Grenade

“ Hand grenades are of several kinds. That used at Camp Dixton was a variation of the Mills bomb, consisting of a hollow metal container, shaped like a lemon, but somewhat larger. It is made of cast iron and is crisscrossed and scored with a number of depressed cuts, which divide the surface of the grenade into lozenge-like sections. The grenade is filled with a powerful explosive, set off by a time fuse, and when the bomb detonates it bursts into pieces, along the scored lines, and the hundreds of lozenge-like pieces of iron become so many bullets, flying in all directions. ”

“ A grenade is a hollow ball, cylinder, or cube, made of metal or other material, which is filled with some explosive, and burst by means of a fuse, or on impact when it falls among an enemy. Until about the end of the seventeenth century trained soldiers called Grenadiers used grenades which were thrown by hand, but after that date they fell into disuse. ”

“ Whoever is acquainted with the nature of these balls, will know, that between the spinning round of the grenade-rocket in its flame and that instant in which—the spark having reached the powder—it explodes, there is an interval of a few seconds, in which the grenade stands still.
In this interval it was that the commander suddenly rose, and approaching the grenade, lifted it in his hands and dashed it into the moat. ”

“ Fully aware of the danger involved, he was moving forward while the remainder of the squad, armed with automatic rifles, closed together in the rear when an enemy grenade landed in the midst of the group. Quick to act, Private First Class Wilson cried a warning to the men and unhesitatingly threw himself on the grenade, heroically sacrificing his own life that the others might live and fulfill their mission. ”

“ In a British Battalion the normal percentage of expert bombers is 25. In the French Company 36 per cent of the men are devoted to grenade work.
A grenade has been defined as a slow moving, high trajectory missile containing high explosive and exploding by contact or time fuse. Grenades may be divided roughly into two classes—1, hand grenades, and 2, rifle grenades, and each of these classes may be subdivided as regards means of explosion, into 1, time fuse, or 2, percussion grenades. ”

“ The rifle with its flat trajectory is of little use against an enemy who is completely hidden from view and who can go on existing under ground. Hence the reversion to the ancient grenade—but with all its modern improvements. The grenade has shown itself to be the weapon that can solve the problem of seeking out an enemy who is under ground; its trajectory is high and its fire is plunging, so that it can be thrown from a place of concealment and protection and into a place equally well concealed from ordinary view. ”

“ The grenade, indeed, seemed to have passed into history with the fortress warfare of which it was the product. It has always required for its effective use an enemy tethered to his ground and impervious from his cover to rifle fire. ”

“ We have the honor of being the finest target that will ever be offered for a shot with a grenade.
We throw ourselves flat, but the embankment overhangs the lines so much that even crawling is only a moderate safeguard. ”

“ Rifle grenades are capable of causing more losses to the enemy than bombardment. The rifle grenade arrives at its destination unexpectedly without any noise; it explodes before one has even time to get out of the way. ”

“ Machine guns are more worthy of consideration to-day than heretofore.
BOMBS AND HAND GRENADES
The present European War has revived the use of hand grenades and bombs. A certain number of soldiers in each British and French battalion are trained as grenade throwers. Their principal weapon is a bucket or bag of grenades or bombs. They operate not only from trenches but accompany the firing line in an attack and dispose of sheltered or isolated group of the enemy by smothering their position with a shower of hand grenades or bombs. ”

“ As you know, the outside of most kinds of grenade is a thick metal case serrated with deeply-cut lines that cross each other like those more shallow sunk lines on crocodile-leather, only at right angles. These lines of weakness, cut into the metal, mark out almost the whole of the case into little squares standing up in relief, sixteen or thirty-two or forty-eight or seventy-two according to type. The burst, if all goes well, attacks the lines of weakness, cuts them right through, and so disperses all the little squares of brass, cast-iron, or steel radially as flying bits of shrapnel. ”

