William Mills (inventor) William Mills (inventor) Sir William Mills (24 April 1856 - 1932) of Sunderland was an English engineer, who invented the Mills bomb which was developed and manufactured at his factory in Birmingham, England. The Mills bomb was the hand grenade most widely used by British and Imperial forces during the First World War. He was knighted in 1922. William Mills was born on 26 April 1856 in Wear Street, Southwick, Sunderland. He was the son of David Mills, a shipbuilder, and his wife Sarah Ann Kirkaldy. The Sunderland historian James Watson Corder recorded that David Mills had an interest in
Media in Birmingham the "Sunday Mercury", all owned by Reach plc (formerly Trinity MIrror). In 2018, the "Birmingham Mail" rebranded their online digital operations as "BirminghamLive". Reach plc additionally own "What's On Magazine Group", running since 1986 and currently producing six monthly regional entertainment titles, including "What's On Birmingham" and LGBT+ publication "Midlands Zone". Reach plc is contracted to publish "Forward" (formerly "Birmingham Voice"), the Birmingham City Council's free newspaper distributed to homes, community centres and public buildings. Reach plc previously published the now defunct "Birmingham News", a weekly freesheet distributed to homes in the suburbs. Birmingham has two mainstream digital-only news publishers;