered fragments of an exploded M1915 grenade.
This shows the uneven fragmentation achieved with external segmentation.
The advantage to internal segmentation is that the force of the explosion
can get into the groves and force the segments apart better. The problem
is the casting is more difficult.
4.
The ball grenades were bulky and difficult to carry and throw effectively,
they had to be thrown from cover as the large fragments could remain
lethal for a longer distance than the soldier could throw them. By 1915,
The British soldiers were using a hand grenade that was so advanced that
it remained in production for decades after World War One was over. The
Mills #5 bomb was a very well designed automatic grenade that would arm
itself when it left the thrower’s hand. It was also externally segmented
and also had a problem with poor fragmentation as can be see by the
fragment shown in the photo along with a complete #5 Mills bomb.
5.
This photo has a British #15 ball grenade and a #16 oval grenade. These
were developed by the British in 1917 long after the Germans and French
had progressed to better grenades. Most of these grenades were sent to
the Russians and many of the surviving examples are coming from that
region.
6.
In this photo there are two examples of the German Eihandgrenaten (egg
hand grenades). The one in the center has the common friction fuse and
has a transport plug next to it. The one on the right has a more complex
friction fuse that was made to protected the fuse from water damage. The
zinc cap must be unscrewed to allow the small ball on a chain to be pulled
to ignite the fuse train. Most of these grenades had a 5 ½ second fuse
length, but wartime production could cause some variation in the actual
time of burn. This would not have been a comforting thought for any
soldier using them. On the far left of the photo is the British #34
grenade, it was designed to counter the effectiveness of the German egg
grenades as a larger number could be carried easily and they could be
thrown greater distances. The #34 grenade was activated by pulling the
safety ring and then striking the top of the grenade against a solid
object, igniting the fuse train with an internal percussion cap.
7&8.
This photo shows the German discus grenades, they were very unusual in
their design and intended to explode on impact. The smaller grenade on
the left is the M1913 defensive model, it had a cast iron shell with
internal fragmentation segments (the grenade is shown disassembled in the
8th photo) with two small bags which contained the explosive. The grenade
on the right is the M1915 and is an offensive model. It has a thin sheet
metal shell with no fragmentation and was a concussion grenade. These
grenades were held with the forefinger on the cap with the safety pin.
The pin would be pulled and then the grenade was thrown with a spinning
motion that would cause the cap to fall off and a safety bar in the center
tube would be thrown out via centrifugal force exposing a four pointed
star in the very center of the body. When the grenade landed on its edge,
one of the strikers in the four arms would strike the star and ignite the
detonator in the tube opposite the safety pin. If the grenade failed to
land on its edge, it was unlikely to detonate. These complex grenades
were unreliable and soon discontinued.
9.
All of the warring armies found they did not have an adequate supply of
hand grenades and quickly produced many improvised grenades. The French
Pétard Raquette (shown at the top of the photo) is an example of a very
successful improvisation. It had an explosive charge in the short piece
of pipe wired to a wooden handle. The detonator was connected to a short
length of fuse that was connected to a percussion cap in the wood block at
the left end, a simple nail was the firing pin that could be struck by any
hard abject. A wire hook was attached to the wooden handle so they could
be carried on the belt. The Germans made a similar type of improvised
grenade as well. In the lower left is a French cast iron grenade called
the Citron Foug, it was developed in 1915 and is a simple iron casting
that filled with Cheditte, a nitrate and chlorate based explosive, the
opening was closed with a wooden plug with a percussion system that could
be struck on any hard object before throwing. In the lower right of the
same photo is a British improvised grenade that was manufactured behind
the lines in Northern France, it is called the Battye for the
manufacturer. It was a simple cast iron cylinder with one end open that
would be filled with explosive and closed with a wood plug containing a
fuse. The British also used a grenade called the “jam tin†which was
just a tin can filled with explosives and any small hard objects such as
nails or rocks and a detonator and fuse. The British had already accepted
and started production of the very practical #5 Mills bomb, but it was
expensive and time consuming to produce, so they relied on expedients to
fill the gap.
