IN A WORLD WITHOUT CASTINGS


Would the Allies Have Had Enough Firepower in World War I?


Before William Mills introduced


his novel design for the hand grenade in 1915, the munitions often proved as deadly to the thrower as the intended target. Incorporating a central spring- loaded firing pin and lever, the so-called “Mills bomb” featured a ridged cast iron exterior and a seven-second fuse—later reduced to four seconds during World War II—to allow the throwing soldier to take cover before an explosion. Te inventor’s own Mills Munitions


Factory in Birmingham, U.K., pro- duced millions of grenades for the Al- lied forces. Te Mills model was by far the most popular design and accounted for a majority of the more than 75 million hand grenades produced during World War I.


During World War I, the Mills Munitions Factory was staffed largely by female workers who cast millions of grenades for the Allied forces. June 2014 MODERN CASTING | 15


Photo couresty Jean-Louis Dubois


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