Mills grenade

[Buster]

Got this last week , It's a no 36 mrk1 mills grenade manufactured by James Gibbons of Wolverhampton, the base plug was made by John Harper and is dated 43. It came without the internal spring, plunger and lever, I ordered the parts and here it is in all its glory.

[Fritz]

I had a complete one many years ago, no makers mark or date, had probably been postwar re-painted.

I also had a battlefield found WW1 example, complete with pin and lever, all very rusted. I found it just below the Butte de Warlencourt on the Somme during the Easter 1982 Western Front Tour of the battlefields. It had lain there since 1916. Unfortunately parted with this many years ago.

[Buster]

It's amazing it was there all those years, there must be hundreds of them still there.

[Fritz]

nobody was supposed to enter these areas, as there is supposedly so much still in the ground, but it was not fenced off, just general warning signs. I also saw scattered live cartridges for the French Lebel rifle in the northen part of the Somme sector from 1915, after which the British took over (Pozières-Ovilliers).

[Buster]

Would love a root around there,  it would be very interesting.

here's a pic of the grenade markings J.G OF WOLVERHAMPTON

[Fritz]

There are quite a few battlefield tour operators to the Western Front, such as the Western Front Organisation, they can be found in internet. No idea what it would cost nowadays, my last tour was in 1982.

It would be nice to have a stick grenade from WW1 and 2. These are really expensive nowadays and subject to restrictions.

[Gildwiller1918]

I did a battlefield tour in 2015, very reasonable prices. just have to shop around and plan accordingly. Our package included a driver picking us up at our hotel, then taking us all around the Messines, Ypres area, all the museums, cemeteries, you name it. Below are just some examples of what you can find. I went to a barn (first photo) where a local farmer had several tables set up to where you can purchase whatever you want, only thing to remember is some of this stuff amy still be live. However you are allowed to walk in some of the fields (the guide usually coordinates this beforehand) and pick up the shrapnel balls, spent casing, etc. We saw rows of artillery shells lining the roads by the farms, the guide told us the Belgian Army EOD collects them once a month and destroys them. It is amazing how much ordnance is still there!