Something you don't see every day...

[Claven2]

As fate would have it, when the BEF was driven back to Dunkirk in 1940 (26 May 1940–4 June 1940), a great deal of that failure was due to a lack of armored formations with which to counteract the German Blitzkrieg. All of this had a rather profound effect upon the British who began to immediately try and counteract their disadvantage in tanks by developing ways to destroy German tanks which could be employed by the private soldier in infantry regiments.

One such way was the Boys rifle, which unfortunately was nearly obsolete by the time the war started as its armor penetration was lackluster where panzers were concerned.

Another way was the rather novel No.68 Anti-Tank (AT) grenade. This often forgotten rifle-fired projectile was developed for use in the venerable Lee-Enfield grenade firing cup discharger with the sole aim of penetrating armor - it had negligible anti-personnel effectiveness. By June 1940 10,000 grenades had been delivered and issued out of a requested 2 million grenades - not nearly enough to save the situation in France.

And without further ado, here are not one, but TWO original examples of this rather uncommon Lee Enfield "accessory".



As you can see, one is painted and the other appears to have never been painted. Both retain original cotter pins and brass instruction tags. The unpainted example is, unfortunately, missing the screw-on cap that held the brass disc which kept the shape charge in the grenade's cup. The second (painted) grenade retains the cap, but is also missing the brass disc. Both retain their fuze mechanisms.



The unpainted grenade resides in my personal collection, while the more complete painted grenade is on temporary loan to me so that I can manufacture a replica cover for my example, and for photographing for this post. Interestingly, the unpainted grenade appears to have never been painted, leading me to believe that not all originals wore paint when issued. This is not really surprising since the body of the grenade is made from some form of cast aluminum alloy.

Unlike the angled trajectory of the No.36 Mills Bomb more commonly used in the discharger cup, the No.68 was aimed directly at the enemy vehicle, usually within FIFTY YARDS (yikes!). To be effective, the grenade had to strike the vehicle +/- 15 degrees of perpendicular, else the blast from the shape charge could glance off the target. The charge was ignited by inerita as a tungsten firing pin would act against spring pressure, shearing a soft copper retaining pin, and striking the primer which would then ignite the high-explosive packed into the cup. this would then fire a dart of molten metal through the armor plate, much like a modern RPG.

These grenades would have been fired with a ballestite grenade-firing cartridge identical to that used with the Mills Bomb.

Hope you all liked the pics!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Claven2]

Some additional info:

The No.68 AT rifle grenade was, arguably, the first fielded HEAT projectile. It was first fielded as the Mark I in 1940 and was continually improved up to the Mark VI version when it was withdrawn from service in 1945. The average variant weighed 894 grams.

The HE cup was filled with lyddite, Pentolite or RDX/Beeswax depending upon version. The HE filling weighed 156 grams.

[Claven2]

Some more info...

[Warren]

The 68 was also made in the USA for both Canada and the British....The US made ones are rather rare...and very desirable.

[Claven2]

I'm pretty sure G.T.L. is Gestetner of London. So these are not USA made.

Both these grenades came from an auction when a Legion closed in Ontario.

[Stevo]

I love the springy striker system. Thanks for the pics and info!

[Claven2]

the firing mechanism is a bit simple, isn't it? I rather suspect that many modern HEAT rounds are not much different, though.

How much do you wanna bet Badger is already scouring his contacts trying to locate one for Angel's collection???

[tiriaq]

That striker system is very much like the ones used in WWI in the early impact initiated hand and rifle grenades. The shear wire, cut by inertia on launching, is a very simple additional safety feature.
Early in WW2, the armour on many tanks wasn't all that thick, and these grenades would have been an option for an infantryman.

[Warren]

I'll be talking to Norm Bonney who is probably the most knowledgeable person alive on British grenades later today, so I'll ask him for a list of the mfrs of the 68 for the write up.
The USA made ones are VERY rare and my old one now resides in a major UK museum,...They did not even have one...

[Claven2]

The USA made ones are VERY rare and my old one now resides in a major UK museum,...They did not even have one...

As opposed to the just "rather rare" No.68 grenade in General

Let's just say they are not as easy to locate as a No.36 mills bomb IMHO.