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Canadian 1958 Mills 36?

Millsman

Millsman

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I picked this up today and my first thought was it was a badly painted WW2 grenade but then I saw the 1958 date on the base plug.

The body has no markings apart from a small H on the body by the end of the lever. The lever is also unmarked.

The base plug is by S Joseph Stokes of Canada.

Q. Is the whole grenade Canadian from 1958?

Q. Is the painting original and correct?


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Millsman said:
The base plug is by S Joseph Stokes of Canada.

Q. Is the whole grenade Canadian from 1958?

Q. Is the painting original and correct?
Click to expand...

Canadian? The base plug is made in England.

The paint job looks rather dubious, and the lever looks questionable from the side view (as is the ring pull).
 
Snufkin said:
Canadian? The base plug is made in England.

The paint job looks rather dubious, and the lever looks questionable from the side view (as is the ring pull).
Click to expand...

Glad you like it Tom.

I thought the Stokes plugs were only found on Canadian grenades, or am I mixing it up with another maker? Yup, just realised it was Schultz Die Casting on the Canadian Grenades - Doh.

Yes the ring is a quick substitute. When I got it today it had a chrome 3/4" keyring on it.

What about the unmarked body?
 
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To add to the mix the centrepiece is brass with an incredibly shallow bowl at the bottom. It's also stamped TD - 106556.

I'm not sure if this is a bitsa or of overseas origin.
 
Snufkin said:
John, obviously you are not phased by the paintwork.

A photo looking into the centrepiece would be helpful.
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:tinysmile_classes_t Actually Tom, I'm intrigued by the whole thing. The body and lever without makers marks, the WW2 filler, the 58 plug, the black paint looks original the pink I doubt, there are also three red crosses on the one side but not both. The centrepiece looks more WW1 than WW2 but has a very shallow cup. So it all looks very odd but I don't remember seeing more than a couple of 50's 36s and perhaps an overseas maker left off the maker's marks. It maybe a bitsa or something else. After all the Mills has always sprung surprises.

I'll do some photos of the centre piece tomorrow.

John
 
RSCN5503.JPGRSCN5504.JPGRSCN5510.JPGRSCN5512.jpgRSCN5511.JPG

Here's some more photos.

I think the pink band was added by the previous owner. Does the body actually look South African?
 
Millsman said:
Does the body actually look South African?
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Not South African. The standard filler plug fits so the filler thread is British. Without a maker's mark it is almost impossible to identify the maker, but the casting mark of a letter is common to a number of British WWI firms. (An example was THL, a company that used a letter casting identifier but whose maker's mark was sometimes so faint as to be almost invisible.)

The markings on the patented, socketed centre piece are simply the initials of the maker, OMC, and their patent number - OMC LTD 106555.

The paint job is not original. Paint was not used (and it looks like paint rather than old varnish - a caustic soda bath will show that) for body protection, and the markings are pure fiction. A pink band for a hygroscopic ammonium nitrate-based bursting charge combined with red crosses for tropical use? My Ladybird book of Mills bombs says no. :tinysmile_hmm_t:
 
Thanks Tom

It's amazing how these maverick concoctions turn up. I'll strip the body, change the centrepiece and move it on with a WW2 base plug. I'll keep the 58 plug for my collection.

Believe it or not I bought it from a professional historian!
 
John,

I think it might be a WWI body, and somewhat uncommon for either not being maker-marked, or having a mark that is very faint. It might also be the case that the centre piece is original to the body.
 
It would be nice if it was WW1 then I'd happily keep the centrepiece with it. The WW2 filler screw does not fit well but I'll take it out and see. Hopefully when the black paint is off there might be feint marks appearing.

All good fun. Have a good weekend.
 
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