Collecting WWI grenades
Gerald Prenderghast looks at collecting that most effective of infantry tools in WWI, the hand grenade
Gerald Prenderghast looks at collecting that most effective of infantry tools in WWI, the hand grenade. Each country produced their own version, from stick grenades to the curiously titled Jam Tin grenades.
Amodern grenade consists of an explosive charge and detonating mechanism, which is prevented from operating prematurely by a safety device. In a conventional grenade, such as a Mills bomb, drawing the safety pin and throwing the grenade releases a safety lever, causing the striker to ignite a timed fuse, firing the main charge and shattering the case, which may have grooves on the outer surface to aid fragmentation. The very successful German percussion stick grenade or Stielhandgranate differed significantly from this conventional pattern, having a friction primer to ignite the fuse and no safety lever, leaving the user only about five seconds to get rid of the grenade. Fragmentation, percussion, gas, smoke and incendiary grenades were all used during WWI and although initially designed to be thrown by hand, grenade launchers were introduced by both sides to increase the range of the conventional weapon, which the average soldier could only throw about 15m.
British grenades
NO. 1 GRENADE
Production: Probably several thousand
The first British grenade to see service in WWI was the Grenade, Hand. No. 1. This was a stick grenade with an impact detonator which proved awkward and dangerous to use in the confines of the trenches, its long cane handle sometimes causing the igniter to strike the side of the trench with disastrous results. Problems with production also meant deliveries were spasmodic and the troops soon resorted to trench-made Jam Tin grenades.
JAM TIN GRENADE
Production: Probably many thousands during 1915
These were double cylinder fragmentation grenades made by filling an inner can with high explosive, typically Ammonal, and then placing this container into a larger tin filled with steel fragments. A fuse was fitted to the inner tin and both tins were then closed. In use, the fuse was lit and the bomb thrown into an enemy trench. Mostly used by Australian and New Zealand troops in Mesopotamia, who suffered from a chronic shortage of ordnance, particularly grenades.
BATTYE HAND GRENADE
Production: 250,000 between December 1914-September 1915. Designed and manufactured by Major
BC Battye RE, this grenade consisted of a cast iron cylinder with fragmentation grooves on the outer surface. Filled with Ammonal and closed with a wooden plug, it was fitted with a simple cloth wick which was lit before throwing. Battye grenades proved to be quite dangerous and were replaced in September 1915 by the No. 15 Ball and No. 16 Lemon grenades, although all three types proved useless in wet weather. All these grenades were superseded in 1916 by the Mills bomb, held by many on both sides to be the best grenade produced during WWI.
MILLS BOMB
Production: 50 million between May 1915 and November 1918
Principal development of this grenade was carried out by William Mills at the Mills Munitions Factory in Birmingham and his Grenade No. 5 Mk1 first appeared on the Western Front in May 1915, becoming general issue in 1916. A No. 5 Mk1 Mills bomb has a cast iron body with grooves in the outer surface, although the grenade does not tend to fragment along these grooves and Mills himself said they were only there to give a better grip. Before leaving the factory, the grenade was filled with Amatol explosive through a small circular plug in the upper half of the bomb. The striker and its operating spring were then fitted, a lever to prevent them operating being secured between the lugs on top of the casing by a split ring and pin, which fitted through two opposing holes in the lugs. Before using the weapon, a detonator and primer mechanism had to be inserted through the hole in the base and screwed tight, which unfortunately resulted in a number of casualties amongst inexperienced troops unused to priming the new grenades.
When throwing, the safety lever is grasped and the pin pulled from its holes. The user's arm is extended to full stretch behind him and the bomb flicked through the air towards the target, an average soldier being able to throw the 760g bomb about 15m. A number of variants were introduced before the end of the Great War, notably the No. 23 MKI and No. 36 MKI rifle grenades and a waterproofed No. 36M MKI, which remained in production from 1918 until 1972.
Mills bombs are usually stamped on the base of the primer/detonator assembly with the type, manufacturer's trade mark and date of manufacture. Examples of WWI vintage may have the remains of a green band around the middle indicating a grenade filled with Amatol or a similar pink band on a weapon filled with Ammonal. A red band around the base indicates a live grenade with the detonator installed and three red ‘X’s along each side identifies the grenade as a No. 36M MKI.
French grenades
French soldiers produced several trenchmade grenades in the early months of WWI, most commonly the famous pétards or hairbrush grenades, composed of a wooden paddle, Cheddite explosive charge and nails, gravel or steel wire enclosed in a steel tube. Early models were ignited by means of a 5s wick connected to the detonator, although in later types ignition was achieved by two cartridge primers enclosed in a wooden block, fired by a nail. These primitive weapons were soon superseded by a collection of ball grenades, similar to the British Ball and Lemon grenades and having the same disadvantages, their wick ignition being useless in the
Flanders rain and mud. France also imported the Italian Besozzi grenade in 1915, but it saw limited use, as did their Pear and Spoon percussion grenades. However, in May 1915 the French army introduced its F1 grenade, which was a considerable advance on earlier types.
