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Here is a WW1 era Turkish Grenade, the 1914 No. 2 model. It was a cast iron body with a brass fuse. It had a inscription on the side which translated to "type 2 infantry grenade". Additionally it had a notch on the grenade body to allow for a ring to used to attach to equipment. Like most other Central Powers nations, they relied on Germany to supply their needs, pretty much from 1915 onwards, the Turks were supplied with German made or captured arms and equipment. These No.2 grenades are an interesting and unique model. I have had one on my wish list for some time.

I'm not surprised, they are very hard to come by. They do pop up every so often on UK vendor sites. Keep your eyes peeled!

Hi, I found these in my stash. Not sure if they are from motorcycle or other vehicle?

I know we have focused on Germany, France, England and the US as well as others for WW1 era Grenades, but I thought I would post some information about grenades made and used by the Bulgarians in the great war. One of these was called the Odrin Grenade, which was designed by Col. Simeon Dobrevski, which was an improvement on the older Makedonia model introduced in 1906.It was ball shaped, looking like a French ball grenade but with the fragmentation exterior of a Turkish grenade. It was put into service in 1915 and remained so until the wars end. The body was cast iron, and usually painted black or coated in a black colored varnish for protection. It was filled with about 100 grams of Balkanit or Bombit, both of which were a mixture of chemicals. The grenade used a percussion type fuse which was usually made from brass. The grenade was 77mm in diameter and weighed about 770 grams. Photo source: Internet

Not come across these grenades. More ordinance for the list.

A studio photo of a Husar in full uniform, most likely from Husaren-Regiment Kaiser Franz Joseph von Österreich-Ungarn (Schleswig-Holsteinisches) Nr. 16, based in Schleswig. The uniform jacket and cape are light cornflower blue, noticeable in the photo. Studio is J. Vahlendiek in Schleswig, hardly legible in fine gold print, now very faded, as is the rest of the photo. A re-work using photoshop, contrast raised, now a little more disctinct. Many thanks to wpf.

Here is an image off the internet showing the spherical Makedonia type grenades.

As Bulgaria was part of the Central Powers during the Great War, it could draw on resources from its partner nations, such as Germany which provided weapons and field gear. Bulgaria also supplied the above mentioned grenades to Turkey. Bulgaria used the German stick type grenades, which can be seen in many photographs. Information on Bulgaria's munition productions is scarce as well as photos of ordnance. I did find that during the Balkan wars, there was a good abundance of grenades available to Bulgarian forces, however in 1915, only a few thousand grenades were available, which tends to support the notion they relied on other more industrialized nations to support their war efforts.

Here is the Makedonia grenade which was introduced in 1906, which was widely used in the Balkan Wars in 1912-1913. The grenade had a threaded opening for a brass or cast iron plug with knurled bands. Initially, the fuse was a match type which ran through the center of the plug, but was updated in 1911. After the Ordin grenade was introduced, the Makedonia grenades was also fitted with this fuse. The grenade was 72mm in diameter and weighed about 750 grams. Photo source: internet

Hi, Thought I’d share my long coat with you all.

The photo studio in Wandsbek, long closed is clearing out, times have changed. I was given these pictures yesterday. The poster at the top centre states - So flogen wir damals - und so fliegen wir heute - VARIG, 1927-1987, apparently a Brasilian Airline. The topic here is aviation. Wandsbek had an airfield from shortly before World War 1 till the mid 1930s. A zeppelin is also recorded as passing over Wandsbek, here the industry park with the cocoa and chocolate factory in the Neumann-Reichhardt-Straße, now run by Nestlé. One photo also shows Adolf Galland.

Nice original Rubery Owen made MK4 dated 1952, not sure what the D stands for but the Police used these blue helmets during the 1950s during the cold war period, I think the civil defence also used them. Looking at the black ring round the upper part of the helmet would suggest that its been stored with more helmets on top for some time. The letter D may stand for Decontamination if this helmet was used by the Civil Defence, its only speculation though.