Day 3 of Three-day Sale
Lot 1372:
Excellent condition First World War Granatenwerfer 16 mortar grenade for auction, painted and with the stabilizing fins and fuse pin still present. The specific grenade model is the Wurfgranate 1916.
The Granatenwerfer 16 (literally grenade thrower 16) was a small and easily man portable trench mortar used by the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires during the First World War. The Gr.W.16 is a spigot type mortar, with a post containing the firing pin instead of a barrel. The rear tube of the grenade slid over the post, and an 8mm blank round contained in the base of the grenade would propel it up to 500m when fired. It was colloquially called a “priest mortar” by A-H troops after the weapon’s designer, a Hungarian priest named Father Vécer.
Several types of Gr.W.16 rounds existed, including flares, message delivery tubes, and the high explosive shrapnel grenade for sale in this auction. Gr.W.16 grenades in this excellently preserved condition are an exceptionally rare item, as the fins are often no longer present on even the better examples. This grenade is a fully inert and safe item.
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