View source for Model 39 grenade

{{more footnotes|date=December 2012}}
{{infobox weapon
| name               = ''Eihandgranate'' Model 39
| image              = File:German grenade m39.JPG
| image_size         = 200px
| caption            = ''Eihandgranate'' Model 39 with remnants of desert paint
| origin             = Nazi Germany
| type               = [[Hand grenade]]
<!-- Type selection -->| is_explosive       = yes
<!-- Service history -->| service            = 1939-1945
| used_by            = [[Nazi Germany]], [[Soviet Union]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.inert-ord.net/ger03a/gerhgr/m39/index.html |title=German M.43 "Egg" Grenade}}</ref>
| wars               = [[World War II]]
<!-- Production history -->| design_date        = 1939
| variants           = Standard, fragmentation sleeve
<!-- General specifications -->| weight             = {{convert|200|g|oz|abbr=on}}
| height             = {{convert|76|mm|in|abbr=on}}
| diameter           = {{convert|60|mm|in|abbr=on}}
| filling            = Donarit - (relatively similar to [[amatol]])
| filling_weight     = {{convert|112|g|oz|abbr=on}}
| detonation         = instant, 1, 4.5, 7.5 or 100 second delay
}}

The '''Model 39''' "'''''Eihandgranate"''''', '''M39''' or '''''Eierhandgranate 39''''' ("egg hand grenade") was a German fragmentation [[hand grenade]] introduced in 1939 with 84.2 million produced until the end of [[World War II]] and thus in fact being more common than the iconic [[Stielhandgranate#Model 1924 (M24): Stielhandgranate 24|Stielhandgranate]] of which 75.5 million were produced.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIBJo5ks-ho&t=37 Potato Masher what everyone gets wrong, Military History Visualized.]</ref>

== Description ==
The ''Eihandgranate'' were issued to the ''Fallschirmjäger'' from early till the end of the war. The grenade used the same fuse assembly (the BZE 39) as the [[Model 43]] ''Stielhandgranate'' ("Stick Grenade"), which was screwed into the top of the sheet-metal body.

To activate, the dome-shaped cap was unscrewed and pulled with a coiled [[pull-cord]] that is pulled before throwing. The color of the cap indicated the burning time of the type of [[fuze]] fitted. Typically, a delay of around four seconds was used. It could also be used in place of the bottom side screw cap on the "Stielhandgranate" stick grenades.

If it was to be used as a fixed [[booby-trap]], then an instantaneous or one-second fuse would be fitted. Sometimes, this style of grenade was discarded in plain view for the enemy to use, particularly on the Eastern Front and in the Western Front. They were used in France as part of Erwin [[Rommel's asparagus]]. Obstacles, such as wooden poles, were used to hinder airborne landings, which could tear the wings of gliders and kill the soldiers inside, as these poles were connected with wires to either these grenades or S-mines ([[Bouncing Betty]]) against paratroopers.

Later in Italy they were used as booby traps to slow down Allied advances on the Italian peninsula, in ambushes or in street fighting and as traps for the Italian Partisans when they raided German supplies and weapon caches. Another type of trap was to wire a short-fuse grenade to a door-frame in an abandoned building with the pull-cord attached to the door. When the door was breached by opposing troops, the grenade would detonate right next to the enemy.

The offensive high explosive version of the grenade used a small Donarit filling, which was considered extremely ineffective in comparison to the standard stick grenade models: large amounts of these grenades would be thrown in a short amount of time or at once for the desired effect.

The defensive [[Fragmentation grenade|fragmentation]] version of the grenade had a fragmentation sleeve wrapped around the exterior of the grenade, which would turn into high speed shrapnel when the grenade exploded, giving it a longer range and greater damage ability to the enemy but also include the thrower in the danger zone.

=== Fuse cap colour-codes ===
* Red – 1 second delay (for coloured smoke, but also booby-trap)
* Blue – 4.5 second (standard issue)
* Yellow – 7.5 seconds (used on the Hafthohlladung 3 – magnetic shaped charge)
* Grey – No delay (used for demolition work or as booby-trap)

[[File:Eihandgranate.jpg|thumb|Diagram]]

==See also==
*[[Model 24 grenade]]
*[[Model 43 grenade]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.inert-ord.net/ger03a/gerhgr/m39/index.html German Grenades of Wo piqka e nanes]
*[http://www.lonesentry.com/manuals/german-grenades/index.html German Hand & Rifle Grenades]

== Literature ==
* Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain: ''Encyclopedia of German Weapons 1939–1945''. 2nd Release, Special edition. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 2006, {{ISBN|3-613-02481-0}}.
* D. Mitev, Bulgarian and German hand grenades – history, development, contemporary state, Vol. 1, 216 pages, {{ISBN|978-954-629-012-0}}, Sofia, 2008

{{WWIIGermanInfWeapons}}

[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of Germany]]
[[Category:Hand grenades of Germany]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1930s]]
[[Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1939]]