GRENADES
The arrival of the Machine Gun the magazine rifle and quick firing artillery forced soldiers to dig into the earth for protection thus creating the stalemate of trench warfare. Soldiers and generals alike began the search for new weapons that would give them the upperhand and allow them to break through the enemies’ barbed wire and trenches. It is somewhat ironic that many of the new weapons would not be found in the laboratory but in the museum.
The Hand Grenade
The Hand grenade is one of the oldest weapons of warfare still in use today, having been in use as early as 1500. Early Grenades were simply earthenware pots filled with gunpowder and stones with a piece of slow match as a fuse. They were especially useful for the defense of fortifications under siege. By the middle of the 19th century the Grenade had gone out of fashion but with the coming of trench warfare they again found their place on the battlefield.
Jam Pot
A slang term used by Canadian and British Solders to describe a home made grenade. Sometimes made from old tin cans hence the name.
Grenade Hand No 1
This grenade was first issued to British troops in 1908. Unlike the grenades that most of us are familiar with which are fused or timed. This grenade was designed to explode on impact with the target all the user had to do was grip the grenade by the wooden handle remove the cover on the end and throw it. In flight the long wooden handle and the cloth ribbons would ensure that it arrived head first so as to make it explode.
While this was a sound idea in theory in practice it was less than a complete success. If the grenade landed on a soft target such as mud (something there was a lot of in World War One) it might not explode and the enemy might even throw it back at you. Worse still in the confines of a trench the thrower of the grenade would often strike the back of the trench when he went to throw the Grenade thus blowing up himself and his companions.
Hand Grenade No 2
This was simply the Hand Grenade No 1 with its wooden handle shortened from 16in to 7in as to lesson the risk of accidental detonation.
Grenade Hand No 5 (Mills Bomb)
Developed in early 1915 this is the father of the grenades still in use today. To use the Grenade first it would have to be fused; this was done before going into battle. Then when the Grenade was needed all the user had to do was pull the pin and throw it, approximately 5 seconds later it exploded showering the surrounding area with lethal fragments.
Production ended in 1917 after more than 33 million had been made. During the first few years of the war Battalions formed platoons of bombers, usually strong aggressive men and sent them for special training but eventually it was realized that almost anyone could use a mills bomb and by 1918 the platoons of bombers had disappeared.
Grenade Hand or Rifle No 23
In early 1916 the No 5 was remodeled slightly for ease of production and to adapt it to be fired from a rifle. A threaded hole was drilled into the base of the Grenade into witch a long steel rod could be screwed. This was then slid down the barrel of a rifle and with the use of a blank cartridge the Grenade could be fired up to 150 yards albeit with very little accuracy. The problem with such a system was that the extreme pressures generated within the rifle as the heavy grenade was being launched would often bulge the rifle barrel making it useless for shooting. The No 23 was in service by 1917 and by Nov. 1918 over 29 million had been made.
Grenade Hand or Rifle No 36
In late 1917 some more minor changes were made again to ease production and also allow the fitting of a optional gas check plate with witch to allow the grenade to be fired from a discharge cup fitted to a rifle. This system was an advantage in that it did not damage the rifle. This system had a maximum range of about 225 yards.
THE MORTAR
The mortar was another old weapon which found a new lease on life in the great war. Some of the mortars pressed into service by the French had been made at the beginning of the 19th century. A mortar is basically a short tube designed to fire a projectile at a high angle so that it falls straight down on the enemy. The principal advantages of the mortar were that it could be fired from the relative safety of a trench without exposing the mortar crew to the enemy. It was lighter and more easier to move than a large artillery piece and the fact that the bomb fell almost straight down meant that with luck you could land a bomb right in the enemies’ trench.
From the middle of 1916 to the end of the war in Canadian as well as British service mortars were used by specialized units. Each Canadian infantry division was entitled to three light batteries, three medium batteries and one heavy battery. Each battery had four mortars.
3 in. Stokes Mortar
A light mortar Developed in 1915 by Sir Wilfred Stokes this was perhaps the best known mortar of the war. And indeed most mortars in use today are direct descendants of the stokes. A simple but effective weapon it consisted primarily of a smooth metal tube fixed to a base plate to absorb recoil and a light bi-pod mount.
When a bomb was dropped down the tube a percussion cartridge in the base of the bomb would strike a fixed firing pin at the bottom of the tube thus ejecting the bomb. The bomb itself was a simple cast iron tube weighting about 10 lb., fitted with a modified hand grenade fuse on the front with a perforated tube with a small propelling charge and a percussion cap at the back. The Stokes could fire up to 22 bombs per minute and had a maximum range of about 1200 yards.
Vickers 1.75 in. Mortar (Toffee Apple)
A medium mortar The Vickers 1.75 in. mortar was a early British weapon firing a 60 lb. projectile.
9.45 in. mortar (The Flying Pig)
A heavy mortar This British weapon fired a 150 lb. projectile up to 1000 yards
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