Microsoft Close Combat German Hand Grenades American Hand Grenades, Mark II Fragmentation Grenade

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German Hand Grenades

American Hand Grenades

Mark II Fragmentation Grenade

Grenade weight	.59 kg (21 oz)
Charge weight	.14 kg (5 oz)

Overall length 139.7 mm (5 in.)

Range 45 m (50 yds) maximum

American soldiers used many types of hand grenades during World War II, but the primary hand grenade issued to GIs was the Mark II fragmentation gre- nade. The Mark II was egg-shaped and constructed of cast iron. The outside of the Mark II was serrated to produce more fragments when it exploded.

The specifications for the Mark II called for a TNT filler, but because TNT was in short supply when the war started, many early Mark IIs were filled with a nitrostarch compound. The time delay on the Mark II’s fuse was 4 to 4.8 seconds. The Mark II’s killing radius was 5 to 10 yards, but fragments could kill at up to 50 yards. Because the accepted throwing range was 35 to 40 yards, soldiers were ordered to keep their heads down until after the grenade exploded.

Of the other types of hand grenades issued to GIs in Europe, the two most common were smoke and phosphorus grenades. Both these grenades were used to mask movements or mark artillery and ground- support aircraft targets.

Stick Grenade
Grenade weight	0.61 kg (1.36 lb)
Charge weight	.17 kg (6 oz)

Overall length 355.6 mm (14 in.)

Egg Grenade Specifications

Grenade weight 0.23 kg (0.5 lb)

Charge weight 0.115 kg (0.25 lb)

Overall length 134.6 mm (5.3 in.)

As they did with almost every other weapons type, the Germans developed a number of different hand grenades. There were, however, two primary types of German high-explosive hand grenades: the Stielhandgranate 24 (“stick hand grenade, model 24”), and the smaller, egg-shaped Eihandgranate 39 (“egg hand grenade model 39”).

The stick grenade was the more familiar of the two, having seen widespread use in World War I, and undergoing various improvements in the interwar years. It consisted of a thin sheet-metal can contain- ing a TNT charge, mounted on a hollow wooden handle. The handle provided leverage that made this grenade easier to throw than other egg- or pineapple- shaped German and Allied grenades. The stick grenade was armed by unscrewing the metal cap on the bottom of the handle to expose a porcelain bead attached to a cord in the handle. Pulling the bead actuated a friction igniter, and the TNT charge exploded after a four- to five-second delay. Late in the war variant stick grenade models substituted a concrete or wooden charge container for the original metal head.

The smaller, lighter, and less powerful egg grenade encased a TNT charge in a thin sheet-metal container. The grenade was armed by unscrewing a metal cap on the top and pulling the exposed ring of the friction igniter. As with the stick grenade, the TNT charge exploded after a four- to five-second delay.