Grenades
The grenade first used was in 15th century, the word is French for pomegranate.The most commonly used grenade is the time delay, where you pull a rip cord and it causes a spark which means you have about 4 seconds until the delay part inside the grenade burns up and causes an explosion inside. But you have about 15 seconds until it actually blows up. The first British grenade, the Mark 1 was used in 1914, but it was very unpopular among soldiers because it was developed during the war and the soldiers didn't have any time to see how the grenade worked.
Sir William Mills of Sunderland, invented the time-delay grenade. Grenades were invented to kill a person with fragments of metal and so the soldier could be as safe as possible killing someone in uncharted territory or in no man's land during WWI. Also, the model invented by William Mills was meant to give soldiers time to take cover before the grenade exploded unlike the earlier known models. |
Impact and Consequences of the Gernade
The grenade impacted WWI by being able to kill people from a distance, for example from a trench, and by being able to have portable ammunition that could ultimately keep you alive with a single throw. It was a major influence on the war because it gave the troops the power to have a bomb that a soldier could launch from any place or at a distance from the enemy. The grenade gave the soldiers an advantage by giving the soldier an option to bomb the enemy trenches or other enemy targets without risking their lives. The grenade also affected the military leaders of the warring nations. With this new technology, leaders had to change their strategies and their battle plans. The grenade impacted civilians as well, people living near the front lines became victims as some of the the grenades had poison gas in them and when they exploded, the gas was released into the air harming everyone nearby. People who would be using this weapon would be the ground soldiers and they would be most likely using it against other ground troops during a conflict. The downside of using a grenade would be its unpredictability caused by defects with the gunpowder, or gas inside, defects with the "timer" or really how its made and who made it. Some positive effects of a grenade would be, killing from a distance, wiping out enemy troops and being able to take cover or watch the enemy lines go down.
Connections to Today
The grenade hasn't really improved as far as the components inside but the canister or holder no longer has a large handle coming off of the end for throwing. The grenade is about the size of your hand, so its more portable for combat missions, and so you can throw them quickly if needed. This weapon is used today on the battlefield to kill or severely wound the enemy using fragments of metal from the canister. Almost every country from the early British to the modern day United States used or are using grenades. Starting from the 15th century to modern day, the United States, Britain, Russia, Germany, Japan and many other smaller countries, have been using grenades. Along with many more smaller countries.