Mills Grenade Makers.

[SimonF114]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some help in a identifying some Mills grenade makers. I'm trying to put together a list for my own references. I have found many makers, but there are quite a few outstanding that I can't seem to find. Can anyone help?

The makers initials that I'm looking to ID are;

ADC,
AB&S Ltd, (A Barrett & Sons ?)
APDP, (Alloy Pressure Die Products, but where was the factory?)
APX
AS,
BS, (British United Shoe Manufacturing Co. Ltd. ?)
DD,
E Ltd,
EFCS
FLc,
FK,
FPL, (Which i know is Flowform Plastics Ltd, did they make Mills?)
GEW,
HM Ltd,
H&R Ltd,
HSC, (Hudson Scott & Co ?)
JWB, (J. Wilson Brown & Sons ?)
L Ltd, (Lucy Ltd ?)
LC&Co,
MB&Co, (Metal Box Co. ?)
MDS&Co,
ME Ltd,
NIC, (Wallop Industries ?)
ORD,
PB&Co, (Platt Bros & Co. ?)
PDL,
PRECA, Press Caps Ltd ?)
PR&Co,
PT&Co,
RIVERBANK,
SB&Co., (Seimens Brothers & Co. ?)
SP&Co.,
TL, (Taylor Lang & Co. ?)
UEC,
VG,
VONO,
WAD,
WB, (Westinghouse Brake Co. ?)
WALSAL,
WE, (William Edgar ?)


I also have a little bit of confusion over 'DFCo.'
On this forum, a search comes up with Dudley Foundry and elsewhere is Derwent with the same 'DFCo' code. How are these two differentiated?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

Best regards,

Simon

 

[EnfieldMills]

AB&S ltd - I have two with the same name. A Barrett & Sons (63 & 64 Piccadilly, London) and A Bullows & Sons Ltd (Long Street Works, Walsall)
.
APX - Isn't this Royal Ordnance Factories?
.
BS - I have the same company listed
.
H&R ltd - You sure this isn't H&B ltd. could look similar on a stamp?
.
HSC - I have the same company listed
.
M.B. Co - I have the same company listed
.
MDS&Co - McDowall, Stevens & Co (Falkirk, Scotland)
.
NIC - Wallop Industries - But I have a note next to it that NIC might be NICO sold through Wallop.
.
PB&Co - I have the same company listed.
.
PDL - Plastic and Die Casting Limited (Christchurch, NZ). Still exist today.
.
PRECA - I have the same company listed.
.
SB&Co - Seimens Bros. and Company
.
TL - I have the same company listed.
.
UEC - I have nothing for this but I have a UCC? Union Can Co. (Melbourne, Australia)
.
WB - I have the same company listed.
.
WE - I have 2 listed.
Wedmore Engineering & Co. (Eaton Grove, Wedmore Street, Upper Holloway, London)
William Edgar Ltd.
This one is also Similar - WE Co Ltd. - Western Electric Co Ltd (London).

Hope this help. Most of those I have never heard of.
Luke

 

[SimonF114]

Hi EnfieldMills,

Thanks very much for your reply. Very helpful indeed!

There are an awful lot that I listed in my first post which I've never heard of either, and can't seem to find even a sniff of them anywhere, be it on this forum, various ordnance collecting FB groups I'm on, or a simple Google.

I've been gathering a list from the Mills Grenades website, 'Extreme Relic Hunters' site (which only have A-J), a Canadian site listing the various names, along with an exhaustive search on various threads on BOCN. Seeing how varied and interesting Mills base plugs are, it seems odd that the makers haven't been corroborated together!

Here are the links to the three sites which might be helpful for others.

http://www.millsgrenades.co.uk/

https://www.extremerelichunters.com/mills-grenade-2

http://tgrm.foxed.ca/British Markings.html


Attached, is a plug I found some years ago with 'LC&Co'. It's another one I can't find anywhere, would you know what that would be?

Many thanks,

Best regards,

Simon

 

[EnfieldMills]

Hi Simon,

Sorry I don't know that one.

Regards, Luke

 

[SimonF114]

Hi all,

Just going through some more Mills grenade base plugs, and have two makers codes that I just can't find.

Does anyone know what 'CMF' and 'HLD' is, please?

Many thanks,

Simon

 

[millsbomber]

May be PRECA

 

[millsbomber]

GEW is South African

 

[Millsman]

Do you think contractors who just made base plugs and possibly levers should be kept in separate lists from actual grenade makers?

Do we know of anyone who actually made all the parts themselves? Mills initially yes, but others were soon probably buying in centre pieces, strikers, springs and levers from other suppliers. I know that is difficult as many 'makers' bought in cast bodies as well.