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One of my Favorite MkII Grenades


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There aren't many grenades in the collection with provenance but this one has an interesting history. It's an early MkII that returned from Nicaragua with a Marine stationed there in the early 1930s.

 

On April 4, 1932 a mutiny occurred at the Kisalaya outpost of the Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua. The Guardia had American Marines as officers and trainers for the Nicaraguan enlisted troops.. After some excessive drinking a sergeant shot Lt. Charles Levonski with a Thompson submachine gun and another finished him off with a BAR. The sergeant and 14 enlisted men ransacked the post and deserted into the jungle with:

 

3 1928 Navy Thompsons, 1 BAR, 11 Krag rifles, 1 1917 Browning machine gun, 1 1903 Springfield with 2 VB grenade launchers, 25 VB grenades, about 15,000 rounds of ammunition, 9 hand grenades, and just about everything else useful except the sleeping cots. The mutineers joined up with Sandino's rebels (the origin of Sandinistas).

 

Some were later killed or captured and some of the pilfered weapons returned including, I believe, this grenade. Notably, one of the Thompsons, serial number 5219, was imported into America by Interarms in 1957 and may still exist in the hands of a collector. I'd sure like to find that gun! But for now I'm happy to have the MkII.

 

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Persian Gulf Command

Wonderful with provenance to be sure.  Illustrates the color that is more of a yellow ochre (early) than the more orange/yellow seen on 1940-42 examples.

 

Would the Aug 1922 written on the donation statement be more accurate to the dating of the grenade?  If so this would change my assumptions as to when yellow became the color of HE ordnance in the U.S. Army. 

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Yes, I really like the pre-war dull yellow seen on grenades from that period.  I've seen it on other mortar and artillery ammo and it's distinctly different from the later bright yellow seen on MkIIs up to 1942.  I haven't done much research to establish the date when yellow was adopted for HE ordnance but might dig back into some early Ordnance Committee Minutes and see what can be found.

 

I really cannot explain the 1922 date but feel it was likely an error when he was referring to 1932.  Capt. O.A. Inman was only there from 1930 to 1932 and the grenade itself would have likely been "loose" from its packaging when stolen and recovered.  With no markings to indicate a production date I really don't think the handwritten date points to that.

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Very nice piece. Can you post a picture ( for historic purposes) of the top of the spoon? I am interested if it is an M10 A3 fuze or an M10A2? 

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I studied the pictures again and see the post WW1 fuze, with the cut out cover, rare find, one of a kind for sure. Thanks for posting.

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2 hours ago, 917601 said:

Very nice piece. Can you post a picture ( for historic purposes) of the top of the spoon? I am interested if it is an M10 A3 fuze or an M10A2? 

It's an early M10 and completely unmarked.

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Great looking grenade. Don’t see them often with what appears to be the original bouchon sealer. I believe your assessment on the later color date is correct. Probably a typo.  

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That's awesome.  I assume this grenade rendered inert. I do believe there are live grenades in the NFA registry as destructive devices.

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