10.
Germany’s best know grenade is commonly called the potato masher due to it
being shaped much like a kitchen tool. There were a number of different
Stielhandgrenaten (stick hand grenades). The first were fielded in 1915.
This is a restored example of a M1915 Percussion grenade, it had a lever
that was secured with a safety pin and a pull ring. The lever was grasped
by the handle and the safety pin pulled before throwing the grenade. When
the grenade left the hand, the lever would fly off assisted by a spring,
releasing a firing pin that would strike the detonator when the grenade
hit the ground.
11.
The first Stielhandgrenate would be the basis for the potato masher that
would be used through the second conflict. The canister was filled with
explosive and screwed on a hollow wooden handle, the detonator was
inserted into the explosive in the cannister with the fuse and igniter
below it in the handle and a wire extended out the end of the handle that
was secured with tape. The wire would be pulled to lite the fuse which
had a 5 ½ second burn time. The grenades shown in the photo are M1917
models. They are very similar to the M1915 with the exception of the wire
being replaced with a cord and a porcelain ball with a screw on cap. The
cap kept the grenade from being accidentally armed and kept dirt and
moisture out of the igniter and fuse. The top one has a later designed
canister that required fewer parts, stenciled on the side are the
instructions “Vor gebrauch Sprengkapsel einsetzen†(before use,
insert detonator). Both examples have a 5 ½ second fuse, they did
produce a version that had a 7 ½ second fuse to be used at night when it
was safer to have a longer fuse.
12.
These are two different examples of Austro-Hungarian stick grenades, the
top is a Rohr Grenate (pipe grenade). It has a hollow cardboard handle
with the explosive in the steel cylinder (the top is solid) a detonator is
inserted in the explosive. Dynamon (an ammonium nitrate ) was used with a
7 second fuse, the igniter had a pull string that came out the end of the
tube and was secured with tape. The grenade on the bottom is the
Zeitzünderhandgranate (time fuse hand grenade). It also had a charge of
Dynamon and a safety fuse of 7 to 8 seconds in length. The wire handle
was bent in a hook to hang on the belt and could be straightened out to
make a longer handle for more leverage to throw farther. This grenade was
first used in 1914 and there were two versions, this one had the fuse at
the base, but some had the fuse on the top.
13.
This is an Italian Carbone grenade, it was a copy of the Austrian grenade
and had a safety fuse at the top of the grenade.
14.
These are two Italian hand grenades, the one on the left is a SIPE
grenade, it was an externally segmented, cast iron body filled with black
powder and had a safety fuse that was lit with a match. It is interesting
to note that the safety cap is threaded in the opposite direction so that
the fuse housing would not be accidentally screwed out when the safety cap
was removed. The grenade on the right is the Thevenot-Lafitte which was a
concussion grenade. The outer plate is held in place with a two pronged
safety pin that is removed before throwing, the striker is released on
impact.
15.
These are two Russian stick grenades, the bottom is the M1912
“lantern†grenade, it was filled with Dynamite. This is a rather
complex grenade, and one of the earliest self arming grenades. To use
this grenade, the primer, fuse and detonator was inserted into the top of
the grenade, aligned with the striker, the striker was pulled down and
hooked on the lever in the handle. The safety catch was engaged and a
safety rig was place on the handle and lever. Before throwing, the safety
catch was disengaged and the ring was to be held between the third and
little finger and pulled off as it was thrown. I suspect that most
soldiers would remove the safety ring before throwing as the action of
removing it as it was being thrown would adversely affect the accuracy of
the throw. A spring in the handle would force the lever out, releasing
the striker and starting the fuse. The plate of little squares is a
fragmentation plate out of an M1912 grenade, the size of the fragments are
¼ Vershok, an obsolete Russian measurement. The grenade could be made as
a concussion or fragmentation by inserting the plates before filling or
omitting them. The top grenade is an M1914, it functions in the same
manner as the M1912, but is made entirely of steel. It used the same type
of fragmentation plates as the M1912, they could be bent to insert before
filling. The explosive had to be put in the grenade before the top was
soldered in place on both models. Dynamite has to have a detonator to
explode, but the heat of the soldering process would surely have caused
off gassing and no doubt the people who assembled these grenades suffered
from terrible headaches.
