Rifle grenade

“ 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. ”

“ Rifle grenades are thrown by the propulsive power of the ordinary cartridge. A special contrivance at the muzzle of the gun cocks the grenade, so to speak, as it is driven from the120 barrel by the bullet, so that it will explode on hitting the ground. It reaches farther than the hand grenade. ”

“ It is of course much more dangerous than throwing a live hand-grenade, and one accident in practice is enough to discourage all the recruits who see it from firing live rifle-grenades in actual warfare. On the other hand, even where the rifle-grenades are only used as dummies, the waste of valuable ammunition is simply appalling. ”

“ The rifle grenade was described as the howitzer of the infantry, and was used to dislodge the enemy from behind cover and to drive him below ground. The section was trained to a rifle-grenade barrage.
The Lewis gun was the weapon of opportunity. Its mobility and the small target it presented made it peculiarly suitable for working round an enemy’s flank.
In each section sufficient ammunition was carried for immediate requirements. Every man (except bombers, signallers, scouts, runners, and Lewis gunners who carried 50 rounds) carried at least 120 rounds of rifle ammunition and 2 bombs. ”

“ The three principal rifle grenades are the Mills, the Hales, and the Newton, the former having a maximum range of 120 yards, and the latter of 400 yards. A rifle discharging a Mills grenade may be fired from the shoulder, as there is no very extraordinary recoil, but in using the others it is necessary to fasten the rifle in a stand or plant the butt on the ground. Practice teaches the soldier how much elevation to give the rifle for different ranges. ”

“ 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 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 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. ”

“ He felt that due to the grenade being thrown simultaneously to the directed rifle fire that the grenade was thrown by someone other than the man who was firing the rifle. Due to the positioning of the rifle, the fact his shots at the men located in the back of the alley hit that man in the chest, the location of the AK rifles, and the speed of his advance on the alley, believes that the man in the back of the alley (not KHADR) was the man who fired the rifle as he entered the compound. ”

“ 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. ”

“ He did, however, treat us liberally to rifle grenades, and our casualties from these beastly contrivances were large.
On one morning we were most unfortunate, a grenade killing our bombing sergeant and two men, and we started to retaliate with every variety of grenade we had. At this moment the trench mortar officer came up the trench and volunteered to assist us. He had a new gun throwing thirty-pound bombs and was keen on displaying his skill ”

“ 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. ”

“ Nothing shot out of a military rifle—outside of the rifle grenade—gives the tremendous shock and blow of the big .70 calibre, five hundred grain, round lead bullet that is used in the 12-gage shotgun. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Hales Rifle Grenade; (b) R. L. impact or percussion grenade; (c) Mill’s pattern grenade; (d) R. L. grenades, friction, time.
Of these (a) is for firing from the point .303-inch short rifle. Its range is about 200 yards.
The remainder are intended to be thrown by hand.
Hand grenades can be of two classes, Heavy and Light. Heavy grenades weigh about 2 lbs. and light about 1 lb. It is considered that a man can throw a 2-lb. weight about 30 yards and a pound-weight about 50 yards. ”

“ Our regiment has learned the French open order drills which is by sections instead of squads. We have also had any amount of rifle shooting and certainly know how to shoot. Then, besides, we have had practice in throwing live hand-grenades until our arms ached, but the use of this deadly bomb is of the utmost importance for close fighting as one grenade properly thrown among the enemy is liable to wipe out a hundred men. Besides this, we have been taught to shoot hand-grenades and automatic rifles, and do about everything that is infernal in warfare. ”

“ You cannot get at them with a rifle, but it might be comparatively easy for one or two men to get along to the house by back ways, using the other houses for shelter and throw a grenade through the window, killing everyone in the room. ”

“ A retreating enemy must be given no time to re-establish a defensive attitude, corners must be worked carefully and bays and straight pieces of trench rushed. The bayonet men will complete the work of the grenades and see that the carrier and thrower will meet with no opposition on their way to new throwing position. The effect of a grenade bursting in a confined space like a trench is tremendous, and though it may not kill it will stun or shock the hostile occupants, and if the bayonet men follow up rapidly they will meet with very little resistance. ”

