Mills base plugs!!

[Royal anglian]

Hi everyone!!

im a newby on here but have looked over previous posts for probably a year now and found it very helpful!

I collect mills and also any grenades from ww1 !!

just a question can anyone out there tell me what makes a mills base plug rare ??

I know there where over 200 different manufactures over this period but just wanted to know what the rare ones are as getting quite a collection together!!

thanks!👍

[Gunner Bailey]

Hard to answer exactly but there are two key factors.

1. The material the plugs are made of.

2. The number of grenades a contractor was asked to make.

Many of the early base plugs were made of aluminum, following Mills' original design. As many base plugs come from the French and Belgian battlefields aluminium does not last well in the ground and after 100 years is often just a white powder stain when a grenade is dug up. Brass survives much better so the base plugs from September 1915 through to January 1917 are the main survivors. Similarly the cast iron base plugs of the No 23 Mk II and Mk III don't fare well when buried.

Contracts issued manufacturers varied from a single contract that could be 50,000 or less to multiple contracts for millions.

Possibly the rarest base plug is the 'Hand of Ulster' - The Belfast Committee. Good ones are very rare.

[battle of loos]

good evening,

this is my collection find in the battle field of Loos :

regards

michel

[Michelle Young]

Left this bad boy very much alone last month but I’d not seen a base like that before. 

[MrEd]

38 minutes ago, Michelle Young said:

Left this bad boy very much alone last month but I’d not seen a base like that before. 

No23 base plug - I have a few relic examples I will dig out and photograph 

1 hour ago, battle of loos said:

good evening,

this is my collection find in the battle field of Loos :

regards

michel

Wonderful collection

[Royal anglian]

Michel great collection!!

I have a couple of the aluminium ones which gunner Bailey has mentioned will try to get a couple of photos over the next few days!! Thanks for the info!! 👍😎

[Gunner Bailey]

16 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

Left this bad boy very much alone last month but I’d not seen a base like that before. 

It's a No 23 Mk II from January 1917 onwards. The cast iron base plugs (designed by John Hearn of Luton - Patent 102,917) rust away merrily in the soil leaving many just a cast iron shape without details.

In relation to rare plugs its is quite possible that some of the No 23 Mk II and III may have few if any survivors from some contracts, due to the corrosion issue.

Edited 2 August , 2022 by Gunner Bailey

[battle of loos]

good evening,

I present to you each base in individual later.

regards

michel

[MrEd]

On 02/08/2022 at 08:37, Gunner Bailey said:

It's a No 23 Mk II from January 1917 onwards. The cast iron base plugs (designed by John Hearn of Luton - Patent 102,917) rust away merrily in the soil leaving many just a cast iron shape without details.

In relation to rare plugs its is quite possible that some of the No 23 Mk II and III may have few if any survivors from some contracts, due to the corrosion issue.

Will take photos of mine later, they are relic conditions ones - found at godstone - so chalk clay soil - I was surprised they had survived tbh 

[MrEd]

4 I found

2 I can’t make details out

the other two - a maker called REVO? And a maker called M&CIL?

 

 

[Gunner Bailey]

M&C/L is Morum and Co Ltd, Clock Tower Works, Lewisham. SE London.

REVO is the REVO Electric Co Ltd. Tipton Staffordshire. Up to 1916 they were known as Cable Accessories Ltd. 

Morum was a firm set up purely for WW1 production and in 1919 all the tools and equipment was auctioned off. They produced grenades and Toffee Apple mortars mainly.

[MrEd]

4 minutes ago, Gunner Bailey said:

M&C/L is Morum and Co Ltd, Clock Tower Works, Lewisham. SE London.

REVO is the REVO Electric Co Ltd. Tipton Staffordshire. Up to 1916 they were known as Cable Accessories Ltd. 

Morum was a firm set up purely for WW1 production and in 1919 all the tools and equipment was auctioned off. They produced grenades and Toffee Apple mortars mainly.

