Fragmentation hand grenade with safety pin (Mills bomb)
Granada de fragmentación con anilla de seguridad (Mills)
- Date
- 1915 · confidence high
- Place
- Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- William Mills
- Field
- Conflict
What it is
A grenade with a serrated iron body, safety lever and seven-second delay that scattered fragments tens of metres. It was the standard hand grenade of the British and Commonwealth armies for over half a century.
Mills patented the design in 1915 (No. 5), after the Hale grenade and other models; the novelty was combining the serrated body with the safety lever and delay.
What it led to
- trench warfare and assaults on positions
- modern pin-safety grenades
- rifle and launcher grenades