Grenades
Grenades
Grenades |
Grenades |
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The stick grenade is the most recognizable of all German grenades. They were designed with a wooden handle mounted to a metal can, which was packed full of explosives. The handle gave the user extra leverage when throwing the grenade and greatly increased the distance that it could be thrown. Most were activated by pulling a string at the bottom of the handle. This ignited a friction tube which lit the main fuse, typically giving the user between 5-1/2 and 8 seconds to throw it and duck for cover. | |
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The Eierhandgranate "egg grenade" was named due to its similarity in size and shape to a hens egg. It was the lightest and least powerful of the German grenades. Due to its size, it was used for offensive purposes, where the user was not guaranteed ample protection from the blast. It could also be carried in greater numbers over the heavier and bulkier Kugel or stick grenades. It used one of several different type of screw in friction primer fuses which were ignited by pulling a wire loop or chord. The reproduction (pictured right) is an exact rubber copy of an original. | |
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The Kugel "baseball" grenade was a large defensive grenade with many serrations to insure the greatest volume of shrapnel. The original examples (left) are of two models, the Model 1915 and 1913 (rear). The M-13 generated more shrapnel than the M-15, however it was far more complicated to produce, making it far less common. | |
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The Diskhandgrenaten "Turtle grenade" was produced in both iron and tin. Both designs used two convex sides which were mounted together to contain two explosive packets. These were unique in that they used four radial percussion fuses which where activated by the spinning motion when thrown on edge. To detonate, it required one of the percussion fuses to strike the ground, so there was no guarantee that it would work. | |
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The German Model 1917 rifle grenade was a slightly larger copy pf the French VB. It was internally grooved for maximum fragmentation and fired from a discharge cup, mounted at the end of a Gewehr rifle. As the bullet passed through the center hole, it struck a primer which lit the fuse. At the same time, the back pressure from the bullet projected the grenade into the air. The picture below shows a reproduction launching stand, which was copied by of our members from an original in France. These were capable of accurate and repeatable adjustments in both azimuth and declination making them a cheap alternative for a small trench mortar. | |
