Sidolówka (pron. ''sheedoloofka'') was an unofficial, yet common, name of the R wz. 42 hand grenade, produced by the Polish resistance organization Armia Krajowa in occupied Poland during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The name of the grenade came from Sidol, a metal-cleaning agent from Henkel sold in Poland at the time. The first grenades used the Sidol bottles as the casing. Later on the casing was purposely modelled after the bottle in order to allow for easier hiding of the weapon. Sidolówka was first produced in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in 1942, by the professors of the

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology ( pl, Politechnika Warszawska, lit=Varsovian Polytechnic) is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professor ...

under the leadership of Jan Czochralski. It was partially based on an earlier design of the

Filipinka {{Infobox weapon, is_explosive=yes, name=ET wz. 40 , image=Granat Filipinka.jpg , caption=Filipinka in the Museum of the Warsaw Rising , origin=Poland , design_date=1942 , service=1942-1947 , type= Offensive fragmentation , filling=ca. 250g of c ...

grenade, also of underground construction, which in turn was based on a pre-war Polish ET-38 anti-tank grenade. The primer and the detonator were designed by two engineers of the pre-war Polish munition works in

, pyrotechnician Władysław Pankowski and engineer Józef Michałowski. It was a

fragmentation 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 gene ...

with a P-42

friction primer A friction primer is a device to initiate the firing of muzzle-loading cannon. Each friction primer consists of a copper tube filled with gunpowder. The tube fits into the cannon touch hole burying its lower end in the gunpowder chamber. The top end ...

and a 4.5 second delay time. Until the end of

, an estimate of 350,000 R-42 were produced in Polish underground factories. A large number of such grenades were used in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

and other battles of the

Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest ( pl, akcja „Burza”, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home ...

External sources

Armed Forces Museum's Movie about Polish hand grenades between 1930 and 1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidolowka Hand grenades of Poland World War II infantry weapons of Poland Fragmentation grenades Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1942