level 15
The Norwegian Army of 1940 was in a sorry state after years of budget cuts and delayed procurement. This was made painfully clear by the hand grenade situation during the German invasion.
Despite Norway sometimes being referred to as the birthplace of the modern hand grenade, the Norwegian Army only showed limited interest in this invention. An early design by the pioneering arms inventor Nils Waltersen Aasen had been adopted in 1917 despite its complexity and questionable safety, and the sour experiences with this design lead to production and grenade training being phased out in the 1920's. In 1940 only a few hundred remaining grenades were available to Norwegian forces during the fighting, and they were distributed in minuscule numbers between units.
2023年07月03日 10点07分
