~ Inert WW1 No.5 MkI Gibbons Training Mills Bomb ~
The Mills bomb No.5 (No. 5 Mk I) was William Mills’s original “pineapple” fragmentation grenade, adopted by the British Army in 1915 and issued from spring 1915 onward.
Inert (practice/drill) versions of the No.5 were produced or prepared after or during WWI for training — these kept the same cast-iron body shape but had no detonator or filler (sometimes had inert filler or a simple plug) so troops could practice handling and throwing safely.
James Gibbons of Wolverhampton was a manufacturer or parts-maker of some Mills-pattern grenades and rifle-grenade conversions (No.23 / base plugs).
Our example has a base plug dated May 1916.