16.
This is the M1914 dissembled, showing the fragmentation plate (there were
two in this grenade) and the detonator. I will mention that detonators
are also very dangerous if they are not rendered inert. This one has had
all the fulminate of mercury removed and replaced with Styrofoam for
display, but a detonator of this size could be fatal if handled without
being rendered inert.
17.
This is a Turkish #2 Infantry Grenade, it is an externally segmented cast
iron body (some were an alloy) and has a reproduction fuse made from
measurements taken from an original in the Imperial War Museum in London.
18.
This is a British #5 Mills bomb, a very successful automatic grenade that
was in use through the 1970s with few changes. It had a lever that was
held down by a pin. When the pin was pulled and the grenade was thrown
the lever flew off and released the striker that started a 5 second fuse
train. This example was recovered from the Somme battle field in 2010 in
a full case of grenades and rendered inert by a trained British EOD
expert. It still has remnants of the paint.
19.
These are the French OF and F1 grenades, the one on the left is an OF with
a 1916 Billiant fuse, it was a very good automatic fuse that allowed the
thrower to hold the lever and remove safety pin and throw the grenade
which would arm after leaving the hand. The fuse used a spring loaded
friction igniter. The next grenades are F1 fragmentation grenades, the
one in the middle has the same Billiant fuse and the one on the right has
a percussion fuse. The thrower would remove the safety cap and strike the
top of the fuse on a hard object and have 5 seconds delay. The F1 grenade
was so successful that it was used by the French up to WWII and by the
Russians until recently.
20
These are two U.S. MKI grenades, the one on the left has a MKI fuse and
the one on the right has an improved MKII fuse. The designers of the MKI
grenade used the French F1 as a basis, but the fuse has a percussion
igniter rather than friction, this is more reliable. Unfortunately the
engineers who designed the MKI fuse over designed it to be safer. They
designed the lever that held the cap on to swivel to release the cap and
free the striker. It had to be thrown with a flick of the wrist to turn
the lever and it was found that most of the grenades failed to explode.
The Germans found that they could pick the grenade up and turn the lever
and throw them back. Tests were done and it was found that with well
trained grenadiers in a controlled situation, 30% of the grenades failed
to arm. The MKII fuse was designed to fly off like the lever on the
French F1 grenade, releasing the striker and starting the fuse. This
grenade was in use with only small improvements by the U.S. until the
latter part of the 20th century.
21.
As this is a German forum, I will start with the German rifle grenades.
This photo shows two German rifle grenades that are propelled with a rod
that is inserted into the rifle barrel. These had to be fired with a
blank cartridge or it would cause the rifle barrel to explode. The
grenade on the top is the M1913 rifle grenade, it has a complex safety
that holds the firing pin in the rear position with a small powder charge,
when the safety pin is pulled from the base of the grenade and fired, the
small charge is ignited by a percussion cap, this burns away the powder
that holds the firing pin allowing it to move forward to strike the primer
on impact. This grenade is filled with TNT and can be fitted with a disc
to limit the distance it will travel, its maximum range is 350 meters.
The lower grenade is an M1914 rifle grenade, it also has a very complex
fuse.
22.
