smleenfield Posted 17 December , 2011 Share Posted 17 December , 2011 Escaping from a grenade has a lot to do with just plain luck. I was on the receiving end of one of these nasty little beasts that landed danger close. I was lucky that it hit in about a 4 inch deep tire rut. As I grabbed my tin hat and started down yelling grenade ( I only got out GRE) it went off. I was missed by the fragments but felt like I had been attacked by a gorilla with a club. The blast was incredible. The frags hit the truck just behind me and took out the wind screen. Had there not been the shallow depression I would have been in a world of hurt. My only real injury was the permanent loss of most of the hearing in my left ear and constant ringing to this day. Just the slightest amount of earth can deflect the fragments upward and if you can get low enough you have a chance. I was well within the kill zone but survived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 17 December , 2011 Share Posted 17 December , 2011 The 36 Grenade, successor to the Mills bomb, stayed in service for many years after the Second World War mainly because it had a long shelf life and there were millions of them to use up, not because of its continuing merit. The biggest problem and the reason it needed to be replaced was two-fold. Because its fragmentation pattern produced relatively few large pieces, its danger area was far too great, presenting problems for friendly troops. The base plug, for example, could fly up to 300 yards. In other words the 1/2 mv squared of the kinetic energy which produced its lethality depended too much on the 'm' part of the formula, which meant, in turn, that its lethality was relatively poor: hence all the previous remarks about how to minimise the risk if one went off. Modern wire-bound, plastic encased, grenades address this problem. When they burst, a very large number of tiny fragments fly at extremely high speed for a short distance, then their energy fades off swiftly. This produces high lethality within a short distance of the point where it explodes, but does not endanger others to any significant extent. As a result the British army at Brecon and Warminster is able to train with them on normal live field firing exercises. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw63 Posted 27 December , 2011 Share Posted 27 December , 2011 Check this out for a graphic example ... http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/12/25/chinese-soldier-almost-kills-himself_n_1169198.html?ref=mostpopular Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tipperary Posted 27 December , 2011 Share Posted 27 December , 2011 Very good Simon the design of the throwing area did not come about by accident and it worked well.john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Starlight Posted 28 December , 2011 Share Posted 28 December , 2011 Throwing grendaes in the Army of Oz - licenced US M26 fragmentation grenades - I never had a direct problem (either as thrower or 'bay safety') Throwing bays were designed to ensure only two people in there at one time (two bays generally with a shelter for waiting personnel). The thrower was instructed (again) on the art and sequence of throwing and the 'bay safety' ensured that grenade or bodies were out of there in case of a "drop". I was assured in both roles that no matter the relative sizes, adrendaline would ensure that both people would make it out (though normally the thrower would go "oops!" and look and the 'bay safety' would generally pick him (it was always him in those days) up and throw him out... Attitudes changed a little when a mate acting as 'bay safety' had a premature go off while all were observing the 'fall of shot'. Thrower was shaken but the mate got a fragment in the neck which cut his jugular. Luckily the medics at the range were civilian paramedics when not in uniform and they had him stabilised and on the road to the nearest (civilian) hospital (about 8km)in no time (they were really, really good). And the casevac chopper was on the way by the time he left the range gates.... he was back in the bays in around 6 months but a little nervous at first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackM Posted 28 December , 2011 Share Posted 28 December , 2011 I can remember as an expatriate in the British Army in Catterick, Yorks, being in the control tower when 36 Mills grenades were being thrown and regularly hearing the base plug whistling past. Bits of these things would travel significantly further than the casualty radius given. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
59165 Posted 28 December , 2011 Share Posted 28 December , 2011 Mills grenades were,in the majority,badly cast & were never fragmentation grenades in the modern sense. Of the 100s of exploded Mills fragments I & others here have found,a large proportion have been just one half of the grenade becoming a 'fragment'.It's down to bad casting & a bad design(fragmentationally wise) that,iirc,the French got right by putting the pineapple bits on the inside of the grenade. I'll see if I can post a few photo's of the results soon but...remember.A grenade going off in a field will lose 50% of it's stopping fire.On a parade ground,dunno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 28 December , 2011 Share Posted 28 December , 2011 Check this out for a graphic example ... http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/12/25/chinese-soldier-almost-kills-himself_n_1169198.html?ref=mostpopular It may be the background noise, my overactive imagination, or a combination of the two, but is the last noise to be heard - immediately after he's gone off screen - the sound of the thrower involuntarily emptying his stomach? NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 31 December , 2011 Share Posted 31 December , 2011 And then there is take your steel helmet off, cover the grenade with it and then stand on the helmet to reduce the spread of fragments. This was the action of Sgt Carmichael of 9th Battalion North Staffs and it won him a VC. Remarkably he wasn't seriously injured. I've often wondered that as this wasn't a front line incident, the unit being a pioneer battalion, and occurring while his men were cleaning up a trench and unearthed a live grenade, that has this happened during the Second World War would it have resulted in a GC rather than a VC? Just surfing the threads, read this, and remembered that I served with Carmicheal's grandson in germany in the mid-70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEd Posted 31 December , 2011 Share Posted 31 December , 2011 Mills grenades were,in the majority,badly cast & were never fragmentation grenades in the modern sense. Of the 100s of exploded Mills fragments I & others here have found,a large proportion have been just one half of the grenade becoming a 'fragment'.It's down to bad casting & a bad design(fragmentationally wise) that,iirc,the French got right by putting the pineapple bits on the inside of the grenade. I'll see if I can post a few photo's of the results soon but...remember.A grenade going off in a field will lose 50% of it's stopping fire.On a parade ground,dunno. A lot of the fragments of mills examples i have found on a ww1 site have been large pieces see this photo thats just an example but i have about a dozen others like that and the same again of pieces 1-2cm in size but nothing inbetween really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john ring Posted 13 January , 2012 Share Posted 13 January , 2012 Hi TOM - Your question reminds me of an amusing anecdote related to me by a friend . The said person ' i wont mention name's ' on their first live fire exercise pulled the pin and threw it , a rather feeble throw at that . Out of nowhere out runs a dog and being a rather helpful chap , decides to play fetch , and return said grenade to the owner . The dog galloped towards them and their little party including instructor ran ' hell for leather ' as fast in the other direction . A loud and messy bang later which resulted in them being splattered with various amounts of gore . After a severe bawling out he spent a week peeling spuds . Ever since i have asked him about the truth of the story , suspecting a tall tale but he maintains the story is true and laughs when he says " how the instructors hair turned grey overnight " and still is to this day . PS - APOLOGIES TO ANY DOG LOVERS OUT THERE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Moretti Posted 13 January , 2012 Share Posted 13 January , 2012 Hi TOM - Your question reminds me of an amusing anecdote related to me by a friend . The said person ' i wont mention name's ' on their first live fire exercise pulled the pin and threw it , a rather feeble throw at that . Out of nowhere out runs a dog and being a rather helpful chap , decides to play fetch , and return said grenade to the owner . The dog galloped towards them and their little party including instructor ran ' hell for leather ' as fast in the other direction . A loud and messy bang later which resulted in them being splattered with various amounts of gore . After a severe bawling out he spent a week peeling spuds . Ever since i have asked him about the truth of the story , suspecting a tall tale but he maintains the story is true and laughs when he says " how the instructors hair turned grey overnight " and still is to this day . PS - APOLOGIES TO ANY DOG LOVERS OUT THERE I suspect a tall tale. This is just too similar to "The Loaded Dog", retold in another form. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Loaded_Dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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