Making Mills Bombs 

Check out the accompanying article here: armourersbench.com/2022/01/02/making-mills-bombs/ Thanks for watching! - Matt

I remember Grenade Throwing Practice when I was a Royal Fusilier, in 1969. Before we did anything thing else, we had to clean the Cosmolene Protective Grease off them - including inside - then check that the Striker worked correctly. "Remove Base Plug; Hold against Webbing Belt; Remove Ring-pull; Release Arming Lever." If the Striker didn't hit the belt hard, you had to clean the inside of the grenade again. Once cleaned and checked, Replace Base Plug and proceed to Throwing Bay. When it was your turn to throw your grenades - we were given 2 each - you moved into the Priming Bay, where the Demolition Corporal Primed your grenades with 7 second fuses and handed them to you. When instructed, you moved into the throwing bay, where the Instructor stood facing you. You then placed both of your grenades on the ground, between you and the Instructor. He then instructed you how to throw the Grenades - the Throwing Position - and what to do, if you should drop one in the throwing bay. The thrower should step back into the throwing bay and throw himself flat on the ground, with his head away from the entrance. The Instructor would grab the grenade and lob it over the protective Blast Wall of the grenade range, watching to see where it landed, before ducking down behind the wall. After the Instructor checked that you understood his instructions, you then repeated them back to him, at which time, he then told you to pick up one grenade and 'Make Ready'. He then told you to remove the Ring-pull and assume the Throwing Position. On his word of command, you threw you grenade as far as you could, using the same Over-arm Bowling Motion as a Cricketer. You then watched to see where the grenade landed, before ducking down behind the wall. What the Instructor was listening for, was the sound of the Detonator Igniting. It made a loud 'Crack', as it did so. If he didn't hear the 'crack', he'd make note of where the grenade landed and with you both crouched behind the blast wall, he'd count to 100. If the grenade didn't explode, God Help You, 'cos that when things got scary for the thrower and the Demolition Corporal did his job, with a One Ounce lump of 'Plastique' Explosive and some Det Cord. Once the Demolition Charge was complete, the Demo Corporal and the Thrower would then exit the throwing bay and slowly walk towards the unexploded grenade. You were instructed, that if you heard a 'crack' and smoke started issuing from the grenade, you had to turn around, take three strides and throw yourself on the ground, with your legs and feet together, with the soles of your boots towards the Grenade. You put your hands and arms over your head and waited for the bang. If that didn't happen, the two of you moved towards the grenade and you were told to stop, six feet from the grenade. The Demo Corporal then moved to the grenade and very carefully squashed the Plastique onto the side of the grenade, after which, he used an Igniter to light the Det Cord. He then stood up, ordered you to About-face and march away for ten paces, before throwing yourself on the ground and 'Assuming the Position'. The Explosive charge then detonated the grenade. This invariably resulted in the infamous 'Brown Trouser Job' for the recruit and frequently, also for the Demo Corporal. If the above UXB occurred during Grenade Practice, they would then detail another qualified Corporal to take over Demo Duties. It happened twice to members of my platoon, the first time we did grenade practice. Thankfully, both my grenades worked as expected. I hope the above explanation is of use to those of you who have never thrown - or even seen - a No 36 Mills Bomb.

Years ago there were a set of notes floating around for a wartime infantry's Mills bomb lecture, it stands out in memory because it contained the darkly understated sentence : _"The body is segmented like a chocolate bar .... _*_to ensure everyone gets a piece."_*

Making deadly weapons while the big band playing cheerful tune in the background, priceless. 😂

Fantastic video sir. We had a couple of inert No. 36 growing up that my father "liberated" post the Vietnam war... they were always cool to pull part and put back together. Amusingly, my grandfather nearly wiped out himself and several other soldiers as they were smoking whilst priming Mills bombs in the field during WWII. Apparently he dropped hot ash straight into the filling hole, which was promptly tossed, and he and his mates bolted from the area. Thankfully nothing detonated. Great blast from the past - thank you. 👍

We regularly find Mills handgrenades i Denmark, delivered too the danish Resistance movements during WW2

When I was on the grenade range for the first time ( Fort Bragg, NC) the Ranger Sargent addressed us in that loud DI voice. He said, " Gentleman and ladies, men smarter than us have tried to make these "idiot proof." But I am here today to inform you that NOTHING IS IDIOT PROOF..... because idiots can be so damned ingenious."

Enjoyed that Matt. We’ve got a few drill and inert grenades here. Had them literally thrown at me when I walked into a scrap dealer’s yard in a previous job. They thought it was ‘funny’. Jeez! I needed new pants.

I felt that by clicking on this I’ll be put on a list ya know but the title seemed outrageous,I expected it to be cosplay or something from a video game ,instead I’ve come across the best episode of how it’s made ever recorded. This is so metal 🤘🏻

Very interesting to see these being made in New Zealand - like we in Australia, we had very limited munitions manufacturing capacity at the start of the war. A very useful weapon, the pineapple 😉

Imagine what a pro baseball pitcher could do with a couple belts of these..

