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The Mills Bomb was a British hand grenade used during World War 2, it was designated the No. 36.
The design was patented in 1915 and, after modifications, it was offered to the British Army in 1918. It was accepted and became the standard British hand grenade from then on.
The Mills is a classic design. A grooved cast iron 'pineapple' with a central striker held by a close hand lever and secured with a pin. A competent thrower could manage 30 m with reasonable accuracy, the grenade could throw lethal fragments rather further than this so close cover was essential for the user. It could be fitted with a flat base and fired with a blank cartridge from a rifle with a 'cup' attachment up to around 150 m. At first the grenade was fitted with a seven second fuse to cater for both hand and rifle launch, in active service this was found to be too long and in 1939 the fuse was reduced to four seconds.
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