British Army uniform and equipment in World War I It contained an inner can of explosive with an outer can of metal fragments or ball bearings. The fuses that were developed for the Jam Tin Grenade were activated by friction or a by lighted taper which was often replaced by a lighted cigarette. This was followed by the highly successful Mills bomb in 1915. It was oval in shape to fit into a clenched fist and time fused. The detonator was activated by a spring driven firing pin which was restrained by a lever that in turn was locked by a safety pin. The Mills bomb was a defensive
History of trade and industry in Birmingham History of trade and industry in Birmingham Birmingham was a flourishing medieval market town. A settlement of Birmingham appears in Domesday Book, but there is nothing to indicate that it was anything but a rural manor. one of many in the area that had been subinfueded by William Fitz Osbern, Lord of Dudley. In lawsuits of 1285 and 1308 it was claimed that the Birmingham market has been held without interruption since before the Norman conquest. However no more contemporary evidence of such a market exists. The key moment in the transformation of Birmingham from the purely rural manor recorded