tick tick boom

[helen]

Hello everyone,

Haven't posted for a while.

I was wondering if anyone could help me identify what kind of grenade this top part would have come from. As you can see, the pin is still intact but it has somehow become detached from the main body (whereabouts not known). Maybe picked up on battlefield. The only info we have about it is that it is probably European and first half of C20th.

Any help - what kind of grenade, how old, where from, etc - would be gladly appreciated.

Thanks,

Helen

[helen]

Just read that the object's donor was probably one Bernard Fagg, an archaeologist who served in the 1st Field Company WAE (West African Engineers) during WW2 if that is any help....

[leigh kitchen]

And curator of The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.....but you know that.

A mine fuse?

Edited September 25, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[helen]

Yes, and an innovative one at that. He came up with a brand new design for the museum, and for its relocation, in the 1960s, rather along the lines of Pitt Rivers' original 'segmented concentric circle' layout. The architect was Pier Luigi Nervi (the chap who built the Olympic Stadium in Rome) but the cash for it could not be raised and the stress of it all resulted in Fagg having a stroke. This piece was not identified until 10 years after his death as having possibly belonged to him...

Yes, could be mine fuse, but why would it have a pin that you evidently remove manually? Wouldn't a mine just have a pressure-sensitive firing mechanism/detonator?

[AndyD]

With most mines the pin acts as a safety device,when it's removed the mine is armed.

When it's replaced it stops the pressure plate from moving.

Regards,

Andy

[helen]

I see, yes of course that makes sense, otherwise I guess you'd be trying to implant a mine while it's armed! Thanks.