Thomas De La Rue London British No 69 hand grenade. British No 69 hand grenade. Antiques & Militaria

INERT DEACTIVATED WW2 1940 Dated British No 69 hand grenade. Sn. O 1064 - O 1064

INERT DEACTIVATED WW2 1940 Dated British No 69 hand grenade was a hand grenade developed during the Second World War and issued from 1940 onwards. 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. 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. Metal fragmenting sleeves were available to increase the grenade's lethality. The 69 grenade was the first British hand grenade to use the No 247 always fuse which was deployed by removing the cap and when thrown, a linen tape with a curved lead weight on the end automatically unwrapped in flight, freeing a ball-bearing inside the fuse. This early production grenade has a Bakelite body and the base is stamped No-69 I (No 69 Mark 1) and D.L.R.-40 (Thomas De La Rue London 1940) on the base. The fuse cap is stamped 247 over MK1 (247 mark 1 fuse) and when it is unscrewed, the weighted tape is intact. The grenade was withdrawn from service in 1947. The price includes UK delivery and no licence is required to possess this inert item in the UK if retained as part of a collection or displays. Sn. O 1064

£225.00