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Mills Id

zephyr4

Well-Known Member
I have a few grenades what I have picked up over the years, can anyone help with some info on this one which I think is a MK11 36.

Thanks z4g1.jpgg3.jpgg2.jpg
 
Hi Zeph,

the first gren looks like its a No 36 Mk 1 with a Mk 2 base plug. All Mk 2s were drill grens with the white body and 5 drilled holes.
The body looks to have been made by Qualcast, the lawnmower makers[Tom may add to this] and the base plug was made by Southern Engineering Group[SEG] a group of Engineering companies based around Brighton during WW2.


The 2nd gren, also a No 36 Mk 1, body made by R. & A Main, Falkirk with a base plug by possibly Glover & Main Co Ltd but could be wrong here. It had an unusual lever, not seen its type before. Hopefully forum experts will comment here. Is the filler screw on the 2nd gren brass or zinc alloy?


Nice grens, both look in VGC.

Andy
 
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The filler screw looks to be alloy, do you have any idea on what dates these were made. I do have a couple of mills with holes drilled in them.
 
Hi again Zeph,

you cant really tell when a Mills was made unless the body was dated as was the case of WW1 No 23/3s and No 36s when not only did the body have a makers name it often had the year of manufacture. Some WW2 grens may have also been so marked but it wasnt a common occurence. So basically we tell the date by the base plug although these are often not true to the grenade. Drill grens started to have the holes drilled late 1936, often these were WW1 No 36s, i have a couple, as well as newly made reject grens.i.e those that didnt pass quality controls but were not to be wasted.

Andy
 
Third mills.
Thanks for the info gothica. Here are some more picture's of another mill's, the only mark's I can see on this one are under the lever.
 

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Hi Zeph,

dont know about this one as i reccon the marks on the back are just casting or foundry marks, nothing to do with the maker.
The base plug was made by Davis & Brocklesbury, Manchester. They did make bodies marked VADIS so could have made this one too but we will never know.

Andy
 

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The lever of the second mills doesn't appear to be correct, it might be something someone made up to fit. never seen an issue one with that shape before. The lack of finish also points to newly made.
 
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