Description
Original Item: Only One Available. This is an very nice inert Japanese Type 97 Hand Grenade, which was deactivated overseas. It and then brought back by Pfc. Raymond E. Roderick ASN 20900322, per the included “Bring Back” document. Roderick had enlisted March 3, 1941, in Ogden, Utah, before the U.S. entered into WWII. The document is signed by an ammunition officer and also notes that the grenade has been rendered free of all explosives and completely safe.
After Roderick got back home, it was then converted into a very nice desk lighter, which is covered by the original fuze cover, which has also had a proper lighter cap installed on the inside. There is a wick surrounding the flint mechanism, which is marked on the bottom. To see this the top of the grenade must be removed, and it looks like the entire top plate may have been replaced, or was at least machined down to properly fit the lighter portion. There are also the remains of a paper label on the bottom.
The Type 97 Hand Grenade was the standard fragmentation hand grenade of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy SNLF during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It could also be used as a booby trap, and for this reason it was included in the U.S. Mine training…
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