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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

WW1 Grenades both British and Enemy.


Lancashire Fusilier

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1 hour ago, MrEd said:

I think i have a copy of his diary, will look and get back to you

Whoever it was he was a bit of an artist. A couple of nice sketches on the back of one document.

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7 minutes ago, Gunner Bailey said:

Whoever it was he was a bit of an artist. A couple of nice sketches on the back of one document.

I do have a PDF of it, it is probably already something you have already seen, but if you PM me your email i will send it over, its 130 pages
Ed

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  • 7 months later...

Hi,

I'm new to the Forum.  I've been collecting WW1 Militaria for more years than I care to admit and have recently been doing a deep dive into the British Soldier in the Great War.  I volunteer at the Museum of American Armor in New York, USA.  Each year we run a Military History Timeline Event and I've decided to portray a British Quartermaster Sergeant from the 1/7 Kings Liverpool Regiment, 55th Div. 1918.  I've made a number of crates to simulate a small supply dump display of rations and ammunition, etc.  I recently made a couple Mills Bomb Crates for the No. 36 Grenade (from Tommy's Pack Stuffers" plan) and was wondering if anyone would be so kind to post the label(s) that are affixed to the inside lid of the grenade box?  I'm trying to have it as authentic as possible, so I'd very much appreciate some assistance.  

I do have a reproduction Mills Bomb Crate that I purchased from a guy on UK Ebay and was a unsure of the markings stenciled on the front of the crate & what they were referring to?

It is marked- 

12 Grenades Mills

T.S.  20-80

A.F.M  3  1916

Sorry to run on.  This Forum has been a wealth of information.

Cheers!

Jim

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On 02/03/2023 at 18:47, Checkmateking2 said:

I do have a reproduction Mills Bomb Crate that I purchased from a guy on UK Ebay and was a unsure of the markings stenciled on the front of the crate & what they were referring to?

It is marked- 

12 Grenades Mills

T.S.  20-80

A.F.M  3  1916

 

Is the reproduction box something like the one shown below?

 

265

Box_1.jpg

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On 05/03/2023 at 22:51, Checkmateking2 said:

Yes!  Exactly.  Looks like one of the crates from Edward's Shed.

Well the stencilling is somewhat astray for a WWI British Mills grenade box.

Below is shown a box with genuine markings - post war (December 1923), Belgian Army supply. TS denotes the explosive filling, AFM the munitions plant from whence issued.

 

 

Box_2.jpg

Edited by 14276265
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  • 3 weeks later...

I was wondering if anyone might know who was making repro/inert detonators for the can that is in the Mills Grenade transport box.

Much appreciated

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10 hours ago, Checkmateking2 said:

I was wondering if anyone might know who was making repro/inert detonators for the can that is in the Mills Grenade transport box.

Much appreciated

The eBay seller stevens7873 does them. I can personally recommend his service and products.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 05/12/2014 at 17:51, Michael Haselgrove said:

John,

Thanks very much for sharing your grenades; very nice they are, too. In return, I attach a few photos of those in my collection; all inert. Left to right they are No.3 Mk.I with a Mk.I detonator holder, No.3 Mk.I with Mk.II detonator holder, No. 3 Mk.1 (sectioned) with Mk.II detonator holder, No.3 Mk.II with Mk.I detonator holder and No.3 Mk.II with Mk.II detonator holder.

All the wind vanes are marked “THE COTTON POWDER CO. Ltd. LONDON. HALE’S PATENT” except the second from left which has a wind vane marked “ROBURITE & AMMONAL Ltd. LONDON. HALE’S PATENT”. The No.3 Mk.II with the large detonator holder is marked on the body plug B.W. Ltd. London indicating manufacture by Bowden Wire, London. The sectioned example is marked on the body plug GTL. I’m afraid I don’t know what that stands for.

I’m also attaching other photos to show the detonator with the four small fire holes and the transit tin.

I have read the relevant section in Rick Landers book again. I now see that the detonator holders Mk.I and Mk.II were fitted to both the No.3 Mk.I and Mk.II grenades.

Hope the above is of interest.

Regards,

Michael.

Hi Micheal.

What's the current value of these, nowdays?

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  • 5 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I thought that I knew that upon its introduction in 1918, the ammonal filling of the No. 36 had the following composition,

Ammonium nitrate 58.6%

TNT                         18.0%

Al powder.               21%

Charcoal.                   2.4%,

but is this correct?

The problem is that ammonal has a few different compositions (absence/presence charcoal; different ratios of the the major components) depending on where you look!

Can anyone @14276265 @Gunner Bailey give a definitive answer to this conundrum, with a documented source?

Regards,

JMB

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Ammonal was a pre war explosive (as initially marketed by the company Roburite and Ammonal Ltd), with a composition given in the Textbook of Explosives Used in the Service (1938 Edition):

AN  65%

TNT 15%

Al powder 17%

Charcoal  3%

Slight variations are indeed recorded in different period texts, but the effect on explosive power (or the somewhat obsolete term "brisance") was unlikely to be significant.

Of more significance to the variation of explosive power is that there were a number of alternative fillings used in the No.36*: alumatol 2, Cilferite "C", and 80/20 amatol, and its very close cousin 83/17 amatol. Then for the No.36M there were three fillings: Cilferite "C", 20/80 baratol and TNT alone**.

*Drawing IDW B270 Method of Filling Grenade, .303-inch Rifle, No.36 Mark I

**Drawing IDW (TW) 359 Method of Filling Grenade, .303-inch Rifle, No.36M Mark I

For all practical purposes in the TW filling stations, by 1918, ammonal had largely been replaced by 80/20 amatol and alumatol for grenade and trench mortar ammunition, so the conundrum of its composition can effectively be ignored.

 

 

265

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Confirming the composition of military ammonal, the attached from the Fourth Conference of TW Engineers, Liverpool, July 30th 1916, refers.

(However, ammonal was phased out as a charge for bombs and grenades from January 1917, so any No.36 filled in 1918 would have been filled with one of the alternatives as listed above.)

 

 

265

Ammonal.JPG

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265,

Thanks for posting this original reference.

It does give me also the chance to ask for the meaning of TW & IDW. (Tidal Waterways & Inland Dept. of Waterways??)

Regards,

JMB

 

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On 28/09/2023 at 14:45, JMB1943 said:

I thought that I knew that upon its introduction in 1918, the ammonal filling of the No. 36 had the following composition,

Ammonium nitrate 58.6%

TNT                         18.0%

Al powder.               21%

Charcoal.                   2.4%,

but is this correct?

The problem is that ammonal has a few different compositions (absence/presence charcoal; different ratios of the the major components) depending on where you look!

Can anyone @14276265 @Gunner Bailey give a definitive answer to this conundrum, with a documented source?

Regards,

JMB

JMB1934

Sorry have been away overseas but 265 has done the business in more detail than I have to hand.

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Gunner,

That’s OK, because what I know about grenades can be written on a very small piece of paper.

Next question that I post, you can do the heavy lifting.

Regards,

JMB

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15 hours ago, JMB1943 said:

Gunner,

That’s OK, because what I know about grenades can be written on a very small piece of paper.

Next question that I post, you can do the heavy lifting.

Regards,

JMB

Cheers!

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