Tom W. Posted 28 June , 2012 Share Posted 28 June , 2012 Both from 1915. Any official names? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 28 June , 2012 Share Posted 28 June , 2012 P2 Mle. 1915 Edit That's the 2nd one - the first resembles no known French Grenade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_H Posted 28 June , 2012 Share Posted 28 June , 2012 Tom On the right a German Schirmhandgranate, (literally "Umbrella Grenade" because of the tail which deployed like an umbrella with ribs). It is from about 1915 but did not seem to have a proper service designation. I have seen it described in French sources as a "percussion parachute grenade M1915".The only example I have seen is in the IWM's Munitions Collection. As Centurion says, the grenade on the right is a French Mle 1915 P2 grenade. This was percussion operated and the propeller on the top rotated in flight to release a firing bolt which struck a percussion cap to ignite the detonation system on contact with the target area. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom W. Posted 28 June , 2012 Author Share Posted 28 June , 2012 P2 Mle. 1915 Edit That's the 2nd one - the first resembles no known French Grenade. No. It's a French grenade. You can see in the photo that it's hung on the belt by the hook (9) shown in the drawing; the outline of the head is the same; and the the cloth "umbrella" is wrapped around the stick handle. Maybe the French copied the German model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 28 June , 2012 Share Posted 28 June , 2012 The Germans certainly had a grenade with an umbrella tail in WW2 that resembled the drawing. It was an anti tank grenade and intended to ensure that the hollow charge was correctly orientated and went off at the right distance. I've seen nothing like that in WW1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_H Posted 29 June , 2012 Share Posted 29 June , 2012 This is a copy of the caption used at the IWM when the grenade was on display before a gallery re-organisation in the early 1970's. The accession number 12544 would place its arrival in the Museaum at some time in the early 1920's Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 29 June , 2012 Share Posted 29 June , 2012 Any chance of a readable image? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom W. Posted 29 June , 2012 Author Share Posted 29 June , 2012 Any chance of a readable image? By the way, the image I posted was from a Spanish army manual from 1921. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 29 June , 2012 Share Posted 29 June , 2012 Thanks - apart from the different loads (shrapnel and hollow charge) it sounds remarkably similar to the WW2 German AT grenade. I wonder if one was a modificaion of the other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 30 June , 2012 Share Posted 30 June , 2012 URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/717/parachuteyx.jpg/][/url] Uploaded with ImageShack.us German percussion parachute grenade, mod 1915 Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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