Hawkins grenade

Infobox Weapon
name= Hawkins grenade


caption=
origin=flagcountry|United Kingdom
type= Anti-tank hand grenade/mine
is_ranged=
is_explosive=yes
is_UK=yes
service= 1942 - 1945
used_by=United Kingdom, United States, Canada
wars= World War II
designer=
design_date=
manufacturer=
unit_cost=
production_date=
number=
variants=
weight= 1020 g
length=
part_length=
width=
height=
diameter=
crew=
filling=Nobel 704 (Ammonal)
filling_weight=750 g
detonation=Crush igniter
yield=

The Number 75 Hawkins Grenade was a British anti-tank hand grenade used during World War II.

Overview

The Hawkins grenade was used partly as a grenade but often more effectively as a mine as the latter was effective in damaging tanks and other vehicles.

Design

The grenade was a flattened rectangular container filled with high explosive. One side, the upper in use, carried pockets for two contact fuses. These were glass ampoules filled with acid. When broken by the weight of a vehicle driving over them, the acid leaked onto the detonator setting off the main charge.

Use

The Hawkins could be thrown at a vehicle but it was more popular when used as a mine placed in the path of a tank because its shape and weight made accurate throwing difficult. Although unable to penetrate the armoured hull of a tank it was enough to sever a tank’s track or damage the suspension, disabling it and rendering it ineffective.

Hawkins mines as they were also called were at the same time very useful in attacks on infantry and could take considerable tolls on large groups of soldiers crowded together. They were widely issued to Airborne forces, including U.S. troops.

In the Rayleigh bath chair murder of 1943 the use of a Hawkins grenade in the killing of Archibald Brown by his son, Eric, was notable because he was directly linked to the murder weapon by his military training. [cite news
first =
last =
authorlink =
author =
coauthors =
title = Anti-Tank Mine Under Bathchair - Son Charged with Murder
url =
format =
work =
publisher = The Manchester Guardian
location =
id =
pages =
page = 6
date = 1943-09-21
accessdate = 2008-07-09
language =
quote =
archiveurl =
archivedate = ]

References

Notes

General references

* Ian V. Hogg - "The Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of World War II" - Arms & Armour Press - 1977 - ISBN 0-85368-281-X

External links

* [http://met.open.ac.uk/group/jwL/jon.html The Home Guard Pocket Manual, by Capt. A. Southworth, M.B.E.] , p49-50: description, use and diagram.
* [http://www.essex.police.uk/offbeat/o_mu_48.php Bath-chair murder]

ee also