Jump to content

Questions about Mk. III & Mk. IIIA1 Offensive Grenade


Persian Gulf Command

Recommended Posts

Persian Gulf Command
Posted

I'm having a friendly conversation with a member on WAF about the authenticity of an Mk. IIIA1 Offensive Grenade Body. So could use some guidance!

 

I'm posting two pics of what I believe are correct Mk. III Offensive Grenades. The last three pics are the Mk. IIIA1 Offensive Grenade bodies the WAF has and believes are original.

The last three pics are stated reproductions. Is this information correct? Could members here post some pics of their original WW1-Early WW2 Mk. III's and also original Mk. IIIA1's?

 

What say you all?

 

 

Mk III.jpg

WW1 Mk. III Offensive2.jpg

From WAF.jpg

From WAF2.jpg

From WAF3.jpg

Known Repro 2.jpg

Known Repro 3.jpg

Known Repro.jpg

Posted

That information is correct regarding all of these grenades.

Posted

The first Mk.III bodies were unpainted and are better associated with the early swing fuze. 

IMG_2927.jpeg

Persian Gulf Command
Posted
9 minutes ago, Inertord said:

The first Mk.III bodies were unpainted and are better associated with the early swing fuze. 

IMG_2927.jpeg

Great picture! Thank you!!

Persian Gulf Command
Posted

How would the fuse lever be mark for the WW2 Mk. IIIA1?

Posted
5 minutes ago, Persian Gulf Command said:

How would the fuse lever be mark for the WW2 Mk. IIIA1?

Mine is an M6A3 Series Fuze. The MKIIIA1 Bodies were shipped unfuzed with a wooden shipping plug in the fuze hole. I presume that you will find different series M6 Fuzes used throughout WW2. 

IMG_2928.jpeg

Posted

You can still see the washer and a small amount of the red sealant remaining on the fuze.

IMG_2931.jpeg

Persian Gulf Command
Posted
1 hour ago, Inertord said:

You can still see the washer and a small amount of the red sealant remaining on the fuze.

IMG_2931.jpeg

Thank you!

Dirt Detective
Posted

Here is a known original top..wish I had a complete one.  Beautiful originals shown..

1a1amkiiia.jpg

1a1amkiiib.jpg

Posted

I was thinking that the 2 grenades in the first picture looked familiar. Then I realized that they are mine! Ha!

  • 2 months later...
Posted

It looks like Dirt Detective and I have been traveling over the same ground. I just recently found the top and a week earlier had found the bottom. I saved the bottom not knowing exactly what it was until later. Came here to learn more. Need to go out on another outing and find the correct safety lever. 

 I plan on trying to restore for my display.

Posted

Can anyone provide the overall height of the Mk3a1 body?

 I am close but would like to be able to be closer. Need from top lip to the bottom lip

 TIA

 MacW

Dirt Detective
Posted
On 4/7/2025 at 6:09 PM, SSG Mac said:

Can anyone provide the overall height of the Mk3a1 body?

 I am close but would like to be able to be closer. Need from top lip to the bottom lip

 TIA

 MacW

My book says  Height is 5.35" I assume that is with fuze. it should be easy to measure fuze and figure the diff. 

Posted

Dirt Detective contact me @ macwacs@aol.com

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...