The West Spring Gun was a

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

-throwing

catapult A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored p ...

used by British, Canadian and Australian forces during World War I. It was designed to throw a

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

in a high trajectory into enemy trenches.

Description

It consisted of a metal frame supporting a throwing arm powered by 24 metal

springs Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

. It was invented by Captain Allen West in 1915 and manufactured by the Reason Manufacturing Company of

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, which was granted a patent for the device on 19 October of that year. Although called a catapult, it was a hybrid of a ballista and a trebuchet. It required a crew of five - three to compress the springs, one to load the bomb, and one to fire as soon as the fuse was lit or the grenade pin was pulled. In tests, it could throw Mills bomb about or a projectile about with a flight time of 6 or 7 seconds. In the field it generally threw a Jam Tin Grenade, No. 15 Ball grenade, No. 21 "Spherical" grenade or No. 28 chemical grenade, equipped with a slightly longer fuse (typically 9 seconds) to ensure to reach the enemy trench before exploding. It was used in combat by, amongst others, the

50th (Northumbrian) Division The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire ...

and the

1st Canadian Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...

in the Second Battle of Ypres and by Australian forces in the Gallipoli Campaign. It was generally considered to be large and cumbersome and "generally more unwieldy" than the Leach Trench Catapult. Many operators, including Captain West himself, lost fingers in the mechanism. The throw could also be unpredictable, with the bomb sometimes landing near the thrower. Production of this and other trench catapults was officially halted in 1916, being replaced by the 2 inch Medium Trench Mortar and Stokes mortar. This article is unpublished

Ammunition

File:Grenade for West Spring Gun IWM MUN 1497.jpg, No 21 R grenade

References

External links

No 21 R Type grenade for the West Spring Gun
at the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

.
West Spring Gun
(missing its launch arm) at the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

. {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Projectile weapons World War I British infantry weapons Grenade launchers Chemical weapon delivery systems