mgbarrett1 Posted 4 October , 2010 Share Posted 4 October , 2010 Hi all, I was just wondering has anyone ever heard of or has a reference to the term "Heavy lemon's" been used to describe grenade's About three in the afternoon a Royal Engineer appeared with a box of hand grenades, probably about a dozen. He lit the fuse. He handed the grenade to one of our men, who fired it across the ridge, into the Turkish position- They were fairly large grenades, probably about 2 lbs in weight or even more. They made quite a loud explosion. They were called Heavy Lemons, and I never heard the name before nor since. If we had a few boxes of these grenades earlier that day we would given the Turks a shaking up and saved a lot of our men. we were sure that they were at our mercy and that we could have moved forward, but the order was to remain where we were . Regards Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 5 October , 2010 Share Posted 5 October , 2010 Hi all, I was just wondering has anyone ever heard of or has a reference to the term "Heavy lemon's" been used to describe grenade's About three in the afternoon a Royal Engineer appeared with a box of hand grenades, probably about a dozen. He lit the fuse. He handed the grenade to one of our men, who fired it across the ridge, into the Turkish position- They were fairly large grenades, probably about 2 lbs in weight or even more. They made quite a loud explosion. They were called Heavy Lemons, and I never heard the name before nor since. If we had a few boxes of these grenades earlier that day we would given the Turks a shaking up and saved a lot of our men. we were sure that they were at our mercy and that we could have moved forward, but the order was to remain where we were . Regards Martin Martin I think the writer may be mixing descriptions of two types of grenade here. Probably the most common grenade at Gallipoli was the No15, which was ball shaped, had a simple fuze that was lit with a match and was often used with a catapult. However the Mills No 5 Grenade, came in boxes of 12, was sort of lemon shaped, weighed 1 1/2 pounds filled and arrived on the battlefield not long before the evacuation. I have seen one account where the soldiers had exactly the same feeling about the Mills. Greeting their arrival with enthusiasm. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbarrett1 Posted 7 October , 2010 Author Share Posted 7 October , 2010 Thanks for the reply john But in relation to mixing up the types of grenades i would doubt it very much. This man was the Battalion Grenade NCO and gives a good account of all grenades used up to 1917 until he was wounded and sent home to Ireland What i would say in relation to the description he was more than likely talking about the type 15 but what i would like to know has anyone ever heard of the term Heavy lemon's being used to describe them or has any reference to same regards Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 7 October , 2010 Share Posted 7 October , 2010 Martin How about the No 16 Grenade? Right shape, but I'm away from my reference books so am not sure if the date matches. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 7 October , 2010 Share Posted 7 October , 2010 here you go, Martin... the No.7 Grenade was the 'Heavy Lemon' Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 7 October , 2010 Share Posted 7 October , 2010 A little bit more (from Major Ainslie's study (1917)) ... ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbarrett1 Posted 7 October , 2010 Author Share Posted 7 October , 2010 Dave, I think your bang on the button with this one the action he was talking about was at gallipoli in the 16th August 1915 they were introduced in May 1915 so that they would have been new to them. As far as i can tell but could be totally wrong on this one, it may have been one of the the only time that these were actually use in combat he said after that he never heard of them again this is confirm in your last post where it says that the type 6 and 7 never went past the mark 1 designation excellent work very much appreciated regards martin A little bit more (from Major Ainslie's study (1917)) ... ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 7 October , 2010 Share Posted 7 October , 2010 Yes I think Dave's right, it would be the No7. I think the shape fooled me. But clearly the word Lemon is associated with these two grenades. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbarrett1 Posted 7 October , 2010 Author Share Posted 7 October , 2010 Thanks everyone for the help much appreciated regards Martin Yes I think Dave's right, it would be the No7. I think the shape fooled me. But clearly the word Lemon is associated with these two grenades. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 7 October , 2010 Share Posted 7 October , 2010 Dave, I think your bang on the button with this one the action he was talking about was at gallipoli in the 16th August 1915 they were introduced in May 1915 so that they would have been new to them. As far as i can tell but could be totally wrong on this one, it may have been one of the the only time that these were actually use in combat he said after that he never heard of them again this is confirm in your last post where it says that the type 6 and 7 never went past the mark 1 designation excellent work very much appreciated regards martin Martin Regarding the timing, if the No 7 was introduced in May 1915 I would expect their first use in Gallipoli to be about 3 months later. With the Mills No5 they started to be used more widely about August 1915, 6 months after first introduction and only got to Galipoli in December 1915. So August 1915 for the 'Heavy Lemons' fits in terms of a realisic timeline for introduction of a new weapon overseas. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbarrett1 Posted 7 October , 2010 Author Share Posted 7 October , 2010 John thanks, This all fits as he did not do the course for the mills grenade until he was in Solonika after that he was promoted Sgt and was put in charge of the bombers where he ran courses for the royal irish Fusiliers and other units that were stationed there i have his personel note book and he lists the names and numbers of indviduals that he trained in various courses while he was there. regards Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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