F1 GRENADE
Production: 60 million, between 1915-1940
The first pattern of F1 (Fusante No. 1) still used a wick ignition, but a second Model 1915 was soon introduced which had a percussion ignition plug. In order to use this device, users removed a cardboard protecting tube from the top of the grenade, exposing the igniter, which was struck sharply on a hard surface to ignite the cloth wick of the 5s fuse. This proved unsatisfactory and a Model 1916 followed, replacing the fragile cardboard internal elements with brass tubes, but it was the introduction of the Model 1916B with its Billant igniter which revolutionised French grenade technology.
Similar in appearance and construction to the British Mills bomb but only weighing 630g, the unhandy percussion fuse was replaced by automatic ignition, so that users had only to pull the safety pin and throw the grenade. The safety lever then left the body of the grenade, releasing the spring loaded igniter, which fired the two primers and ignited the 5s cloth wick, subsequently detonating the grenade's Cheddite high explosive.
F1 grenades were used with the French, American and Russian armies on the Western Front from 1915 until the Armistice. Although manufacturing stamps must have been present, no record has been found to date describing their conformation.
German grenades
Early in the trench war, expediency forced German troops to come up with a grenade similar in conformation to the French hairbrush, but they were soon issued with the Kugelhandgranate 1913, a ball grenade with a friction igniter and deep grooves in the casing to aid fragmentation. This weapon had a 5s or 7s delay mechanism, triggered by pulling a brass wire attached to a friction block. In 1915, a second type was introduced, the Kugelhandgranate 1915, with shallower grooves to make it easier to manufacture, but otherwise similar to the earlier type. Both were heavy, weighing around 1kg, although their friction primers made them reliable in the rigorous environment of the trenches. The German army also produced another type, the Diskushandgranate M1915 or Turtle grenade, designed to explode on impact,
but it was too complex and became unreliable when exposed to damp.
Germany's best grenade appeared in 1915. The Stielhandgranaten 1915 or Model 1915 was a stick grenade, although the German army did return to ball grenades in 1917, with the issue of the Eierhandgranate or Egg grenade Model 1917. This proved to be a reliable weapon, its 320g weight allowing it to be thrown as far as 50m, although it never replaced the Stick grenade in general service.
STIELHANDGRANATEN (STICK HAND GRENADE)
Production: 50-70 million, between 1915-1924 (Models 1915, 1916 and 1917)
This was a percussion grenade consisting of a 12cm x 8cm cylinder made of thin steel plates on a stick about 25cm long equipped with a belt hook, the cylinder being filled with either Ammonal or
TNT and then water-proofed with paraffin. This gave it a weight of 820g, only slightly lighter than the ball grenades, although the added leverage of the stick made it easier to throw. Unlike most modern grenades, it had a friction detonator, operated by a cord which ran through the length of the handle to emerge at the base. Pulling this cord downwards dragged a rough steel rod through the igniter within the fuse producing sparks, which ignited the 5.5s wick fuse.
This earlier type was replaced by the Model 1916, improved by having the end of the igniter cord attached to a small porcelain ball tightly enclosed by the wooden handle. The cord could now not be pulled accidentally, causing the weapon to explode on the belt of an
unsuspecting infantryman, although the tightly fitting porcelain ball was occasionally found awkward to remove from its cavity in the stick. The Model 1917 improved this aspect of the design by incorporating a water-proof safety cover for the cord in the base of the stick, which was removed before the weapon could be used and allowing the porcelain bead to be a looser fit. The Model 1917 remained in use with the German and Austro-Hungarian armies until the end of WWI.
The outside of the cylinder has letters and words in white paint and these are often well retained in examples offered for sale, while the stick may be found inscribed with the type of fuse fitted: '5½ Sek-ELB'.
American grenades
After America entered the war in 1917, its troops were first issued with either the French F1 or British Mills bomb, although later that year, US designers produced and manufactured their own grenade. Based on the French weapon and designated the Mk1, it was to prove a poor substitute for the Allied hand weapons.
MK1 GRENADE
Production: Records not readily available
This was a time-delayed fragmentation grenade, enclosed in an iron case with 32 fragmentation grooves. The fuse is started by pulling the safety pin, then pushing off the cap on top of the grenade and moving a switch on the safety lever. It proved dangerous in combat and was replaced just before the end of the war by the Mk2.
Operational tactics
Even the best weapon will fail if the men using it are not trained so as to make it effective and during WWI, a number of schemes were developed to improve the efficiency of grenade attacks. Grenades were mainly used for clearing trenches and the squads on both sides were similarly organised. Led by a non-commissioned officer, parties were composed of two grenade throwers and two carriers armed with knives and pistols and four men with rifles and bayonets to protect the party. Upon entering the trench system the throwers would hurl their grenades into the enemy dugouts and after the dust had cleared, any troops left alive were bayoneted or shot. British records estimate that between 2%-2.5% of casualties in the Great
War were caused by grenade blasts, a surprisingly small casualty rate, bearing in mind the effectiveness of the weapon at close quarters.