SOME WW1 ENGLISH GRENADES
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HAND GRENADES
Battye grenade
Mills grenade
N°34 Mk III rifle grenade RIFLE GRENADES
N°12 Mk I rifle grenade
N°20 Mk I rifle grenade
N°24 Mk II rifle grenade
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The Battye grenade This grenade body was filled with a load of ammonal, and closed by a wood cork through which a hole was practiced to place a simple wick or a more sophisticated ignition system (traction or rotation type). The use of those improvised grenades, of which this one is only one example, was forbidden at at the end of 1915 by the English army, following numerous accidents. Weight 550 gr.Return at the top of the page
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The Mills grenade The longevity of its various versions was such that it was still in use in WW2, and that i will only be withdrawn from the service in 1970 ! At the end of WW1, more than 50 million of these grenades had been manufactured by more than one hundred subcontractors. Its handiness, its fragmentation capacity and its internal detonator system, that isolated it from the traditional problems of moisture, ensured a big part of this success. Weight 770 gr.Return at the top of the page
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The three marks (Mk I - 1917 ; Mk II - February 1918 ; Mk III - March 1918) are made of a pig iron body closed with a charge loading screw, and a percussion detonator. The Mk III model is the ultimate evolution, using the improved Mk II detonator evolution, (7 seconds delay and security copper ring), and with a narrower a body shape. Return at the top of the page
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The hand and rifle grenade N°2 MKI The grenade body, a brass cylinder, contained the explosive charge and the percussion inertia detonator. A double pig iron prefragmented ring was circling the whole section. A 40 cm long rod with ribbon was mounted for use as a hand grenade. For the rifle grenade use, a steel rod was mounted, 25 cm long, 7 mm diameter for english weapons, or 8 mm diameter for french Lebels. This grenade was particularly unsecure, very sensitive once the security pin has been removed. Unknowned weight, Tonite explosive charge.Return at the top of the page
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The n°20 Mk I rifle grenade Less expensive than its grandmother who comprised a propeller whose rotation armed the grenade at the beginning of its trajectory, it inherited however its safety reputation. Like all the steel rod grenades, they were shot by threading them in a traditional infantry rifle gun, but armed with a special blank ammunition. The mistaken employment of a traditional bullet represented the principal risk of accident... Unknown weight, ammonal explosiveReturn at the top of the page
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Still being shot from a common rifle armed with a blank munition, its tail was inserted into the gun tube. This grenade body, that was not pre-fragmented, was cast in pig-iron. One can understand how this represented a big manufacturing simplification compared to the machined steel models. The model showed on the pictures has lost its closing cap. Return at the top of the page
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