Hales rifle grenade facts for kids

The Hales rifle grenade was a special type of rifle grenade used by British soldiers during World War I. It was designed to be fired from a standard rifle. All the different versions of this grenade were based on an early design called the No. 3.

How the Hales Grenade Worked

Firing a Hales rifle grenade was a bit complicated. Here are the steps soldiers had to follow for the No. 3 model:

• First, the soldier would attach the grenade to the rifle.
• Next, they would put in the detonator, which makes the grenade explode.
• Then, they had to carefully place the rifle on the ground in the right spot.
• They would remove a safety pin and pull back a safety collar.
• Finally, a special blank cartridge (a bullet without a projectile) was loaded into the rifle.
• The soldier would then fire the rifle, launching the grenade.

Simpler Versions: No Safety Collar

Some later versions of the Hales grenade were a bit simpler. They didn't have the safety collar. This meant soldiers didn't need to remove it, making the firing process a little faster.

History of the Hales Grenade

In 1907, a person named Frederick Marten Hale came up with the idea for a "rod grenade." This was a simple grenade with a rod attached to it. The rod would slide into the barrel of a regular rifle. Soldiers could then use a blank cartridge to shoot the grenade.

However, the British army didn't use this idea right away. So, when World War I began, they didn't have any rifle grenades. As soon as soldiers started fighting in trench warfare (where armies fought from long, narrow ditches), they quickly realized they needed rifle grenades. These grenades were very useful for attacking enemies in trenches.

To solve the problem quickly, the British government bought a temporary solution: a version of the No. 2 grenade that had a rod.

Improvements During World War I

By 1915, Hale had created the No. 3 grenade, which became known as the Hales rifle grenade. This grenade was improved throughout World War I. The goal was to make it more dependable and easier to build. However, making these grenades was slow. To get more rod grenades to the front lines, the British also made versions of the Mills bomb that could be fired from a rifle.

Firing a rod grenade put a lot of stress on the rifle barrel and the rifle itself. This meant that certain rifles had to be set aside just for launching grenades. These rifles would quickly become inaccurate for shooting bullets. Because of this, people started looking for a better way to launch grenades. This led to the return of the "cup launcher" later in World War I.

After the war, rod-type rifle grenades were considered old-fashioned. The remaining Hales grenades were replaced by Mills bombs that were shot from a rifle using a cup launcher.

Different Types of Hales Grenades

The Hales grenade went through many changes. These changes were made to make the grenade cheaper to produce and more effective in battle.

No. 3 Grenade

The No. 3 grenade started as the No. 3 Mk I. It had a body with outer sections and a special wind vane. This vane was designed to help activate the detonator while the grenade was flying. It used either Tonite or TNT as its explosive material.

The No. 3 had several problems:

• It was hard to make because it needed to be very precise and had many parts.
• The detonators were also a problem. Like the No. 1 grenade, the No. 3 needed a special detonator that was difficult to produce in large numbers.
• The wind vane was a big issue. It was hard to line up correctly. Bad weather like rain or strong winds, or even a tiny bit of dust, could stop the vane from working right. This often caused the grenade to fail.
• The No. 3 also had a very sensitive percussion cap. This caused many grenades to explode too early.

Once these problems were known, work began on improving the design. The No. 20 grenade was the result of these improvements.

No. 20 Grenade

The No. 20 grenade was similar to the No. 3, but its main difference was that it didn't have the No. 3's wind vane. In theory, this was supposed to make it more reliable. However, the main problem with this design was the type of explosive used. Instead of Tonite or TNT, the No. 20 used ammonite. This material tended to corrode (or rust) the brass parts of the grenade, which caused several failures when it was fired.

Even though it was an improvement over the No. 3, the No. 20 still had design flaws. So, the No. 24 was introduced to fix some of the remaining issues.

The No. 20 had two versions: the Mk I and the Mk II. The Mk I had a solid steel body, much like the No. 3. The Mk II used a special steel tube and had grooves around it to help with fragmentation (breaking into pieces) when it exploded.

No. 24 Grenade

The No. 24 was basically a No. 20 grenade with a less sensitive percussion cap. It also used an improved ammonite explosive that didn't corrode the brass parts of the grenade.

There were two versions of the No. 24: the Mk I and the Mk II. The Mk I used the same body as the No. 20 Mk II. The Mk II had a cast iron body with no external grooves.

No. 35 Grenade

In 1918, the No. 35 grenade was introduced. This was a No. 24 MK II that had a different detonator holder. This holder used a small cartridge (like a bullet casing) and a shorter striker (the part that hits the detonator).

See also

• No. 2 grenade (Mexican pattern' hand grenade)