No.23 Grenade - rod blown through baseplug question

[khanmak]

Dear All, During a recent archaeological excavation on a First World War trench system in the UK some interesting items were uncovered. Amongst these was a No.23 baseplug with the rod still attached but on the wrong side of the plug - i.e it appears to have been blown through the plug. Has anybody come across this before?Another base plug was also found clearly showing the puncture hole that the rod had made into the brass casting. Presumably this must have blown the grenade body off the plug/rod combination or maybe somebody just stuck it in afterwards? It does seem odd that there were x2 baseplugs found with holes in them though. Pictures attached (but not of the second baseplug). Any thoughts welcome. Mark

 

[Millsman]

Never seen the physical evidence before but there were reports of some of the brass plugs failing, probably because the central hole was drilled too deeply (my theory).

In this case what is holding the two parts together? I suggest some conservation work to remove the clag and see if the two parts just separate.

John

 

[khanmak]

John, the rod &plug are just fused together. The second plug (which has the hole easily visible) appeared to me to be very badly cast. The hole drilled to take the rod made the metal at the base of the recess very thin. I'll try and get a pic of the 2nd plug.

 

[Snufkin]

Confirming John's point, the attached excerpt from a memo sent by C-in-C British Armies, France, to the War Office in November 1916 shows that some brass base plugs were failing. An unfired example of one of the base plugs in question is also shown. However, for a rod to end up as in post #1 is perhaps a little surprising - it would be stopped fairly quickly as it met the cap chamber and the descending striker. Maybe it was just some bored bloke fiddling about and sticking a spare rod into a blown plug he had picked up.


Edit: possible that the grenade was an empty shell - or sand filled, minus both striker and dummy igniter - used for training, in which case there would not be any obstacle to the path of the rod once it had passed through the base plug. That said, the base plug does look to be from a blown grenade.




Tom.

 

[Millsman]

I was thinking about this overnight and as Tom says, "However, for a rod to end up as in post #1 is perhaps a little surprising - it would be stopped fairly quickly as it met the cap chamber and the descending striker. Maybe it was just some bored bloke fiddling about and sticking a spare rod into a blown plug he had picked up."

It was the length of rod that had gone through the base plug that worried me. It would never go that far. I can't see the rod smashing the spring and striker out of the top of the body, as the least resistance would have been to propel the grenade off the rifle. So I think Tom is right in saying that it's probably two items put together.

John

 

[khanmak]

Excellent - thank chaps for this info. Very helpful!

 

[khanmak]

Does anybody have a picture of the reverse side of one of these base Plugs?

 

[Millsman]

Here's some images.


The first is the reverse of the same plug Tom pictured. Note the rim. The next two are a later plug by H & B. Note the small broad arrow on this example.


There are various types of brass No 23 plug. There are also steel and cast iron examples.

Here's a photo of mainly No 23 plugs in my collection.




John

 

[khanmak]

Thanks John. Very interesting. I think the plug that was found from memory doesn't have the smooth machined finish of the example in the picture. Just a rough 'poured' finish. I will obtain a picture and post. Thanks again. Mark

 

[Snufkin]

As rough as this?

 

[millsbomber]

Wow that's a strange deformation on a plug Tom any ideas what happened to it..... Dave

 

[Millsman]

As rough as this?

Yikkes! Never seen one like that!

John

 

[khanmak]

Ah - yes, just like that! Is that the imprint of a rod in the middle?

 

[Snufkin]

The base plug came from down range of a rifle grenade training ground, so the small dome in the centre is indeed the rod imprint.




Tom.

 

[millsbomber]

Finally getting the hang of this new camera,,,,,, its like this one has had a bullet through it,,,,,, Dave