June 12-13, 2019 Edged Weapon, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/12/2019
One of the grenades specifically described by the previous owner as part of his personal recoveries from the India/Burma theaters during World War II. This improvised grenade is documented in the British “Japanese Ammunition Leaflets” compiled and printed at Kirkee, India in 1945. The grenade is improvised from an emptied Japanese 25mm anti-aircraft cartridge case. The case has an improvised brass cap at the mouth, with wires extending through the cap and attaching to a short piece of time fuse which goes through the cap to the inside of the cartridge case. The cap is easily removed from the cartridge case, on the underside of the cap is an empty rifle cartridge case, with what appears to be an improvised crimp at the neck (open). The time fuse appears to enter the rifle case, which presumably served as an initiator for the grenade. The headstamp of the cartridge case could not be confirmed without potential damage to the fuse, but the case appears to be consistent with a .303 British. While the fuse is very short, the grenade is in excellent condition and combined with the history makes a truly unique piece.