M26 High-Explosive Fragmentation hand grenadeFile:6696s.jpgM61 High-Explosive Fragmentation hand grenade, improved version of the M26
The M26 hand grenade was developed in the years right after World War 2. This was the first model of handgrenade which still used a cast iron body, but which enclosed either notched wire or shot to serve as the lethal fragments rather than the grenade body itself. This new type of grenade was much more reliable than the old Mk II Pineapple grenades. The M26 was developed and adopted by the U.S. Army just before the Korean War (1950) but since most units still had huge inventories of Mk II "Pineapple" grenades left over after World War 2, the M26 rarely saw action in the Korean War. Throughout the 1950s it was the issued hand grenade for all Army units, despite the fact that we still had huge leftover inventories of the MK II as well. In the early 1960s another improved version of the M26 was adopted, the M61. The M61 had a thin sheet metal body with a notched coiled flat wire and improved fuse.
The Vietnam War: Though the M61 was now the official new hand grenade of the U.S. Armed forces, the U.S. shipped tens of thousands of existing stock of Mk II Pineapple and M26 grenades to South Vietnam, for use by the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam). These were stored in huge military warehouses throughout the country and many M26s were provided to American troops in the field as well, despite the fact that all new grenade production was supposed to supply only the M61. But the massive increase in munitions requests resulted in a fast retooling of the older M26 line, so an updated M26A1 grenade was issued with a better fuse and explosive compound. Eventually the M26A1 slowed production and halted, as did the M61 when the newer M67 hand grenade production ramped up.
So you see a mix of M26/M26A1 and M61 hand grenades in use by American forces in Vietnam. Most authors of war books or military articles never bother to reveal the complicated munitions supply issues of the conflict, and most only refer to the M26 as the hand grenade of choice, despite the fact that it is more likely that the virtually identical M61 is really the hand grenade that was used.
The M26 hand grenade has appeared in the following films and television series used by the following actors:
