Two-inch trench mortar - Grandfather's Innovation. Any info?

[foxtrotzulu]

Hello Everyone

This is my first post here and I've joined for a very specific purpose.

My grandfather servived in the RA during WW1 and was involved in the development of an improved fuse for trench mortars. He wrote a memoir about this for his grandchildren which can be found here: http://www.hellfirecorner.co.uk/fuse.htm

The fuse was cobbled together out of a chair leg, grenade clip and .303 cartridge. Here is a snippet from the memoir

Some time before, the Second Army had set up workshops in Hazebrouck to make grenades, for which the demand far exceeded supply. The director was a Captain Newton. I do not know if he was the inventor or designer of these grenades but the result was brilliantly successful. His grenades were very cheap to produce and were turned out in large quantities. The design consisted of a metal clip containing a sharp striker which fitted over an ordinary 303 cartridge case. This, with a delay action and detonator, was screwed into a cheap pear-shaped cast iron bomb. I decided to try something similar. I gave myself three days leave to visit my old battery at Armentieres, taking a few of Newton's grenade clips. There, with the battery artificer, in an abandoned factory in the town, we made six fuses out of old chair legs. It was very simple. The wood was bored out to take the 303 cartridges; the bottoms were shaped to fit our bombs and the top to take Newton's hand grenade clips.

I was wondering if anyone here knew what became of this development. My grandfather certainly gives the impression the fuze came into general usage after slightly botched trials. The linked article gives a great deal more information.

I'd be fascinated to know if anyone has can shed any light on the subject.

many thanks

James

 

[Snufkin]

James, welcome to BOCN. A very interesting anecdote you have shared, and fascinating memoir of your grandfather.

The percussion fuze for the 2-inch trench mortar became known as the Newton fuze in the period literature, and given the number 107 in the numbered sequence of British fuzes. A drawing of the No.107 attached below.




Tom.

 

[foxtrotzulu]

Thanks Tom. Very interesting.

So, do I understand that this would be a drawing of the fuze that my G'father designed? (I presume with some modifications when being put into mass production -i.e. no chair legs!) This may be a silly question, but can one get hold of inert versions of this?

I was interested in one of the final comments in the memoir which implied the fuse had been very successful in sweeping away the wire in the bombardment before the Somme. At the same time, I have recently been reading Martin Middlebrook's book 'The First Day on the Somme' which makes it pretty clear that wire remained a huge problem and had not been cleared by the bombardment. Does anyone know how effective the toffee apple mortar bombs were when fitted with the 107 fuse?

 

[beihan62]

Hi James,welcome to the forum,
Regards,
Don.

 

[Snufkin]

Thanks Tom. Very interesting.

So, do I understand that this would be a drawing of the fuze that my G'father designed? (I presume with some modifications when being put into mass production -i.e. no chair legs!) This may be a silly question, but can one get hold of inert versions of this?

I was interested in one of the final comments in the memoir which implied the fuse had been very successful in sweeping away the wire in the bombardment before the Somme. At the same time, I have recently been reading Martin Middlebrook's book 'The First Day on the Somme' which makes it pretty clear that wire remained a huge problem and had not been cleared by the bombardment. Does anyone know how effective the toffee apple mortar bombs were when fitted with the 107 fuse?

James,

It would seem fair to say the No.107 was ultimately the mass production item of the fuze that was prototyped by your grandfather. The attached extract from a history of TW mortars supports the favourable comments about it destroying wire entanglements.

Inert versions are no doubt available, but scarce in good condition; having a cast iron body, any ground recovered item will often be fairly corroded.




Tom.

 

[foxtrotzulu]

Tom

That's incredibly helpful - Thank you again. It's very good to hear that my G'father wasn't completely deluded in thinking that the fuze was helpful. It would be nice to think that without his involvement the Somme might have been even worse than it was. If that is even possible.

Final question if you will forgive me. What was the source document for that extract you posted. Can you give me any more details? Thanks

James

 

[Snufkin]

James,

The document was part of a history written in 1919 by Col. O F Brothers - Account of the Development of Weapons Used in Trench Warfare, 1914-1918. The extract comes from the chapter which deals with all the types of Trench Mortars.

There is not much more regarding the 107 fuze, but there is a heap of stuff on the 2-inch mortar and its bombs. PM me if you are interested in more of that.





Tom.