Mills bomb is the popular name for a series of prominent British hand grenades. A US designed WWII-era MkIIA1 pineapple fragmentation hand grenade. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Baratol is an explosive made of a mixture of TNT and barium nitrate, with a small quantity of wax used as a binder. ... A US designed WWII-era MkIIA1 pineapple fragmentation hand grenade. ...

Overview

Originally patented by golf club designer William Mills in 1915, the Mills bomb was adopted by the British Army as its standard hand grenade in 1915, and designated as the No. 5. Sir William Mills (1856-1932) was the inventor of the Mills bomb, the hand grenade most widely used by British and Imperial forces during the First World War. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

The Mills bomb underwent numerous modifications. The No. 23 was a variant of the No. 5 with a rodded base plug which allowed it to be fired from a rifle. This concept further evolved with the No. 36, a variant with a detachable base plate to allow for use with a rifle discharger cup. The final variation of the Mills bomb was the No. 36M, which was specially designed and waterproofed with shellac for use in the hot climate of Mesopotamia in 1917. By 1918 the No. 5 and No. 23 were declared obsolete and the No. 36 followed in 1932. Shellac is a brittle or flaky secretion of the lac insect Coccus lacca, found in the forests of Assam and Thailand. ... Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran. ... Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Year 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ...

The Mills was a classic design; a grooved cast iron 'pineapple' with a central striker held by a close hand lever and secured with a pin. Although the segmented body helps to create fragments when the grenade explodes, according to Mills' notes, the casing was grooved to make it easier to grip and not as an aid to fragmentation. The Mills was a defensive grenade: after throwing the user had to take cover immediately. A competent thrower could manage 30 meters with reasonable accuracy, but the grenade could throw lethal fragments further than this. It could be fitted with a flat base and fired with a blank cartridge from a rifle with a 'cup' attachment, giving it a range of around 150 m. Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but can mean any of a group of iron-based alloys containing more than 2% carbon (alloys with less carbon are carbon steel by definition). ...

At first the grenade was fitted with a seven-second fuse to accommodate both hand and rifle launch, but during combat in the Battle of France in 1940, this delay proved too long and was reduced to four seconds. Combatants France United Kingdom Canada Czechoslovakia Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand (French) Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) H.G. Winkelman (Dutch) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H.R.H. Umberto di... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

The heavy, segmented bodies of 'pineapple' type grenades result in an unpredictable pattern of fragmentation. After the second world war Britain and the US adopted grenades that contained segmented coiled wire in smooth metal casings. The No.36M Mk.I remained the standard grenade of the British Armed Forces and was manufactured in the UK until 1972, when it was completely replaced by the L2 series. The 36M remained in service in some parts of the world such as India and Pakistan where it was manufactured until the early 1980s. That the Mills bomb remained in use for so many years says much about its effectiveness. The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majestys Armed Forces, sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown[2]. Their Commander-in-Chief is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II and they are managed by the Defence Council of the... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The M61 grenade is a fragmentation hand grenade used by the US Armed Forces. ...

External links

• WWII Tech Pubs Briefing
• U.S. Patent 1,178,092  U.S. copy of the 1915/1916 Mills grenade patent
• Photos of late production 36M grenades

See also