French and American Hand Grenades

French grenades were commonly known among the troops of the A.E.F. due to an initial lack of an American produced grenade. The one pictured at upper left is a French offensive model grenade, with a training grenade of the same model at the lower left. Both grenades are ovoid in shape; they were made with two halves of thin metal crimped together giving it the distinctive ridge running around the circumference. The only difference in the training version is the shade of yellow it has been painted. A simple pin and spoon trigger activates a timed-fuse system prior to the grenade exploding. Upon exploding the grenade produces little in the way of shrapnel, instead emitting a forceful concussion and loud noise providing a stun effect.

The grenade located in the center of the photo is a French defensive model grenade. Like their offensive counterparts, French defensive grenades use a pin and spoon trigger and timed-fuse. The serrated knobs around the grenade body serve to create shrapnel once the grenade explodes, creating a deadly anti-personnel effect.

The grenade seen in the upper right is a American Mark II defensive grenade. As you can see its design was inspired by the French defensive grenade at center and utilizes similar mechanics for trigger and fuse. At the bottom right is a American Mark II dummy defensive grenade used for training. It has no moving parts but has been weighted to approximate the feel of a real Mark II defensive grenade as an aide for throwing practice.

From the Collections of the
First Division Museum at Cantigny.