Gildwiller1918 Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 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 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gildwiller1918 Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 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 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gildwiller1918 Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 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. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gildwiller1918 Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 Here is an image off the internet showing the spherical Makedonia type grenades. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achtung Spitfire! Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 Not come across these grenades. More ordinance for the list. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gildwiller1918 Posted September 22, 2020 Author Share Posted September 22, 2020 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! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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