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IWM Gammon
- Thread starter Fragman
- Start date
They're different catalogue numbers - try here http://www.cdnmilitarycollectors.com/t4171-british-no-82-grenade-gammon
TimG
TimG
The Gammon Grenade was used by SOE.
SOE's link with the Gammon grenade is clear from a letter written in 1947 by Gammon to the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors in which he says;
"About December 1941 a design was submitted by me and in August 1942 I finally perfected the design at ES6(WD) which was then under command of Lt Col Wood. It was first used in action in Tunisia in 1942...".
ES6(WD) being SOE's Station XII (Aston House).
In providing evidence the Officer-in-Charge of the residue of SOE's stores and paperwork wrote:
"Lt Gammon was responsible for the idea of a grenade that could be filled with high explosive on the site by a soldier who had access to demolition explosives. A great deal of this simple and practical idea was undertaken by Officers of ES6 who had previously designed and made a grenade which was easily adapted to Capt Gammon's ideas. The Officers of ES6 were familiar with the components which were of standard design and likely to be available, and consequently a great deal of the design work hinged around this information".
Lt Col Wood also wrote on the subject:
"I think it fair to say that at Aston we had already produced the plastic [explosive] grenade. Gammon brought things to a head by arriving while we were doing these plastic grenade experiments. I cut down the old Thermos Bottle contact grenade and all I left of the tin was three or four thin fingers which provided the grip to hold the contact fuze on to the mass of explosive which we put into rubberised sheeting and wound the whole thing with our khaki adhesive tape".
Station XII produced the version shown in the photograph and also worked on a larger No 82 Grenade in 1943 called simply a No 82 Mark II. The grenade mentioned by Wood was famously used on Operation Anthropoid and was known internally as Grenade, Type 6, No 73. It is understood that Gammon was not made aware of this grenade and that it was kept secret for many years after the war.
SOE's link with the Gammon grenade is clear from a letter written in 1947 by Gammon to the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors in which he says;
"About December 1941 a design was submitted by me and in August 1942 I finally perfected the design at ES6(WD) which was then under command of Lt Col Wood. It was first used in action in Tunisia in 1942...".
ES6(WD) being SOE's Station XII (Aston House).
In providing evidence the Officer-in-Charge of the residue of SOE's stores and paperwork wrote:
"Lt Gammon was responsible for the idea of a grenade that could be filled with high explosive on the site by a soldier who had access to demolition explosives. A great deal of this simple and practical idea was undertaken by Officers of ES6 who had previously designed and made a grenade which was easily adapted to Capt Gammon's ideas. The Officers of ES6 were familiar with the components which were of standard design and likely to be available, and consequently a great deal of the design work hinged around this information".
Lt Col Wood also wrote on the subject:
"I think it fair to say that at Aston we had already produced the plastic [explosive] grenade. Gammon brought things to a head by arriving while we were doing these plastic grenade experiments. I cut down the old Thermos Bottle contact grenade and all I left of the tin was three or four thin fingers which provided the grip to hold the contact fuze on to the mass of explosive which we put into rubberised sheeting and wound the whole thing with our khaki adhesive tape".
Station XII produced the version shown in the photograph and also worked on a larger No 82 Grenade in 1943 called simply a No 82 Mark II. The grenade mentioned by Wood was famously used on Operation Anthropoid and was known internally as Grenade, Type 6, No 73. It is understood that Gammon was not made aware of this grenade and that it was kept secret for many years after the war.
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I am sorry for my somehow tardy reply, but I have been out of townThe box is not mine. It belong to the Danish National Museum. The box was airdropped to the Danish resistance movement during W.W.II.
Below is shown a Detonator box and a box with Boosters for the Gammon grenade.
Below is shown a Detonator box and a box with Boosters for the Gammon grenade.
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