SOLD British mills bomb hand grenade parts nice solid relics very well cleaned recovered in Schwaben Redoubt near Thiepval on the Somme battlefield of July 1916

This is a group of 5 British mills bomb hand grenade parts which is 4 sections of outer case one is over half a case in size and there is a detonator in its spring. This is a nice group of parts from the very famous British mills bomb hand grenade all recovered from the battlefield. The parts have all been cleaned up very well and retain some original colours and are perfect for display or any collection and not the easiest of finds from the battlefield these days now. The grenade parts were recovered from the area of the Schwaben Redoubt near Thiepval on the Somme battlefield of July 1916 this area saw very heavy fighting on the first of the battle on the 1st July 1916. A very nice iconic find from The famous Somme battlefield and comes with A5 laminated information card.

The Capture of Schwaben Redoubt (Schwaben-Feste) was a tactical incident in the Battle of the Somme, 1916. The redoubt was a German strong point 500–600 yd (460–550 m) long and 200 yd (180 m) wide, built in stages since 1915, near the village of Thiepval, overlooking the River Ancre. It formed part of the German defensive system in the Somme sector of the Wesetern Front and consisting of a mass of machine-gun emplacements, trenches and dug-outs. The redoubt was defended by the 26th Reserve Division, from Swabia in south-west Germany, which had arrived in the area during the first battle of Albert in 1914. Troops of the 36th Ulster Division captured the redoubt on 1 July 1916, until forced out by German bombardments and counter-attacks after night had fallen.The British kept the area of the redoubt under bombardment until 3 September, when the 49th West Riding Division attacked the area from the west, in a morning fog. The 36th Division infantry got across no man's land but were defeated, when German artillery and machine gun fire swept the Irish troops and German infantry counter-attacked from the flanks, using hand grenades. In late September, the British gained a footing in the redoubt, during the Battle of Thiepval Ridge (26–28 September). Attack and counter-attack followed until 14 October, when troops of the 39th Division, captured the last German foothold in the redoubt and repulsed German counter-attacks from 15–21 October 1916.