8 replies to this topic

[Martin G]

Hello - can someone help identify a certain type of 'bomb' please?..... The 30th Bde Operational Order No.4 for 10th Div at Gallipoli in August 1915 mentions " ...small yellow cylindrical bombs..." I assume these are what we now call hand grenades. Can anyone help identify the specific type please? Thanks

MG

[Sommewalker]

Martin G, on 28 December 2011 - 11:44 AM, said:

Hello - can someone help identify a certain type of 'bomb' please?..... The 30th Bde Operational Order No.4 for 10th Div at Gallipoli in August 1915 mentions " ...small yellow cylindrical bombs..." I assume these are what we now call hand grenades. Can anyone help identify the specific type please? Thanks

MG

Not much to go on but most likely candidates would be the No.6 & 7 Grenades, which were referred to as 'Lemons' and appeared in the List of Changes 20 May 1915 and were known to have been used at Gallipoli. - SW

[centurion]

Sommewalker, on 28 December 2011 - 12:39 PM, said:

Not much to go on but most likely candidates would be the No.6 & 7 Grenades, which were referred to as 'Lemons' and appeared in the List of Changes 20 May 1915 and were known to have been used at Gallipoli. - SW

I thought these were not cylindrical http://gallery.nen.g...2/a0962_mid.jpg

[Joe Sweeney]

I believe Sommewalker is correct on the NO 6 and 7 (Light and Heavy). They were cylindracal and I believe painted yellow.

Centurian that picture is not of a British Lemon Handgrenade (no 6 and 7.)


Joe Sweeney

[centurion]

Joe Sweeney, on 28 December 2011 - 02:08 PM, said:

I believe Sommewalker is correct on the NO 6 and 7 (Light and Heavy). They were cylindracal and I believe painted yellow.

Having now located photos - they were painted a sort of orangey beige, almost brown (the colour of some old stone hot water bottles) with a red top (the no 6 also had a green stripe round the middle) AFAIK they were not called Lemons


The no. 13 and 14 were cylindrical and painted a sort of creamy yellow.

The no 15 (cricket ball) was used at Gallipoli and the 13 &14 produced at the same time.

[Martin G]

Joe, Sommewalker, Centurion - many thanks...

No.6 and No.7 it seems are the best fit for cylindrical. I have seen a few references to the cricket-ball type in various Gallipoli era War Diaries. There were more than a few accidents during in-field training at Gallipoli MG

Joe, Sommewalker, Centurion - many thanks...

No.6 and No.7 it seems are the best fit for cylindrical. I have seen a few references to the cricket-ball type in various Gallipoli era War Diaries. There were more than a few accidents during in-field training at Gallipoli MG

[Sommewalker]

centurion, on 28 December 2011 - 03:00 PM, said:

Having now located photos - they were painted a sort of orangey beige, almost brown (the colour of some old stone hot water bottles) with a red top (the no 6 also had a green stripe round the middle) AFAIK they were not called Lemons


The no. 13 and 14 were cylindrical and painted a sort of creamy yellow.

The no 15 (cricket ball) was used at Gallipoli and the 13 &14 produced at the same time.

An introduction to British Grenades, I.D. Skennerton, P.8, 'The No. 6 Hand grenade was a Royal Laboratory Design ..........'and it was sometimes referred to as "Lemon Grenade". -SW

[Joe Sweeney]

Martin,


See this thread. Dave O posted good pictures and descitions of the M06 and 7 Lemon Grenades.

http://1914-1918.inv...1

Joe Sweeney

[Martin G]

Joe. Excellent link. Many thanks. It seems to be a very good match for the description in the Gallipoli reference. It is extremely useful to be able to tap into this expert knowledge, so thank you and to the others on this thread too. Greatly appreciated.

I shall trawl the Galliploi diaries for the earliest reference (there are a fair few)  but from memory late Aug to early Sep 1915 was the period when these 'bombs' were first seen in theatre. A few stories of men being sent for training and the RE instructors blowing up their class. It wasn't always apparent who was the most dangerous - the RE or the Turks. I also recall some of the catapults were produced by Harrods, but it seems these were used for the cricket-ball type 'bombs' rather than the light lemons or heavy lemons. MG