HISTORY OF THE GRENADE
A grenade is a small bomb thrown by hand or launched mechanically. Although there are many types of grenades, the most common are ones that detonate after a set amount of time or on impact. The first grenades were made during the Eastern Roman Empire (1261-1453) in Constantinople by the Byzantine soldiers. They realized that "Greek fire" could not only be thrown towards the enemy (flamethrowers) but stored in a stone jar. Grenades were later used in the Battle of Mons by the British against the Germans shortly after joining the war.
Mons Canal, Belgium
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WHAT'S INSIDE
USE IN WORLD WAR 1
When the British entered the war on August 4th, 1914 machine guns were their main weapon and they didn't see much use for grenades. Within a year though, Great Britain was mass producing up to half a million hand grenades each week. Their first model was the “Mark 1” and was highly disliked by most men in trenches because it could easily be set off too early. The canister was 16-inch cane handle and it was ignited by removing a safety pin through the top. When thrown, the handle made sure it landed nose down so that the striker was forced into the detonator. One of the main defects of this grenade was that if it came in contact with anything before reaching the ground, it exploded on contact. That would tremendously affect the European soldiers because if a grenade blew up in a trench there would be little chance of survival because they're so compacted.
IMPACT AND CONSEQUENCES
Overall, grenades had a major impact on WW1. They were used by Britain and many other countries to try and help end the stalemate that trench warfare had created. Starting out the day of the battle, there were 35,000 British soldiers and after 9 hours they only suffered 1,600 casualties while Germany suffered 5,000. This fight was known as an upset by other nations and may not have been won if it weren't for Great Britain's confidence and use of hand grenades. British soldiers were also infamous for "bombing parties" which consisted of nine men at a time an NCO, two throwers, two carriers, two bayonet-men to defend the team and two 'spare' men for use when casualties occurred. During raids, the men would run and throw bombs in whatever trench they came across.
CONNECTIONS TO TODAY
A modern day example of the grenades used in WW1 are the M67 grenades which is a further development of the M33 and a replacement for the M26-series grenades. They were used in the Vietnam and Korean wars. The M67 differs from the M26 series by it does not have a fragmentation coil inside and the outside is smoother than the “pineapple” exterior of the M26. The M67 was used in the Vietnam war (1945-1975) by the United States to bomb the Vietnam troops.
Map of Vietnam
Cecily O'Neill