“ The Infantry as such will use gas in only two or three ways. They will use some gas in rifle grenades, and a great deal more smoke. We speak of the rifle grenade because in our opinion the hand grenade is a thing of the past. We do not believe there will ever be used in the future any grenade that is not applicable to the rifle. The Infantry will probably often carry large quantities of gas in the shape of the toxic smoke candle. These materials being solids may be shot up by rifles or artillery fire, run over by trucks or tractors, or trampled and still be harmless. ”

“ The rifle grenadiers advance at once just as close as possible, but at all costs to within effective grenade range. They then take cover in shell holes, trenches, etc., and open up a rapid fire. They are the long distance howitzers of the platoon and are very valuable. By a well placed grenade the whole resistance may be overcome. This section usually works around a flank. The riflemen work up by squad as far as practicable and to a flank, when an opportunity presents itself, the squad opens fire in such a manner as to protect advance of other squads or teams. ”

“ The cardboard box contained in addition to the pencil bombs a shiny knife and several grooved, pear-shaped objects.
“What are those?” Louise asked curiously. “They look like hand grenades.”
“That’s what they are,” said Jerry, lifting one from the box. “It’s a mighty useful weapon for close fighting. A strong man can throw a grenade twenty-five to thirty-five yards and it does damage over a large area.”
Penny gingerly inspected one of the grenades.
“It won’t bite you,” Jerry laughed. “Nor will it explode in your hand. ”

“ Again ammunition was brought up by ropes from the rear. A hand grenade duel ensued; hundreds of hand grenades were thrown by both sides. Things could not go on long like that; we felt that something was bound to happen. Without receiving an order and yet as if by command we all jumped up and advanced with the dagger in our hands right through the murderous fire, and engaged in the maddest hand to hand fighting. The daggers, sharp as razors, were plunged into head after head, chest after chest. One stood on corpses in order to make other men corpses. New enemies came running up. ”

“ There was something new about it, though, after all, for along this road peace was approaching and we were the only ones who would see it come.
Suddenly, the air above us was covered with a resounding dome-like canopy. Against a big rock jutting out over the road, a grenade had violently burst. Pebbles fell all about us, and the sergeant grew pale. His beard was shaken like a forest through which a horde of frightened wild boars are racing.
“Why—it’s a mistake! You know very well that it can’t stop all at once over the whole front! Wait! We’ll try the telephone. You’re crazy! It’s all over! ”

“ What a blessing those steel helmets were during live bombing practice! They were proof against bomb splinters and gave you a feeling of confidence.
The battalion bombers were also trained at the school to fire live rifle-grenades. No risks were taken with the Newton rifle-grenade; during firing all men had to be behind a barricade and the rifle was fired off with a string and held in position by an iron stand. But we used to think the Hales rifle-grenade quite safe, so that men were trained to fire off these grenades holding the rifle to the ground in the kneeling position. ”

“ Take off removable cap. 3. Insert detonator. Turn to left to secure. 4. Replace cap and turn to “travel.”
To fire:
1. Turn cap to “fire.” 2. Pull out leather thong from safety pin. Remove cord becket. 3. Gather streamers palm right hand, holding grenade in left hand. 4. Holding grenade right hand, pull out safety pin with left hand. 5. Throw grenade.
Packing: Grenades are packed six in wooden box with tin containing ten special detonators.
Precautions: Care must be taken in act of throwing that grenade does not strike any object in rear of the thrower. ”

“ The effective area of a light grenade is mainly local, 6 yards diameter, but when possible it should not be thrown less than 20 yards in the open, as stones, etc., thrown up by the explosion would be dangerous to the thrower. ”

“ The French are using the grenade as a war weapon with considerable success in trench fighting, and for guarding the men who hurl them from poisonous vapors, which are used with telling effect by the Germans, a special mask is provided. ”