Interesting! Never knew they were filled from a hole in the side, just assumed they were filled from the hole the fuze goes in. Not a lot of safety equipment for the factory workers!

Hi! Really enjoyed this clip. I live in Christchurch, New Zealand and it is great to see historical war footage from my place of birth! The style of commentary on the archive footage is really typical of kiwi news reels of the period. Great work! Thank-you.

So glad you opened it to check it was actually inert. Many a Hollywood actor wouldn't ....oops :-) The NZ video makes me nostalgic as back in the day we were allowed fireworks that went BANG! as kids.

Please continue with this channel forever. I've binge watched most of your content and am thoroughly impressed 👍👍 It's also great having a Brit doing a channel like this 🇬🇧👍

This channel is massively underappreciated. Have a comment for the algorithm

I own three inert #36M. They are my favorite hand grenade. Nice to see the production footage. Despite their WW2 vintage it is still a royal pain to depress the internal spring to seat the safety lever.

I have a couple of mills no36 & no5 a tin of drill detonators and a casting reject.

They were called No 36 Grenades, because the casting had 36 segments to it. When it exploded, you had several additional pieces of shrapnel from it. The Striker and Spring; the Base Plug and the two 'Ears' which the Ring-pull went through, to hold the Arming Lever in place. An interesting observation I made when at the grenade range, was that behind the throwing bay, there was an Observation Tower, where the Range Officer and the Platoon Sergeant stood, to observe where the grenade landed, just in case one didn't explode. Whilst in the waiting area and in the Priming Bay, I kept hearing something 'whirring' over the top of us and hitting something. When proceeding had completed, I noted, that there were scores of Base Plugs at the base of the throwing tower. One of the reason we had to duck behind the blast wall of the throwing bay. You can easily be killed by your own grenade, if you stick your head above the parapet.

American here. Wish I could find an inert mills grenade. Surprised how rare they are in general.

Brilliant video. Really enjoyed this, a great watch. Thanks, mate.

I lived across a canal from a Nobel's factory that produced grenade's. My great Aunt worked there during the war. Detonators where always being found amongst the factory ruins. And i can still remember a friend who found a live grenade close by about 30 years ago. We used to play in this large complex often.

Interesting as usual. Happy New Year to all the TAB crew!

Thank you, I have one of those cutaway mills grenades grandfather used in cadets demonstrations when he was in school.

Absolutely awesome video!

3:10 that line was great lol

Mills Bomb A fine Hand Weapon!

I’d imagine the employees were provided more instruction on how to properly assemble the grenades than is shown in this film! My curiosity peaked when the film depicted the grenades being packed, fully loaded and charged, but without their safety handles. How is THAT accomplished?

I wonder which factory in Christchurch they were made; I moved here in 2014 and never knew they made mills bombs here!

A-you're an armourer, B-you're an armourer, C-you're an armourer toooooo...

i wonder how many injuries occured during this tedious process of activating hundreds per day, i mean, springs are really wild things, they had at least a place to throw them off ... just in case a "clack! " happens ?

So interesting love it

Sand is packed around the pattern, which is called a match plate, not the pattern being "pressed into the sand".

It's so tempting to activate the replicas of these that can be bought. Probably not worth the prison time though.

Very interesting! Good video

During the war my mum worked at a local factory making munitions, her father also worked there's as an quality control inspector. I am unsure how it came about but grandad/mummy brought home a defective (UNFILLED, UNARMED BUT COMPLETE) handgrenade. Years after the war when my cousin and I went to visit Granny we used find this grenade and play in the street with it, much to the amusement of the local children! Having games to see who vould throw it the farthest. Can you Imagine this happening to day? .

Love those old Pathe reels

Does anyone know where I can find a deactivated or reproduction one with a base disc for the Lee Enfield No1 Mk3 grenade discharge cup?

The Indian Army finally replaced the No 36M in service as late as August 2021!!!!

Strangely they kept producing these for export long after we switched to licence built frag grenades containing RDX and notched coiled wire.

Mills Bombs were usually shipped without the fuses being inserted into the bomb, they were packaged separately. I suppose this was a safety measure? Fuses were inserted in the field by the troops.

Omg so wild to cool ! we did the same thing back I. High school lol not get adds but same techniques

I worked for Scott Bros in Christchurch in the 70's. before my time they had a foundry and made hand grenades and mortar shells. i wonder if thsi is that factory just off Manchester Street?

I would love to gift my mother-in-law with fresh "pineapples"!

I bet im on a list now

I learned something today.

4:40 Jesus. The detonator being handled like that. Modern grenades have tins of separate detonators and are carefully primed just before throwing.

