Hand written Notes in pencil regarding Belgian bombs and French Grenades, circa WW I. The author is unknown. The speaks about: Obsolete Belgian bombs with "round cast iron case filled with HE". French Grenades: Pesozzi [sic Besozzi] "cast iron round, serrated casing" In early 1915 these grenades were imported from Italy. The grenade Besozzi allowed to supply the French soldiers with a relatively modern hand grenade, without requiring an additional effort to a already overloaded French war industry. Whe Italy joined the war with the Allies in 1915, the production was transferred to French manufacturers under licence so that the Italian plants could dedicate fully to their own armies. This grenade must be considered as a step on the road to the developement of modern grenades. In one hand, its shape, the external fragmentation and in handiness was giving a good taste of the new weapons that would be soon available, its igniting system, using a wick with a phosphorated head, that had to be rubbed onto a supplied scrubbing brush, but more successfully ignited with the furnace of a pipe, was rather 'primitive'. The models made in France had a side throat for the exit of the wick, while the wick exited perpendicular to the surface for the models imported from Italy. Once assembled, the grenades were dipped into paraffine for waterproofing. Weight 630 gr. including 60 gr. 'P' explosive. Model F1 "oval shaped, cast iron, heavily serrated" In May 1915 the very first grenades F1 (fusante n°1) appeared in restricted quantities. This new weapon developed from the experience of the first months of the war: the shape is more modern yet, with an external grooves pattern for a better handiness and an easier fragmentaion. This latter expectation was a deception, since the explosion usually gave no more than 10 fragments (although the pattern had 38 divisions) dangerous in a 200m radius. This grenade body would follow the technological evolution of the French fuses. From the beginning of 1916, and equipped with this latter ignition plug (quite rare since it needed fine steel thin plates for its making), this grenade became the most common used one by the French soldier for the rest of the war. It was continuously used until 1940. Model F2 "shaped handles and blocks of wood on the forward end, conical shaped tin under cylinder filled with HE" Parachute: "double cylinder casing, inner filled with HE and outer filled with shrapnel" See attached page in media on French Grenades.