“ Reposing on the ground—brought up by an imbecile sergeant—lay a rifle grenade, that infernal invention which, on leaving the rifle, puts a boomerang to shame and generally winds up in the commanding officer’s dug-out, there exploding with great force. However, as I have remarked before, Ainsworth could not be expected to know that. Knowledge on the avoidance of supply trains, and boredom, and the devilry that lies latent in a rifle grenade comes only with many weary weeks. ”

“ They permit aviators to destroy planes which motor troubles oblige to land in enemy territory. They are also used to ignite inflammable liquids, thrown into a dugout, or sprayed over an objective by a flame projector.
The Mark I hand grenade was developed for burning enemy ammunition dumps, for clearing away brush or other material in front of trenches and for use in dugouts. The standard H.E. grenade body was half-filled with thermit and half with a celluloid container filled with a solidified fuel oil. The grenade is fired by the spit of the fuse of the bouchon firing mechanism. ”

“ The smoke grenade is also designed for use in trench and field warfare, where it is desired to produce a dense smoke screen. It is made by packing 340 grams of the standard smoke mixture in an ordinary light metal gas grenade. Around the top of the grenade are vents closed by a zinc strip. The ignition is caused by the standard bouchon when the grenade is thrown. The heat of the reaction burns through the zinc strip and a dense cloud of smoke is evolved for 45 seconds. ”

“ Any man within 75 yards of an exploding rifle grenade is likely to be wounded or killed. The rifle grenade is used both as a defensive and offensive weapon, since the firer is well out of range of the exploding missile.
In developing a rifle grenade for American manufacture our engineers adopted the French Viven-Bessiere type. The French service ammunition is larger than ours, and it was therefore necessary to design our grenade with a smaller hole. ”

“ One of these latter burst in mid-air, but hurt no one; and another time the grenade dropped right into the firing-trench but did not go off. Another nasty thing was when the grenade burst too quickly; many men have been killed by premature bursts during practice. But though some grenades went off too quickly, I never had one burst in less than a second, by which time the [62] grenade was fairly well away from the trench. Besides these thirty-two untrained men, the bombers from the battalion at Locre used to come and practise on the ground under their own Bombing Officer. ”

“ Often, however, the fuse is of such a length that the grenade does [Pg 160] not even explode after reaching the enemy's trench again, and the Frenchman throws it back again with fabulous celerity. In order to avoid the danger of having a grenade returned the fuse is made as short as possible, and yet a grenade will come back now and again in spite of all. To return a grenade is of course dangerous work, but a man has no great choice; if he leaves the grenade where it drops he is lost, as he cannot run away ”

“ The difference between a bomb and a hand-grenade is mainly a matter of size and weight, and a corresponding difference in the arrangements made for its release. Ordinarily, a hand-grenade is a small bomb of some 5 lb, or 6 lb, weight or less, containing a high explosive or inflammable charge, and is, as its name implies, thrown by hand. Requiring no particular provision for its storage or discharge, it is a weapon particularly suited to employment by scouting and other machines not primarily intended for fighting. ”

“ The machine-guns as employed by the Germans were the great bugbear of the trenches. These weapons would mow down a whole company of advancing soldiers in the charge. French officers set themselves to solving this problem and devised the small cannon to be used in the assault. The gun, 11⁄2-inch caliber rapid fire, was dragged forward with the charging line. When brought into action it soon mastered the fire of any hidden machine-gun.
The work of the rifle grenade That ingenious weapon, the rifle grenade, merits special citation. ”

“ Since the fighting was at such close quarters, both sides used hand grenades at extremely short-range. The Marines had the advantage because of their armored vests and they would throw a grenade, then turn away from the blast, hunch up, and absorb the fragments in their flak jackets and the backs of their legs. On several occasions, Captain Breeding's men used this technique and "blew away" enemy soldiers at less than 10 meters. ”

“ During the stalemate period the front-line troops were equipped with this type of grenade in addition to bazookas. The charge was a delayed action type and the grenade was set off by pulling the string attached to it. ”