WW1 ‘Jam Tin’ improvised Grenade - with shrapnel - inert

Original WW1 ‘Jam Tin’ improvised Grenade complete with shrapnel.

These are the rarest of the rare - we have never seen another one except a reproduction one before.  
It is in ground dug condition, has been emptied, cleaned and preserved. Remember it’s a jam tin so the tin is thin but it’s all there, is solid and includes its lid, securing wire and wick.

The lid will come off, the wick is removable and the securing wire can be undone, but remember it’s 100+ year old tin. We have kept the shrapnel separate especially for shipping, the new owner can put the shrapnel in the jam tin when the item is shipped to them. 

History of the improvised ‘JamTin’

One of the improvised weapons manufactured in the trenches in early 1915, a  trench made weapon, was the 'Jam-Tin' bomb. The black powder was initiated by either a fuse placed through the touch hole or a hand-held match or lit cigarette placed directly onto the powder in the touch hole.

The tins were filled with old nails, shrapnel balls, bits of shell and barbed wire, and other scraps of metal, and an explosive charge. A fuse was fitted through the top of the tin, which had to be lit by a match. These bombs were first issued in very small quantities about an hour before the assault.

In a letter written on the 6 February 1915, Lieutenant Colonel G B Laurie, commanding 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles, records the use of such a weapon:

“The Generals gave out yesterday that we were to be attacked last night, the reason being that the Germans were seen to be clearing the wire away from their trenches, presumably with this plan in view. We decided to discourage any such attempts by opening the affair ourselves. We therefore fired on them with all sorts of things, including an iron drain pipe which throws a ring of gun cotton. This is simply made out of an old jam tin, whilst the fuse is lit before firing the charge in the drain-pipe. The latter charge of powder is then driven out of the jam tin. If correctly judged, it hurtles through the air and falls into the German trenches, and blows people there to pieces.”

All inert Ordnance sold by Vigo Militaria and Collectables are Free From Explosives (FFE).

UK SHIPPING ONLY