Chris Noble Posted 16 June , 2004 Share Posted 16 June , 2004 Can anybody provide me with the dimensions of a Mills Bomb un-locking tool, what metal it was made from, and how many would a bomber carry on his person? Regards, Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkristof Posted 16 June , 2004 Share Posted 16 June , 2004 there is one in the museum, it is very simple made of steal. it looks like the handle of a pan or something.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Poilu Posted 16 June , 2004 Share Posted 16 June , 2004 As bkristof says they are merely a piece of bent steel. From memory (I do not have one to hand) the length is around 4 1/2 to 5 inches and the two bent over ends are around 3/8 inch. I am not sure if they were actually carried by bombers - the Mills grenades were prepared for use before being distributed to the end user and the base plug tools were included within the lid of the wooden supply box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWRCo Posted 16 June , 2004 Share Posted 16 June , 2004 Hi Chris! There were two types of the mills bomb spanner that i know of, have seen & handled. The first one is the common steel handle type that looks very similiar to the handles on british forces messtins, so that should give you some idea of what it looks like, and secondly, there was also the much rarer cast steel 'Y' shape spanner that had a flat head screwdriver shape on the end of the long arm of the 'Y'. This was for use on the filling plug. If you are after one, let me know as i know a gentleman who has had some reproduction ones made, and they are an exact copy of his original! tim w (gwrco) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Noble Posted 17 June , 2004 Author Share Posted 17 June , 2004 Cheers for the info guys. Giles, the dimensions seem to be about right. The reason i asked the question is that i've been lucky to have one come into my possession recently from a friend of mine employed by the M.O.D. clearing ranges in the U-K. We both had a hunch what it was, but were not too sure. You guys seem to have confirmed the item. Regards to you all. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Conductor Posted 21 June , 2004 Share Posted 21 June , 2004 :secondly, there was also the much rarer cast steel 'Y' shape spanner that had a flat head screwdriver shape on the end of the long arm of the 'Y'. This was for use on the filling plug. The "Y" shaped one is later issue (up to approx 1980) and the screwdriver end is to re-set the striker. It is the wrong shape to fit in the filling plug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWRCo Posted 22 June , 2004 Share Posted 22 June , 2004 C, when did the 'y'shape spanner come out? As a dealer was trying to do a pretty convincing job in getting me to buy a couple off him! tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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