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Possible contenders are GP&S - G Payne & Sons, Birmingham
J&JB - J & J Bent, Birmingham
JP - Joseph Parkes, Willenhall (But usually JP&S or JP&SW) 1-17 is quite late for this style of plug
I'm sure Tom or Tim will add/amend when they get a chance.
Hi to all,
Thank you for your response,
From Snufkin:
"As for the J.R, I'd wager it was most probably a genuine unstamped plug (bar the pheon/arrow) that has had the markings faked."
This is what "Paul the grenade" told me and all the comments you write.
But the Mills plug No. 5 JR-17 or JP.17 is not a fake, I have found in the earth with other Mills plug still attached to the grenades. When I cleaned the plug Mills, I found this special marking....unbelievable but true. that's why I ask the help of specialist to identify the marking. I also noticed between JR-1 or JP-1 there is the marking of the War Department, but not hit hard enough (I think?)
Thank
Red line
If the evidence points to the J.R plug being genuine, then I'm more than happy to stand corrected. Red line has removed the base plug from a buried grenade he has found, so that is hard to dismiss. Added to that the notes and drawings in Dave's hands come from a reputable source.
I am not convinced that the plug is marked J.P. with the P. being distorted into an R by the stamped pheon. One contract possibility with the initials J R is James Reynolds & Co. Ltd.* However, convention would normally give something along the lines of J.R. & Co. Ld. or Reynolds, B'ham. Then there is still the MI marking which is at odds with what might be expected.
Perhaps this J.R plug is the exception that proves the rule.
*Contract No.4341/1A dated 17.2.17, for total of 36,000 Mills grenades, at rate of 2,000 per week, date of first delivery 13.10.16.
PS. Red line,
I was not suggesting that you had made a fake Mills plug, more that you had acquired a plug with a suspect marking from elsewhere. Initially I wasn't aware that you were finding buried grenades and stripping them down.
Tom.