Tom Morgan Posted 24 February , 2003 Share Posted 24 February , 2003 Can anyone tell me where (somewhere in the Birmingham area) the William Mills factory was? Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 24 February , 2003 Share Posted 24 February , 2003 William Mills' Foundry was at Friar Park Road, Wednesbury, Staffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 24 February , 2003 Author Share Posted 24 February , 2003 William Mills' Foundry was at Friar Park Road, Wednesbury, Staffs. Many thanks, Heritage Plus! As a child I used to live in Friar Park Road, and now I know that the factory which everyone called "Mills's" was in fact THE Mills's and that Mills Bombs were made there. Thanks VERY much for that info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 24 February , 2003 Share Posted 24 February , 2003 Tom Happy to have been of help. It would appear that the L21 could have unawares had a prime target in his sights when he was off course in 1916? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 24 February , 2003 Share Posted 24 February , 2003 William Mills' Foundry was at Friar Park Road, Wednesbury, Staffs. A seperate factory,specifically for the manufacture of the grenades was also set up "Mills Munitions Ltd."This,also was in Birmingham.Parts of the grenade were also made elsewhere (more than 20 contractors were involved),such as levers at Vickery Patents Ltd and Dover Ltd. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 24 February , 2003 Author Share Posted 24 February , 2003 Thanks to you too, Dave. I will see if I can find any records of Mills Munitions Ltd. I know the factory was close to where I live, but I can't locate exactly where. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robwilliams Posted 24 February , 2003 Share Posted 24 February , 2003 Tom, As part of my work on genealogy I buy modern reprints of turn of the century OS maps. I am sure your factory would be depicted on them. Try www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk, very good service and very good quality. They offer extensive coverage of the Black Country. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 24 February , 2003 Author Share Posted 24 February , 2003 Excellent idea Rob - I'm off to have a look at their site. Thanks very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Carter Posted 25 February , 2003 Share Posted 25 February , 2003 Hi Tom I suppose due to the vast production quotas for Mills Bombs, many were also made under licence by other small factories. One such place was in Water Orton, down the road from where I live in Castle Bromwich. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 25 February , 2003 Author Share Posted 25 February , 2003 Yes Terry, given the numbers involved there must have been several places making them, or components like the fuses and end-plugs. You see lots of makers' marks on those. What I'd like to find out is where the original William Mills Ltd. premises were, where the company was operating from when W. Mills invented his famous bomb. Partly, I'm also interested in finding out whether the William Mills Ltd. foundry in Friar Park Wednesbury, was that original factory. It was the workplace of lots of people who lived on the estate beside the factory. But there doesn't seem to be anyone left around here who can remember the days before the houses were built in the early 30s, so no-one can tell me whether the factory was there long before the houses or whether it appeared as part of the urban growth of the 1930s. I've seen lots of references to the Mills Bomb which mention "William Mills, of Birmingham" but I know from other examples that "Birmingham" is often used as a blanket term to include any one or more of half a dozen nearby towns! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_H Posted 25 February , 2003 Share Posted 25 February , 2003 There are two addresses for Mills which come from his patent applicationsiin 1915. These are Atlas Aluminium Works, Grove Road, Birmingham - the premises of William Mills Ltd (Birmingham), and Bridge Street West, Birmingham where the Mills Munition Company operated. His obituary in the Bimingham Mail of 8th January 1932 gives his home address as 14 Church Road, Edgbaston. The Atlas Works and William Mills (Sunderland) Ltd. also produced large quantiies of aluminium castings for the aircraft industry during the War. Mike_H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Poilu Posted 25 February , 2003 Share Posted 25 February , 2003 Remember Mills did not really so much invent the Mills grenade as improve it (albeit significantly) from an original design by a Belgian Officer, Leon Roland. Roland was actually captured by the Germans and a mutual friend bought his idea and William together in 1914. Mills background was in marine engineering and aluminium manufacture, he lived from 1856 to 1932 and died a rich man! The first Mills bombs were produced in the Spring of 1915 in two of Mills factories; W. Mills and Mills Munitions as well as under contract by two other factories; W & J Wilder and the Birmingham Engineering Co. The first official shipment was for 48 grenades on March 15th 1915 as a trial. Following this the first official order for 50,000 was completed in May but it was not until the time of Loos that Tommies at the front begun to use the grenade. Later contracts to produce Mills bombs were awarded to many others including; Dudley Foundry, James Cycle Co, Hinks & Sons, Doughty & Sons, Calthorpe Motors, Siemens, Moore Bros, Hawkins, Falkirk Iron, Davis & Mawson etc, etc. Nearly all these companies (except Falkirk Iron) were in Birmingham! Mills grenades evolved through No.s 23 and 36 - the 36 is still used today in some faraway countries! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Evans Posted 25 February , 2003 Share Posted 25 February , 2003 Rob, Thanks for the map info, I've just jumped onto the bandwagon and bought a set for my home town. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 25 February , 2003 Author Share Posted 25 February , 2003 Mike and Giles, your contributions to the debate have been really useful - thanks. And thanks to all who have contributed. Between you, you have solved the problem for me. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark A Posted 26 February , 2003 Share Posted 26 February , 2003 Just out of interest and along similar lines, I was wondering if any of you knew why the Mills bomb had such a "knobbly" cast. I've heard two explanations- one, so that it would fragment better and two, so a muddy hand could grip it. Or was it both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Poilu Posted 26 February , 2003 Share Posted 26 February , 2003 There is always argument about this but most agree it's the second one. Some ridiculous myths have been repeated in certain books, ie it will fragment into 52 (or however many) pieces - rubbish. I believe certain inventors at the time placed great faith in the design and effect of the serrations and perhaps convinced War Office officials of this. The grenade may perhaps be more likely to split along the indented lines but certainly not in a uniform even manner. Halves of Mills grenades are quite often to be found in the fields. A slippery, dropped grenade is an obvious danger - the British No.34 Egg grenade and German Egg (Eirehandgranate) grenades were originally smooth but later modified with central bands to provide a better grip. HE shells for instance were of course perfectly smooth and fragments of these in every variation of size and shape can be found. Modern defensive grenades that replaced the Mills use a different system - a serrated coiled wire within the grenade provides the shrapnel effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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