All this relates to short-distance fighting, but grenades were also used for ranges beyond the reach of the pitcher's arm. Even back in the sixteenth century, the range of the human arm was not great enough to satisfy the combatants and grenadiers used a throwing-implement, something like a shovel, with which the grenade was slung to a greater distance, in much the same way as a lacrosse ball is thrown. Later, grenades were fitted with light, flexible wooden handles and were thrown, handle and all, at the enemy. By this means they could be slung to a considerable distance. Such grenades were used in the recent war, particularly by the Germans. The handle was provided with streamers so as to keep the grenade head-on to the enemy, and it was usually exploded by percussion on striking its target. These long-handled grenades, however, were clumsy and bulky, and the grenadier required a good deal of elbow-room when throwing them.
A much better plan was to hurl them with the aid of a gun. A rifle made an excellent short-distance mortar. With it grenades could be thrown from three to four hundred yards. The grenade was fastened on a rod which was inserted in the barrel of the rifle and then it was fired out of the gun by the explosion of a blank cartridge. The butt of the rifle was rested on the ground and the rifle was tilted so as to throw the grenade up into the air in the way that a mortar projects its shell.
STRIKING A LIGHT
The lighting of the grenade fuses with a cigarette did very well for the early tin-can grenades, but the cigarettes were not always handy, particularly in the heat of battle, and something better had to be devised. One scheme was to use a safety-match composition on the end of a fuse. This was covered with waxed paper to protect it from the weather. The grenadier wore an armlet covered with a friction composition such as is used on a safety-match box. Before the grenade was thrown, the waxed paper was stripped off and the fuse was lighted by being scratched on the armlet. In another type the fuse was lighted by the twisting of a cap which scratched a match composition on a friction surface. A safety-pin kept the cap from turning until the grenadier was ready to throw the grenade.
The Mills hand-grenade, which proved to be the most popular type used by the British Army, was provided with a lever which was normally strapped down and held by means of a safety-pin. [Fig 4] shows a sectional view of this grenade. Just before the missile was thrown, it was seized in the hand so that the lever was held down. Then the safety-pin was removed and when the grenade was thrown, the lever would spring up under pull of the spring A. This would cause the pin B to strike the percussion cap C, which would light the fuse D. The burning fuse would eventually carry the fire to the detonator E, which would touch off the main explosive, shattering the shell of the grenade and scattering its fragments in all directions. The shell of the grenade was indented so that it would break easily into a great many small pieces.
Fig. 4. Details of the Mills hand grenade
There were some advantages in using grenades lighted by fuse instead of percussion, and also there were many disadvantages. If too long a time-fuse were used, the enemy might catch the grenade, as you would a baseball and hurl it back before it exploded. This was a hazardous game, but it was often done.
Fig. 5. A German parachute grenade