WWI British & French (inert) Grenade Lot: Featuring Cut-Away Mills Bomb

WWI British & French (inert) Grenade Lot: Featuring Cut-Away Mills Bomb

Lot features a very nice training cut-away Mills Bomb with base plug marked "No. 5 MkI" and dated "12/15".  Also includes a nice example of the Battye bomb; an interim weapon manufactured in the town of Bethune, France, in 1915 for the British Army, based on the design of Captain B.C. Battye of the Royal Engineers. These grenades consist of a segmented roughly cast iron cylinder sealed with a wooden plug, and fitted with variety of fuzes.  This example is one of the few that we have had that is not a ground dug recovery - has nice even dark patina, top is open with no plug or fuze installed.   Early War French Mle. 1914 Spherical Grenade is a 3-1/8" diameter smooth, spherical cast iron body and threaded bronze fuse assembly complete with friction wire ring, even complete with the wooden plug that protects the fuse device.  This grenade was the first to utilize a metal, screw-in fuse for water resistance and was thrown with the aid of sling, a method that proved difficult in narrow trenches during WWI. British No. 34 Mk III 'testicle' grenade was introduced in 1917 to rival the lightweight German 'Eierhandgranate.' This example appears to be a heavily restored ground dug example with a now-smooth black finish over filler.  Has brass fuze assembly, no visible markings.  

Lot further includes a relic condition British No. 24 Mk I rifle grenade, a No. 23 Mk II Mills Bomb with a portion of a rifle rod attached to the base plug, and the body portion of a French Brandt 60mm modèle 1915 pneumatic mortar projectile, lacking fuze and tail assembly.

$250 - $350