Page 15 - History of War - Issue 10-14

FRONTLINE: GRENADES

Facts
The M84 grenade is used to stun 5about
andsubdueratherthanmortally
GRENADES
wound the enemy.
NOSHOUTINGALERTS
Contrary to what Michael Bay would have
youbelieve,agrenadetossisusually
not accompanied by a booming shout of
“fire in the hole”, but the simple showing
of the grenade to friendly forces as a
warning before throwing.
ADISTANCEANDAHALF
The German potato-masher grenade
hadalongwoodenhandle.Notonlydid
thisimprovethesoldier’sgriponit,but
its swinging motion in the air could also
propel it up to 50 per cent further than a
regular grenade.
ASYMBOLOFHONOUR
Grenade symbols sport many military
uniforms and insignia across the world.
Molotov cocktails have been The Spanish artillery arm uses a flaming
nicknamed‘thepoorman’sgrenade’ grenade as its badge, and the Finnish
duetotheireasyassembly
ArmyCorpsofEngineers’emblem
features a stick grenade, for example.
RENADE 1939 FLASH-BANG 1995 GETAGRIP
HE MEAL A STUNNING EXPLOSIVES DEVELOPMENT The iconic ‘pineapple’ pattern of grooves
Country USA onmanygrenadesisnottohelpthem
fragment, but in fact to help the soldier
ot its name in the cold Finnish The M84 stun grenade was developed
0. Soviets had dropped cluster as a less-lethal option to the standard throwing it be able to grip it more easily,
helping to throw it further.
ed Molotov bread baskets after the fraggrenade.Ondetonationitleavesthe
The Finnish soldiers sarcastically targets blind, deaf and disorientated, TURNUPTHEHEAT
trol grenades ‘Molotov cocktails’ enabling them to be easily subdued in the White phosphorous incendiary grenades
h the meal.” The name, like its eventlethalforceisn’tanoption. used by the British forces in WWII burned
at a temperature of 2,800°C (5,700°F),
whichissohotitwouldevenboiland
evaporate gold.
ROCKETPOWER 1940
BRINGING THE HEAT AGAINST
TANK WARFARE
Country Russia
As the tank was developed, so
was a weapon designed to fight
it. The rocket-propelled grenade
was more aerodynamic than
othergrenadesanddesigned
to pierce tank armour. With
HEAT (high-explosive anti-tank)
rounds taking down hundreds
RPGs can exceed 1,000km/h
(620mph) in flight of tanks in WWII, the RPG was
here to stay.

Before developing grenades,
Byzantine soldiers used
FIRSTGRENADE C. 750 rudimentary flamethrowers.
THE GRENADE IS BORN
Country Byzantine Empire
After mastering the use of
Greekfire–asticky,liquidfire
especially useful in naval combat
–theByzantines’decisionto
packageitinneatstoneor
Greekfirewouldburn National Army Museum/Corbis
ceramic jars and throwing them
ontopofwater,sowas
attheenemygavebirthtothe useful in naval battles.
first incarnation of what we know
as grenades today.

15