The Sidolówka was an unofficial, yet common, name of the R wz. 42

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

, produced by the Polish resistance organization Armia Krajowa in occupied Poland during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1942, by the professors of the Warsaw University of Technology under the leadership of Jan Czochralski. It was partially based on an earlier design of the Filipinka grenade, also of underground construction, which in turn was based on a pre-war Polish ET-38

anti-tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

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 with a P-42 friction primer 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 (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

and other battles of the

Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest or Operation 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 Arm ...

References

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