Mills grenades No 5, No 36.

[917601]

I had no interest in Mills bombs till I saw these. It seems there is a huge interest in them and much posted here about them.
I know next to nothing about them but made a blind, modest bid and won these at a recent auction. I appreciate serious Mills collectors to comment on them in regards to scarcity, collectibility, and quality of the pieces. Thanks again.

 

[Millsman]

You have two nice Mills 36 bodies. One has been incorrectly fitted with parts from a No5 grenade - The lever and base plug. The other is a Canadian made Mills 36 (by Galt of Ontario) from WW2 which seems to be complete with all the correct parts.

The grey body is from WW1 and needs the correct parts from that period. Finding the correctly marked lever and base plug will probably be difficult in the USA. Both are collectable in the UK and Europe but prices vary hugely.

 

[millsbomber]

The repainted WW2 G was originally a Dutch training grenade painted white and holes drilled in body. The O on the base plug denotes Dutch Eod mark to conferm inert. if you remove the center tube you possibly can see where holes have been welded up.
The WW1example is a ideal parts set .....Dave

 

[Millsman]

Interesting how it got into the States Dave.

 

[917601]

Thank you for your appraisals. Both of you are noted Mills experts here. I do not have them "in hand " yet, and will be able to carefully examine in detail both for more markings, holes, etc. So what I have learned, ( I will reference them as WW1 and WW2)....the WW1 grenade has a WW1 period spoon,igniter assy, and base plug and these parts are installed on a No 36 body?
The WW2 grenade has the correct No 36 spoon, igniter assy, base plug, and body? Suspect to be a Dutch weld up and repaint?
Please correct me if I have got it wrong. I plan to keep them for some time, but as with all my Ordnance pieces, when the time comes to sell I want to have accurate descriptions from noted experts in the field. I will post more when they arrive.
As a footnote, these pieces came from a long time elderly deceased collector...the other items I acquired were two WW2 bazooka rounds, a Jap 97 grenade, a 1970 dated M20 rifle grenade practice, and a WW2 gold painted 81mm round.

 

[Slick]

Some nice stuff there. Anxious to see what the type 97 looks like inside the fuze. The missing safety pin is easy to replicate, so no biggy fixing that "issue". Congrats on snatching all the new goodies. I believe that 3.5" bazooka round is designated as M29. M20 is the launcher. Just picking nits.

 

[Millsman]

...the WW1 grenade has a WW1 period spoon,igniter assy, and base plug and these parts are installed on a No 36 body?
The WW2 grenade has the correct No 36 spoon, igniter assy, base plug, and body? Suspect to be a Dutch weld up and repaint?

You've got it. The WW2 36 is Canadian made Galt and a large number of these, all dated 1944 and 1945 were converted to training grenades for the Dutch government. It appears they were never used and at some stage in the 2000's they were sold off and the buyer had the 5 holes in the body welded up. As Dave says if you take out the Centrepiece there may be weld spikes inside. The good news was that all the parts were mint except for some of the filler screws which were damaged on removal. They were repainted and actually look very good. They were mainly sold in the UK at the larger fairs (War & Peace etc). I expect many were sold in Europe too. Supplies seemed to run out about 2 years ago.

John

 

[Snufkin]

Previous thread on those painted-up Galt No.36:

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/88530-Mills-Lever-markings?highlight=galt


The Type 97 looks a great unmessed-with example. Always a nice find.

 

[917601]

Some pictures. The Jap grenade very nice, appears to have all the parts, fuze appears to have been blown, markings here and there, it has red paint remnants and visible.
The WW1 mixer, the centerpiece unable to remove, corrosion visible inside at threads. The plug marked " TA&S /16 No 5", the No 36 body has " TA&S 1917". As stated here, an obvious mixed put together, but interesting the No36 body is WW1 marked as is the No5 plug.
I will post pics of the Galt if I can get the centerpiece removed.