The Hawkins Grenade was a British anti-tank hand grenade used during World War II. A WWII-era pineapple fragmentation hand grenade A hand grenade is a hand-held bomb designed to be thrown by hand. ... Mine can refer to a number of things: Mines are tunnels used in mining for extraction of resources. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ... A weapons platform is generally any structure or system on which a weapon can be mounted. ... Vehicles are non-living means of transportation. ... This article is about the year. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Anti-tank, or simply AT, refers to any method of combating military armored fighting vehicles, notably tanks. ... Anti-tank, or simply AT, refers to any method of combating military armored fighting vehicles, notably tanks. ... A WWII-era pineapple fragmentation hand grenade A hand grenade is a hand-held bomb designed to be thrown by hand. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ...

Overview

The Hawkins grenade was used partly as a grenade but often more effectively as a mine and as the latter was effective in damaging tanks and other vehicles.

Design

The grenade was a flattened rectangular container, resembling a talcum can, filled with high explosive. One side, the upper in use, carried pockets for two contact fuses. These were glass ampoules filled with acid. When broken by the weight of a vehicle driving over them, the acid leaked onto the detonator setting off the main charge.

Use

The Hawkins could be thrown at a vehicle but it was more popular when used as a mine placed in the path of a tank because its shape and weight made accurate throwing difficult. Although unable to penetrate the armoured hull of a tank it was enough to sever a tank’s track or damage the suspension making it more vulnerable.

Hawkins mines as they were also called were widely issued to Airborne forces, including U.S. troops.

In the Rayleigh Bath-chair Murder of 1943 the use of a Hawkins grenade in the killing of Archibald Brown by his son, Eric, was notable because he was directly linked to the murder weapon by his military training. Wheelchair seating A wheelchair is a device used for mobility by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible, due to illness or disability. ...