MK2 Grenade accidental detonation during WWII

[Clarke]

I am researching an incident my father recalled about a soldier having the pin on a grenade attached to his pack strap explode and kill him instantly.

I want to depict aspects of this incident in a film (a respectful depiction of how the pin could have been pulled, no explosions or graphic imagery)

 

This happened November 8, 1944 near Vic Sur Sielle in the Lorraine area of France.

 

I've determined I need a MK2 Grenade, if anyone has a good example or parts for sale. I'd plan on restoring it to look as it would have in 1944.

[rambob]

WWII soldiers were sometimes careless when attaching hand grenades to their equipment for carrying. The only way I can see an accident happening, as described, is if the soldier had the grenade tied by the neck to the pack strap, without also tying down the spoon at the same time. Then if the pin gets accidentally pulled, by being snagged on something, then the spoon will release and grenade will be primed and will explode. The design of the grenade requires the pin to be pulled out AND the spoon to pivot at least .5 inches, before the striker will release to hit the primer.

 

Obviously, if the grenade was attached to the pack strap by only the pin, if the grenade got snagged on something or just dropped due to its own weight, it would explode after the pin was "pulled" when the grenade dropped. I doubt this scenario happened, because it would have been a bonehead move on the soldiers part to attach the grenade only by the pin!!

 

I hope this helps,

 

Bob

[Allan H.]

The other piece of the equation here is that the cotter pin was bent to keep help keep the pin in place while the pressure from the spoon against the detonator would also keep the pin from simply falling out (like we've all seen in old army comedies). Pulling the pin out of the spoon assembly wasn't easy, so a lot of GIs would straighten out the cotter pin to make the job of removing the pin less difficult. This is where things would get dangerous as without the extra resistance, the pin could be removed much more easily. In the movie "The Thin Red Line," the character played by Woody Harrelson "blows his rump off" after having straightened the cotter pins on the grenades he was carrying.

 

As an aside, I once had a WWII veteran tell me a story about his platoon being at grenade training prior to heading overseas. The soldiers were specifically told not to pull the pins with their teeth as that was pure Hollywood. One of the trainees took it upon himself to pull the pin by biting down on the grenade ring and pulling the grenade away from his mouth. When he did this, his teeth came flying out of his mouth and the pin stayed firmly in place in the grenade. He said EVERYBODY laughed and laughed about it. I would assume that the poor GI just had bad teeth either as a result of poor dental hygiene or because of malnutrition during the Great Depression.

 

Allan