“ Attacks should be practiced with dummy and deteriorated grenades, i.e., grenades with only a detonator and no explosive, etc.
Confidence and knowledge of grenades should be gained by students handling, stripping and assembling all types and handling fuses and detonators, as often as possible.
The importance of grenade work cannot be over-estimated and one can imagine numberless cases when a grenade is more useful than any other weapon. For instance, in street fighting a number of the enemy are holding a house and firing from an upper window commanding the main approach. ”

“ Only blank ammunition may be fired when the blank firing device is in place. Do not use the cap or the combination tool kit as a blank firing device.
HAND GRENADE LAUNCHER: The hand grenade launcher is installed by removing the muzzle nut (fig. 53) and screwing the launcher onto the weapon (fig. 54) .
TO FIRE THE GRENADE: Insert a grenade with the pin pulled into the launcher.
CAUTION: A special type cartridge is used for firing the grenade. Place the butt of the weapon on the ground and fire from this position. The maximum effective range the grenade can be fired is 250 meters. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Of shells I have already spoken; next in deadliness were rifle-grenades, which are bombs with a rod attachment that is put down the barrel of an ordinary rifle. Four of these rifles are stood in a rack fixed to the ground, and fired by a string from a few yards away, at a very high trajectory. They are a very deadly weapon, as you cannot see them dropping on to you. Then there is a multiform genus called “trench-mortar,” being projectiles of all kinds and shapes lobbed over from close range. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Crimp lighter on to fuse, insert fuse into detonator and crimp the latter on to fuse. Wax joints at lighter and detonator. 2. Insert igniter into detonator tube in inner cylinder. 3. Wax round joint where igniter enters grenade. 4. Wire fuse on to grenade.
To fire:
1. Hold grenade right hand, gripping bottom of Nobel lighter between thumb and finger. 2. Tear off tape and pull out safety pin. 3. Press down outer tube of N. lighter, turn sharply to R. or L. 4. Throw grenade at once. Note. The heavy pattern grenade has more shrapnel and less explosive than the light pattern grenade. ”

“ In fighting between trench and trench, considerable use was made, besides the rifle, of bombs or grenades. These were of varied types, with either concussion or missile effect, and some were thrown by hand whilst others were propelled from mortars or catapults. The Mills grenade had just made its appearance, and was regarded as a special reserve of power in case of an enemy attack. The numbers of these available were small but other types were more plentiful and included the jam tin, cricket ball, time and friction, match head, and hair brush. ”

“ No. 2 is method adopted in night attack and when weather conditions or topographical features of ground covered in the advance allow it.
Attacking squads are allotted positions in lines of infantry immediately opposite their first objectives, and on reaching these positions should immediately commence bombing and clearing the trenches towards their final objectives. In the case of No. 1 the infantry clears [Pg 35] the main trench, but special grenade parties may be told off to assist the infantry in this work, especially when strong points occur in the enemy position. ”

“ Ammunition supply was adequate, since the rifle was normally fired only at observed targets. The Japs possessed a number of our M1 rifles, apparently considering them a superior weapon to their own.
“The fragmentation grenade was used frequently against suspected areas of heavy jungle growth and on some occasions for the destruction of booby traps around perimeter defenses. Its effect when used as a booby trap is questionable because of the long fuze time. The Japs used our grenades extensively in their night harassing raids against our bivouacs. ”

“ He determined that he fired 15 rounds, the three rounds specifically identified while at the end of the alley, and by counting rounds he determined that he had fired 12 rounds as he ran past the alley. All of the rounds were fired from his issued M-4 rifle and he used no other weapons. recalled that other US forces threw one hand grenade, from which no one was wounded, into the living quarters of the compound as they cleared it. The only other weapons fire he witnessed during the assault was the enemy fire from the alley and the one hand grenade thrown at US forces from the alley. ”

“ Holding grenade head downwards, unscrew black ebonite block, if needle pellet found secure. 2. Screw in detonator.
To fire:
1. Oil rod and barrel of rifle. 2. Insert rod into barrel of rifle and work it up and down to ensure lubrication and to expel air. 3. Place special cartridge in chamber rifle and close bolt. 4. Pull out safety pin. 5. Pull down releasing collar. 6. Give wind vane 11⁄2 turns to left. 7. Fire the rifle. ”