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My first Mills grenade.

W

wz.KC

Well-Known Member
Hi,
Here my first britisch Mills grenede in my colection, (Many thanks Lex!).
Why first??
Mills grenades from ww2, is somethig what we not see every day in poland on ww2 battlefields. We have a lot russian, german and other stuff, but very rare britisch - especially grenades. I saw them a few times, Was used by polisch partizants in Warsaw in 1944 (from britisch parachute containers) but they are difficult to find now there.

Question 1; is that a No 36 M Mk1 or No36 Mk1 grenade?
The question is certainly very easy for you, but unfortunately not for me.

 Question 2; As you can see, base plug, and filler screw are mising.
Is it hard to get those missing parts?

Regards.
 

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Hi there,

its a No 36 M Mk 1 and the body was made by IBR, Ideal Boilers & Radiators, London during WW2.

Filler screws and base plugs are often seen on eBay. They will be zinc alloy, as is your centre tube which is marked with a Z for zinc. Guy named dugup on ebay or Specialistauctions usually has plenty of base plugs and there are some very good repro ones on both sites now. They are that good, its hard to tell the difference and pretty good value too[not mine by the way]. Nice gren.

Hope this helps.

Andy
 
I think a Mills bomb is an important part of any grenade collection, thye have been around for nearly 100 years and are still in use.
Gus
 
Mills

Is the Mills grenade still being made. Thought it to be discontinued in the 1970's? Just asking...Dano
 
dano1917 said:
Is the Mills grenade still being made. Thought it to be discontinued in the 1970's? Just asking...Dano
Click to expand...
Hey Dano,
I do not think they are being made, but our troops are still encountering them in the sandbox.
Gus
 
I think Pakistan, Somalia and Israel made versions of the Mills grenade after the 70s, but not sure when they stopped. Must be easier for them to get F1s and stuff.

Nice grenade though wz.KC. I would personaly wait for a genuine filler plug and base plug to come along, they tend to be the same price as repros anyway. Make sure, if you see an old base plug, that the threads are OK as many that are dug have been blown out of the grenade when it was used and are stripped in places and won't fit into your grenade.
 
dano1917 said:
Is the Mills grenade still being made. Thought it to be discontinued in the 1970's? Just asking...Dano
Click to expand...

They were last officially made in Pakistan during the 1980's and I have an unofficial copy made for Somali rebels dated 1983. I think this is based upon the Indian Mills. The earliest unofficial copy I have found was in India in the 1920's. Saddam's army used old stock British Mills and I think they had Pakistani Mills grens as well.

John
 
pointblank0 said:
I think Pakistan, Somalia and Israel made versions of the Mills grenade after the 70s, but not sure when they stopped. QUOTE]

Israeli production was far earlier than that. They were first made in the late 1940's by the Irgun rebels. Most Israeli Mills baseplugs are marked 44 which I believe was the first year or production. I think production ceased in the 1960's when supplies of French and US grenades were bought.

John
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Millsman said:
pointblank0 said:
I think Pakistan, Somalia and Israel made versions of the Mills grenade after the 70s, but not sure when they stopped. QUOTE]

Israeli production was far earlier than that. They were first made in the late 1940's by the Irgun rebels. Most Israeli Mills baseplugs are marked 44 which I believe was the first year or production. I think production ceased in the 1960's when supplies of French and US grenades were bought.

John
Click to expand...

That's interesting. I have one Israeli mills but no visible date on base plug. I assumed it was newer. Still, learn something every day.
Cheers for info,
Rob
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Hi,

i think that 44 in Israeli dating actually 83 or close to that date as they dont use the same calendar as we do. Google this and you will see.
1983 comes out as the year 5744 in the Hebrew calendar, hence the 44 on Israeli grens. They would not have used our dating system, even during their independance struggles.

Andy
 
Last edited:
gothica7 said:
Hi,

i think that 44 in Israeli dating actually 83 or close to that date as they dont use the same calendar as we do. Google this and you will see.
1983 comes out as the year 5744 in the Hebrew calendar, hence the 44 on Israeli grens. They would not have used our dating system, even during their independance struggles.

Andy
Click to expand...

Nothing is ever easy is it?
 
Israeli markings

gothica7 said:
Hi,

i think that 44 in Israeli dating actually 83 or close to that date as they dont use the same calendar as we do. Google this and you will see.
1983 comes out as the year 5744 in the Hebrew calendar, hence the 44 on Israeli grens. They would not have used our dating system, even during their independance struggles.



Further to the 44 (and 45) marks on the baseplugs, every centrepiece I have seen is stamped with a letter A in a circle. Sometimes also on one of the vertical faces of the key slots on the baseplug, and at the bottom of the hex hole on filler plugs. Incidentally the Ivrit/Hebrew for Zinc is Avats, so just as British Mills zinc components are marked with a Z in a circle, there is a resonable probability that the marking is equivalent to the Z marking on British grenades. This would support the view of late (1980s) Israeli defence contractors making Mills copies; it would be unlikely that the Irgun would be concerned about stamping an identifier for the material used back in the 1940s.





Tom.
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