When the grenade is fired, there is a brass collar around the base of the
fuse that slides off with inertia, allowing a small ball to fall out and
allowing the center portion of the fuse to shift forward by spring
pressure, this puts the fuse in the armed position and will detonate when
it strikes the ground. This grenade also has a ranging disc (shown in the
previous photo). The grenade has a maximum range of 325 meters, but with
the ranging disc cupped forward, the range is reduced by 50% and cupped
to the rear it is reduced by 25%. All rifle grenades had to be fired with
the rifle butt on the ground or mounted in an aiming device, they could
not be fired from the shoulder. It was also important when handling most
rod grenades not to drop them on the end of the rod, as that would arm
them and they would detonate on firing the rifle. The rod grenades all
caused damage to the rifle bore due to the heat and friction caused by the
weight of the projectile and the hot gasses spent more time in the bore.
23.
The French Viven-Bessière grenade was developed in 1916. The V-B grenade
was fired from a cup that fit on the end of the rifle, the center of the
grenade body has a hole through it that allows the bullet to pass through,
as it does, it strikes the primer that starts the fuse train and the
pressure behind the bullet propels the grenade up to 180 meters. This
eliminates the danger of accidentally firing a live round behind a rod
grenade, and it also eliminated the possibility of having blanks in the
magazine of the rifle when it is needed to repel an attacking enemy.
The French V-B grenade was also adopted by the United States Army and used
throughout the war. Special cups were made to fit on the Springfield 1903
and the Enfield 1917 rifles.
24.
This is a the German M1917 Wurfgrenate with its discharge cup, it was
designed to counter the French Viven-Bessière rifle grenade shown in the
previous photo. This was an ingenious design that solved the problem of
having to use special cartridges to launch the grenades. The grenade
itself was much safer to handle as it did not have a complex safety system
that could be foiled by dropping the grenade. The German M1917
Wurfgrenate had a range of 180 meters.
25.
Here are two British rod grenades, the top one is a #24 MKII and has a
safety mechanism that holds the firing pin in place until a brass cylinder
slides off the base of the grenade via inertia when fired, this frees the
firing pin to strike the primer on impact. The grenade on the bottom is a
Mills #23 rifle grenade, it is a variation of the #5 Mills bomb.
26.
This is the the Mills #23 grenade ready to fire, the sheet metal cup has
only one function, and that is to hold the safety lever while the grenade
is ready to launch. The safety ring can be pulled and as long as the
grenade does not fall out of the cup, it will be safe. Once it is fired,
the lever is released and the striker hits the primer and the fuse train
is lit.
27.
Here is the British version of the cup launcher and a #36 rifle grenade,
again a version of the #5 Mills bomb, with a disc screwed to the base. It
could be used as a hand grenade as well, without removing the disc. The
lever is held in place while the grenade is in the cup, but this system
still used the blank cartridge to fire the grenade. The only advantage to
this over the rod grenade is that damage to the rifle barrel is
eliminated.
28.
Here are two Austrian rifle grenades without their rods. These grenades
could also be used as hand grenades. The top has an externally fragmented
body. The fuse had a heavy weight that had a match head on the end of the
fuse. When the grenade is fired from a rifle, the weight is pulled off
from inertia and the fuse is lit. This is a safety mechanism that keeps
the grenade safe even if dropped. The weight can be grasped and pulled
off by hand to use the grenade as a hand grenade. The grenade on the
bottom has an unsegmented cast iron body and still has the weight at the
end of the fuse. Both have a threaded hole at the base to screw a rod
into to use as a rifle grenade.
29.
This is an Italian Benaglia rifle grenade. These could be used with or
without the tail fins. The firing mechanism in this grenade had a weight
that carried the firing pin, the firing pin was recessed into the weight
with a tail that protruded to the back. The weight was between two
springs and when the grenade was fired, it would move back and push the
firing pin forward where it would lock into place, protruding out from the
front of the weight. When it impacted, the pin would strike the primer
for the detonation. This system had the same problem of the safety being
defeated if it was dropped on its tail, although it still could be fired
safely, unlike the German M1914 grenades.