Great info thank you 

[Royal anglian]

My small but rare collection some fitted to grenades just removed for photo!!

thanks gunner Bailey for info on my cable accessories no5 grenade!! 👍😎

 

[Gunner Bailey]

Some nice plugs there. The TA&S is possibly the most common of the early plugs. They have survived well. Early H Hope also nice. The J Wilson Brown 9/15 is probably the rarest there.

The T&S No 5 8/16 is however a French fake (see dodgy broad arrow), as may be the two 'castellated' plugs for FK and HM Ltd, though to be honest the jury is undecided on them. I'd say probably fake, especially as I have a mint FK in aluminium!  

[Royal anglian]

Would be interesting to see the FK Aluminium one!!

the t&s one was in a pretty grubby state to be honest and cleaned up very well so don’t really know!!

it came with some of the others from a dealer in France!!

yes very pleased with the hope and John Wilson brown ones I also like the m&co as mentioned before the aluminium normally just end up as a white mess!!

just as another question what’s the best polish or sealant to polish/protect grenades??

[Royal anglian]

What about the Dunkirk base plug?? Rare?? 😂

[Gunner Bailey]

The T & S plug is a fake. The French maker uses the same broad arrow on many plugs. I clean brass with very fine wire wool (1000 grade) and sometimes a little brasso. Otherwise I leave them untouched.

2 minutes ago, Royal anglian said:

What about the Dunkirk base plug?? Rare?? 😂

Yes rare. 185,000 made but still hard to find.

[Royal anglian]

Would still love to find the grenade to go with the plug but maybe one day!!

[14276265]

The T&S marked plug is very clearly a fake, as is the SGB. The same numeral stamp has been used to mark both - compare the 8, 1 and 6 of the dates.

The two castellated plugs are original.

The JW/B is not the maker J Wilson Brown, but like so much to do with Mills grenades is somewhat irrelevant.

Edited 4 August , 2022 by 14276265

[Gunner Bailey]

9 minutes ago, 14276265 said:

The T&S marked plug is very clearly a fake, as is the SGB. The same numeral stamp has been used to mark both - compare the 8, 1 and 6 of the dates.

The two castellated plugs are original.

The JW/B is not the maker J Wilson Brown, but like so much to do with Mills grenades is somewhat irrelevant.

Yes I see the SGB Broad Arrow now. JWB is listed on a few sites. If not them, who is it?

[Gunner Bailey]

Here's a photo of three castellated plugs I have. The FK I bought in France about 2005 from the man who sells the fakes.  I have about 20 fakes for reference. The  two Kenrick plugs are pretty mint and don't look to have been near a grenade. Note the different positions of the stars around the K? They came from collections with other items. 

If you look closely the 'bubbly'casting seems unlike any other base plugs of the period. I'll reserve judgement on them. 

[14276265]

The castellated aluminium Kenrick plugs are original without a doubt. The attached image shows genuine and fake Kenrick plugs - the fake can only be described as garbage.

The F.K plug is cast brass and the finish is as expected. While it may have been cast by an enthusiast from a mould made from an original plug, that is lot of effort to go to. 

The brass F.K plug shown by Royal anglian was sold on eBay a few months ago and other photos on the listing would suggest it is original.

 

Edited 4 August , 2022 by 14276265
Photo added

[Gunner Bailey]

As I said. I bought my FK plug from the man who sells the fakes and over the years I have always seen more of them on his stall. Rather odd one person seems to be the source of these plugs over a number of years? He also sells them for €8 to €9. Cheap for such a rare plug.

[14276265]

The French sellers of obvious fake base plugs also have plenty of original items that they sell. It is a way of laundering their reproduced wares.

Looking online there is an original brass F.K here: No5 1 FK.JPG (998×988) (millsgrenades.co.uk) Just visible are the remains of iron embedded in the threads, something not readily recreated. The surface has the classic appearance of cast brass, not simply eroded.

If some of the brass F.K plugs are fakes it would be a first for the makers to have reproduced correct period type face.

[chaz]

we were at High Wood a few years ago and found some badly corroded plugs..

 

thing is, still in the grenades , there were at least a dozen and in the remains of a wooden box, left, as the farmers do, by the side of the cemetery wall!!