It has been close on twenty years since Lynn and Landers wrote their books on British grenades. Both books have played a significant role in stimulating interest in the subject matter and both books cover a substantial range of in-Service and developmental items. The publishing economics of the day limited the page count and precluded the use of colour. In this book extensive use is made of colour and the author, John Bailey, has been given freedom to cover the subject material without constraint.
The ubiquity of the Internet, and the growth of special interest forums in the same twenty-year period, has facilitated a great deal of high quality research by amateur historians and senior academics alike. John Bailey is one of the most determined and thorough researchers to emerge from this era.
In this fine book John starts by telling the story of one of his favourite engineers, Frederick Marten Hale, tracing the developments of his pre-war rodded rifle-grenades and making the point that Hale’s designs were effectively the only grenades available at the beginning of the First World War. The importance of the Hale’s grenades is a thread that continues throughout much of the war.
The author is able to cover the work of William Mills in some detail and readers will benefit from John’s considerable knowledge of this remarkable engineer and the numerous companies that were involved in the production of the Mills grenade.
In concentrating on British rifle grenades of The Great War John has produced a book that devotes adequate space to the less well-known names involved in the invention, development and manufacture of Service, or experimental, grenades. In his book he brings together a remarkable collection of photographs, drawings and Patent material which will be new to some readers. It is a very accessible book and I commend it to you.
The ISBN Number is 978-1-9993414-0-4
The ubiquity of the Internet, and the growth of special interest forums in the same twenty-year period, has facilitated a great deal of high quality research by amateur historians and senior academics alike. John Bailey is one of the most determined and thorough researchers to emerge from this era.
In this fine book John starts by telling the story of one of his favourite engineers, Frederick Marten Hale, tracing the developments of his pre-war rodded rifle-grenades and making the point that Hale’s designs were effectively the only grenades available at the beginning of the First World War. The importance of the Hale’s grenades is a thread that continues throughout much of the war.
The author is able to cover the work of William Mills in some detail and readers will benefit from John’s considerable knowledge of this remarkable engineer and the numerous companies that were involved in the production of the Mills grenade.
In concentrating on British rifle grenades of The Great War John has produced a book that devotes adequate space to the less well-known names involved in the invention, development and manufacture of Service, or experimental, grenades. In his book he brings together a remarkable collection of photographs, drawings and Patent material which will be new to some readers. It is a very accessible book and I commend it to you.
The ISBN Number is 978-1-9993414-0-4