Very interesting I approve the grenade for war

@The Armourer's Bench, request: next time instead of placing the pause image in the center of the video, put it in the top left as a small image, with an audible clicking sound as to not distract the viewer and to signal the pause. Second, the color of the pause image must not be white perhaps very dark gray and other similar colors. Thank you.

Good job Steve, keep your lad honest ! : - )

Got me subbed

I’m a x paratrooper us army I threw grenades in basic training having said that I remember reading about a us infantry men during ww2 who was in the European theater he had been a pro football player and he was used as a mortar against the Germans in forest fighting

Great stuff. Is there any info on how the British antitank rifle grenades were made?

Very sure these were made in Anderson’s Foundry in Christchurch NZ where I live. I will ask my father to verify this.

My father was a marine in the Pacific theater during WWII. He would put a grenade in his mouth and one in each hand and start spinning, when he reached 8000 RPMs, he released the grenades. The grenades went flying everywhere, the Tojos, after witnessing this would be bent over with laughter, that’s when my dad’s comrades would start mowing them down with their M1 Garand rifles. Good times!

Looks like one of the easiest grenades to cast considering how wide the sand core can be. What I want to know, is how were American grenades or medieval grenades cast without the sand cores breaking.

Sweet!

Yea , very good , like historical pathe news ,, similar to this

The one guy inserting the fuses and firing pins looked kinda shaky!

I love green sand casting..but i hate shoveling

Yep

I have a book written by an American infantry officer who served in the Pacific, and he described the Australian grenades they were given (presumably Mills bombs) as having four-second fuses, IIRC. Is that correct? Some references I see are stating that it was five seconds; Wiki however states that it was reduced from seven to four.

Interestingly, all of the components and technology necessary to produce the Mills Bomb existed at least 60 years before 1915. Imagine how the American Civil War, the Franco-Prussian war, the Boar War, etc would have been impacted if this had happened. I understand that Mills was knighted for his role in developing this grenade. My favorite is the No 5 Mills bomb, closely followed by the No 23.

Thought was to make a larger version of one of these of *wood,* fit an unusually thick “gas check” (with batteries, wheels, electronics, etc) and turn it into a robot…

But where we get molds to make those sand models?

Hey, I got one of those!

I threw 2 L2s in the TA, making such an arse of the first one I nearly killed the officer in the priming bay. My mate was there when they (against the SOPs at the time) allowed females to throw grenades. One - an idiot - opened her hand and let the lever fly off on "Prepare to throw". NCO said his entire life passed in front of him, said "Throw", the 3.6 to 4.2 seconds meant the thing exploded in the air and he was still punching her, screaming "I've got kids" as they dragged him off.

How do you disarm it safely if you came across one? Asking for a friend ...

Holy castings, Batman!

The grenade at the start has the body drilled, is that required to own one?

I had one after ww2 made into a money box, I'm sure it was deactivated

Was this the most successful grenade there was to produce???

Very interesting. I would like to know how they removed the cores from the bodies before filling.

I have a mason porter nz grenade 36, or as I call it my masport.

The best potato recipe of all time you what I mean

2 oz of filling doesn't sound right, the current UK grenade is 175 g filling from my memory of the grenade range .

Drilling in gloves is just asking for an accident.

Nearly got killed by one of these yonks ago. Mains electricity meets brain malfunction.

Thankfully the Germans in WW2 used the cumbersome potato mashers instead of copying this design.

not one pair of safty glasses! lol

Pull the pin See the pin Throw the grenade

First time viewer, lifetime subscriber... K-9 0Ut...

Has anyone got any footage of the Mills bomb that Israel played with . They filled it with some really high explosive plastic . Turned out you could not throw it far enough to be safe

Mustve been so cool back then to be like "yeah I make grenades to stack bodies of Germans" like damn

Very interesting. Something every home-foundry in Ukraine and Europe could be producing.

That shrapnel is tiny but very brutal.🤕

During the days of a battlefied 2 mod. Forgotten hope 2. Mills bombs were known as mills nukes for their..over performing nature compared to others xD

M = Mesopotamia Filler barium nitrate some later with amatol 60/40 and TNT. The cutaway being factory incerted is only for show, Soldiers had to prime grenades. The detonator assembly consisting of cap, fuse ans detonator were packed in a seperate metal can in the shipping crate. I have been an Ammunition Technician for 40 years and am still sick of these things. Among the Commonwealth there were over 2 Billion of these grenades manufactured. I find them all over. Pain in the ass.

make your footage or don't use the sound of originale footage while pause it again and again

Okay, but what about the Q.C.? 😂

I thought this was about modding some airsoft grenades... Bummer

Сколько всего изабретено,для убийства

🥂👏👏👏

I wonder if anyone has done astudy of what the war meant to women's lives. It opened things that had been closed to women,jobs.

Ты все прикрасно предсталяеш с

Seriously after every shot ur gonna pause

hmmnn...a lot simpler to do at home than improvised firearms....

yyyy

Don’t need to see pause and play buttons just aggravating as hell