Grenades
Sir William Mills was the inventor of the most popular hand grenade in 1915, in Birmingham England. Was originally called the mills bomb, named after the inventor, but was later called the grenade in many other countries. It was made for British soldiers so they could throw the bombs in the other countries trenches, killing lots, without fighting face to face. Other countries however soon made them and both sides were blowing up the others trenches.
The hand grenade was a small hand held bomb that would explode one of two ways, on impact, or on a time fuse. Most early grenades, called ”stick grenades” were small bombs that had a stick fuse that had to be ignited for the bombs to explode, but later models had a pin that was pulled from the grenade, and set a timed fuse.
The hand grenade was a small hand held bomb that would explode one of two ways, on impact, or on a time fuse. Most early grenades, called ”stick grenades” were small bombs that had a stick fuse that had to be ignited for the bombs to explode, but later models had a pin that was pulled from the grenade, and set a timed fuse.
This is a map of a battle ground where thes grenades were used in world war1, on the western front between France and Germany.
The hand grenade works by pulling the pin from the bomb which detonates the materials inside and releases them into the explosive cavity.(as seen above)
This is a common grenade during ww1.
This image shows some of the impacts of the grenade, and shows it's mass explosion.
An army general testing out a grenade.
This is an image from ww1, of soldiers throwing grenades from their trench.
This is a close up of the grenades.
The Impact on the War
Though the grenade caused many casualties, it didn't have a major impact on the wars outcome. Since both the Allied powers and Central powers had them, and they caused about the same amount of deaths on both sides, the war outcome would've been the same with or without them, there would just be less death.
For the soldiers on the front lines however, it might've been a bigger deal. These soldiers, because they were in the very front trenches, had the most dangerous job, and were killed very often from the explosions. the grenades were a major impact on the casualties in the front line soldiers.
The grenades made leaders of warring countries rethink fighting styles. For example they might make taller and thinker barriers between their trenches so the other countries would have a harder time getting the grenades into their area. The leaders also might have to consider the making of grenades and create more jobs, to make more, because they made such a dramatic impact on casualties.
Civilians near the battle fields, and front lines, could be effected by this becasue you cant see the grenades coming until they are exploding. If civilians lived near the fighting and didnt leave, their homes and property could be bombed and they could die. The only reason it would be good for Citizens, is it created factory jobs for them.
The biggest negative effect this weapon has, is causing mass deaths in the soldiers from many countries, and destroyed much land, and many cities. However despite the fact that it killed so many people, in war the objective is to win and cause chaos to make the other side surrender, and these could have helped lead to this. Also the grenade destroyed many of the other countries resources which helped the country doing the bombing. Lastly the making of grenades created jobs for those who were'nt fighting in the war. both the Allied and Central powers had these weapons and bombed eachother constantly, for example Grermany and France both had them and bombed eachother on the western front.
Connections to Today
The modern grenade is very similar to those used by the Allied powers, and central powers, in ww1. The only changes made to the grenade was the shape is more sphere-like instead of cylinder, and plastic is used inside the cabin, instead of wood. This small hand held device can explode with great force that can destroy so much it little time. This weapon is important because it reduces face to face combat and creates fear in the other warring side. This hand grenade is very safe for transportation because the pin has to be pulled for it to explode, and it won't break on impact. The US military uses these today in modern warfare. (Mk II and Mk IIA1.)
sarah Baltimore
sarah Baltimore