Item:
ONSV24SOS018

Original WWII British No.36 Mills Bomb Grenade Trench Art Ashtray with Artillery Fuse Base - Dated 1915

Item Description

Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is an outstanding example of WWII Trench Art which implements what was once a live No. 36 Mills Bomb, dated August 1915! The Bomb is positioned on a base made from an artillery fuse, dated 1917. The grenade has had the internals removed, and a portion of the outer fragmentation sections removed as well, in order to use the hull as an ashtray. The piece measures roughly 4” tall with a 2½” base. Like all deactivated ordnance, this piece is Not Available for Export.

The Mills bomb is marked on the bottom, NO. 51 T.A. & S. LTD 8/15. The artillery fuse is marked several times and dated 1917. A great piece of trench art that could still be used as an ashtray! Comes ready for further research and display.

The practice of creating trench art is as old as military conflict itself. During the American Revolution, prisoners of war created ship models from the bones of their rations. Soldiers in the Civil War carved charms and trinkets from lead bullets. World War I brought the advent of "classic" examples of trench art—and gave name to the pastime—as changes in technology presented soldiers with the material that best characterized the art form: the brass cartridge. During World War II, a more mechanized army offered increased access to the tools needed to fashion trench art, and the artifacts became more varied in form and were produced in greater quantity.

Mills bomb is the popular name for a series of prominent British hand grenades. They were the first modern fragmentation grenades used by the British Army and saw widespread use in World War I.

William Mills, a hand grenade designer from Sunderland, patented, developed and manufactured the "Mills bomb" at the Mills Munition Factory in Birmingham, England, in 1915. The Mills bomb was inspired by an earlier design by Belgian captain Leon Roland. Roland and Mills were later engaged in a patent lawsuit. Col. Arthur Morrow, a New Zealand Wars officer, also believed aspects of his patent were incorporated into the Mills Bomb. The Mills bomb was adopted by the British Army as its standard hand grenade in 1915, and designated the No. 5.

The Mills bomb underwent numerous modifications. The No. 23 was a variant of the No. 5 with a rodded base plug which allowed it to be fired from a rifle. This concept evolved further with the No. 36, a variant with a detachable base plate to allow use with a rifle discharger cup. The final variation of the Mills bomb, the No. 36M, was specially designed and waterproofed with shellac[4] for use initially in the hot climate of Mesopotamia in 1917, but remained in production for many years. By 1918 the No. 5 and No. 23 were declared obsolete and the No. 36 (but not the 36M) followed in 1932

The Mills was a classic design; a grooved cast iron "pineapple" with a central striker held by a close hand lever and secured with a pin. According to Mills's notes, the casing was grooved to make it easier to grip and not as an aid to fragmentation, and in practice it has been demonstrated that it does not shatter along the segmented lines. The Mills was a defensive grenade (meant to be thrown from behind cover at a target in the open, wounding with fragmentation, as opposed to an offensive grenade, which doesn't fragment, relying on short-ranged blast effect to wound or stun enemy troops without endangering the exposed thrower with fragments, which travel a much longer distance than blast alone. With fragmenting defensive grenades, after throwing the user had to take cover immediately (however, in spite of the designations, "defensive" grenades were frequently used offensively, and vice versa. A competent thrower could manage 15 metres (49 feet) with reasonable accuracy,[citation needed] but the grenade could throw lethal fragments farther than this. The British Home Guard were instructed that the throwing range of the No. 36 was about 30 yards with a danger area of about 100 yds.

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