Innovative Ways US Troops Carried Grenades in WWII

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[donovancrommedy]

As it turns out world at war grenade spam was historically accurate

[faterevelation]

Marines with 11 grenades per man, no wonder the Japanese were so scared.

[whiteloafbread]

"JOHNSON, WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR POCKETS?!"
"Uhhh, roughly 14 grenades sir with one extra in the boot."

[AsepTravels]

My great-grandfather fought for the British during WWII in Burma. He was a subedar and he was leading about 2 platoons strength mix of Chin Levies and Ghurka Rifiles. They were fighting against the Japanese and he stayed behind to cover his men’s retreat and he threw over 40 grenades at the Japanese and ended up getting into hand to hand combat.
He even took a rifle butt to the head but stood his ground. He was awarded the BGM by Lord Mountbatten for this action.
I heard about his story from my grandmother and my dad a lot as a kid but I always kinda thought they were exaggerating until when I did some digging and managed to get my hands on a scanned copy of the original document from the UK National Archive.
According to the document it turns out my great-grandfather was actually more badass than the stories I heard!

[Boop__Doop]

sgt: SOLDIER THROW A GRENADE IN THERE OR WE WILL ALL DIE.
Me with 50 grenades: but what if I need that grenade later

[gabrielathero]

"Why would you need 11 grenades?"
"...why not?"

[trainknut]

Paratroopers walking around with like 16 grenades dangling from every exposed strap 😂

[commanderbeepo]

In the army, I used my grenade pouches to hold snacks

[sheldonmatthews]

WW1 marines: 11 grenades.
WW1 marine in video games: 2 grenades

[jacesenger]

"Guys I have 10 grenades strapped to my chest so you might want to back up a couple feet in case I get shot"

[KeepCalmSoldierOn]

Fun fact. At the time roughly 80% of American males played baseball, and US soldiers were know to be able to actually hit their opponents with the grenades they threw.

[Xtra_Medium]

I have a hard time thinking of a combination of words more unsettling than "improvised grenade pouch"

[CoyotebullPup]

The canteen pouch to carry grenades is relatable! I was assigned a 320 but no bandolier for the 40mm so I just kept them in the pouch. Called it my egg nest. Good times

[outrageousalan]

"One can never have too many grenades."
- every Marine in WW2

[herrflammen]

My great uncle once asked his lieutenant in Korea: “how do I hold onto these [grenades]” his lieutenant said “god gave you hands and pockets for a reason son”

[brandoncarlson]

“This is my grenade backpack. I’ve got all the grenades in my backpack.”

“Can you stand, like, WAY over there…”

[violet]

If you think about it, their use of the canteen sleeve was their first attempt to make a mag dump pouch. Pretty creative

[Williameagleblanket]

I only carried two M-67 frags in Afghanistan 2003-04. They were in two grenade pouches issued to us. I had lots of 5.56 ammo and even a M18A1 Claymore mine. 10th Mountain Division. 🇺🇸

[georgewilkie]

The last photo shown of an Army Troop kneeling with fragmentation grenades pinned on his combat BDU jacket is the great Movie Star, Jack Palance. Palance was actually a WW2 combat Veteran, and he was Wounded In Action and awarded a Purple Heart Medal. I believe Mr. Palance was a U.S. Air Force B-17 Door Gunner. Great Patriot and Great actor.

[mhmt]

My World History teacher “Doc” Vito was a Marine at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Interestingly enough, his best friend was the cameraman who produced many of the video images you see about those two operations today. Doc Vito used to show some of these films to his classes—many of which, due to their graphic images (for tv in 1982), would not be seen until decades later. Doc said, “most guys carried two grenades… but Brother Doc, he carried EIGHT grenades!” He told me he hooked them onto everything and anything he could.
R.I.P. Reverend Doctor Joe Vito, PhD, Marine Corps veteran, WW2, Pilot, and the best example of a life well lived.