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The Other Mr Mills

Millsman

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I acquired a nice WW1 Mills 23 Mk III the other day and at first glance I thought it was Morum & Co , who were prolific Mills Grenade makers.

However the marking on the body was different. Normally Morum & Co have M & Co / L horizontally under the filler plug. L being for London or perhaps Lewisham, where they were based.

This grenade has M & Co on a segment vertically placed in much smaller letters. The Lever had another clue. It is marked M & Co M

Looking through the list of engineering suppliers for the Great War the only maker who fits the bill is George Mills & Co Ltd of the Globe Iron Works Manchester. They are listed as Mills grenade makers. I have seen George Mills before as he holds a number of patents mainly for railway related iron works and parts. However I'd never seen one of his grenades before and certainly not a base plug.

I'm making the assumption this is by him.

The base plug fitted was by Edwards Brothers so was probably swapped out over time.

Photos below.

G Mills Manchester.jpgG Mills Lever.jpg
 
I remembered that I had a No 5 baseplug for M&Co which must be the George Mills Co. So he made No 5s as well.

Photo below.

John

George Mills Manchester.jpg
 
Marking on base plug for Geo. Mills and Co, courtesy Millsbomber's website. Otherwise on bodies GM.
 

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Thanks very much for pointing that one out Tom. I've got one of those marked 3/16 otherwise identicle.

Where does that leave us with regard the brass cup base plug in post 2 as I don't think it can be Morum & Co as there were wedded to solid plugs for most of 1915 and 16. Most likely it would have also had their /L on it as well.

Could G Mills have changed his markings with the No 23 Mk III? The lever certainly looks as though it has the M to differentiate it from Morum's L.

John
 
Mabbott & Co. Ltd - M&Co/M

M is Manchester, L is London.
 

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Thanks very much Tom, case solved. Great grenade.

The 1918 Directory only states Grenades, rather than Mills grenades so I missed them.
 
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