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Canadiam Mills grenade 1944

gothica7

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
DSCN0771.jpgDSCN0772.jpgDSCN0773.jpgDSCN0774.jpgI have recently acquired this Frost and Woods Canadian made Mills grenade, base plug dated 1944 which i believe was made by the Stokes Rubber co.Not sure how rare it is but it will go well with my Chatham Co grenade, also Canadian,The FW grenade is in almost mint condition, lever marked DHS whoever they are, with no damage whatsoever and a great addition to my collection.Any information on the maker would be greatly appreciated.


Andy
 
Nice mills but looks like a refinish. Mint Canadian mills are darker in finish and have the band and red crosses a segment lower than Brit mills. They also have the filler plug sealed in red compound with yellow writing.
 

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Hi Andy

F&W made their own levers so your gren has a replacement.

Here's a photo from the F&W factory showing manufacture.

FrostWoodsimage.jpg

John
 
Thanks bud, my Chatco gren looks just like that so i was aware that it had been cleaned up a bit but i think i will keep it as is and will keep an eye open for an FW lever.


Andy
 
Who makes the DHS lever and what grenades do they belong too, seen quite a few of them. Just a tip for anyone restoring their mills, rather than brush or dip the body with shellac or button polish which is normally used, spray it with the darkest shellac, as you can get it much darker with extra even coats. I believe shellac was used as it dried much quicker, whereas the varnish of the day took days or a week to dry to handle.
 
Thanks for the info bud but this is as it was bought like it and looks almost exactly the same colour as a 1972 grenade, I will leave it as is. I have receipes for WW1 shellac which include adding tumeric to help darken the mixture and know that they used whatever they had to hand at the time to save costs.Gibbons also used to galvanise most of their drill training grenades of which i have many, incuding 36s instead of shellac which they often mixed with methylated spirits whch is what I use but find it very difficult now only having the use of one arm due to a stroke. a lot of Mllls parts were copper washed as well to help with rustproofing such as cast iron base plugs, strikers and 23 rods during WW1 not sure if this process was used during WW2 though as a few grenades did have cast iron base plugs.



Andy
 
I've seen a few copper washed springs in WW2 grenades, and have only seen copper washed base plugs (mainly Mills No 23 Mk II) and rods for various WW1 rifle grenades. Recently I was lucky enough to buy a Gibbons 23 Mk III dated 9/17 which has the zinc coating with a slightly greenish tinge to it. I've got a Gibbons 23 Mk II which looks more silvery.
 
Who makes the DHS lever and what grenades do they belong too, seen quite a few of them. Just a tip for anyone restoring their mills, rather than brush or dip the body with shellac or button polish which is normally used, spray it with the darkest shellac, as you can get it much darker with extra even coats. I believe shellac was used as it dried much quicker, whereas the varnish of the day took days or a week to dry to handle.


DHS is David Hollander & Sons - 124-128 Barr Street, Birmingham. Pre war made candlesticks, salt & pepper pots, trays. Light metalwork. Just made levers in WW2 I think.
 
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