No. 69 grenade
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| British No. 69 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Hand grenade |
| Place of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| In service | December, 1940 - 1945 |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1940 |
| Number built | many thousands |
| Variants | Mk. 1 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 383 |
| Length | 114 |
| Diameter | 60 |
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|
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| Filling | High explosive |
| Detonation mechanism |
Impact |
The British No. 69 was an offensive (as opposed to defensive) grenade developed and used during World War II. It was adopted into service due to the need for a grenade with smaller destructive radius than the No. 36M "Mills bomb". This allowed the thrower to use a grenade even when there was little in the way of defensive cover. In contrast, the much greater destructive radius of the Mills bomb than its throwable range forced users to choose their throwing point carefully, in order to ensure that they would not be wounded by their own grenade.
The shell of the No. 69 grenade was composed entirely of the hard plastic, Bakelite which shattered without producing fragments like a metal bodied grenade. However, metal fragmenting sleeves were available to increase the grenade's lethality.
Using the No. 69 bomb was very simple: the screw-off cap was removed and discarded, and the grenade was then thrown. When the grenade was thrown, a linen tape with a curved lead weight on the end automatically unwrapped in flight, freeing a ball-bearing inside the fuze. In this manner the "allways" fuze was armed in flight and the grenade exploded on impact.
Like the Gammon grenade (which used the same fuze design), it was withdrawn from service soon after the Second World War ended.
[edit] Allways Fuze
The No. 69 used the same "allways" fuze as the Gammon grenade. An "Allways" fuze is an impact-only fuze. The term "Allways" refers to the fact that no matter which way the grenade lands (e.g. on its base, sideways or upside down) it will still explode.
[edit] External links
- Photo of No 69 grenade
- Sectional view showing "allways" fuze
- Another sectional view of a No 69 grenade
| British Grenades of World War I & World War II |
|---|
| Anti-personnel |
| Grenade, No 1 Hales | No.s 5, 23, 36 Mills | No. 69 | No.s 8, 9 Double Cylinder Jam Tin |
| Anti-tank |
| No. 68 AT (Rifle) | No. 73 Thermos | No. 74 Sticky bomb | No. 75 AT Hawkins | |
| Special Types |
| No. 82 Gammon | No. 76 (WP) | No. 77 (WP) | "Lewes bomb" |
