With the end of the Battle of France and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the port of Dunkirk between 26 May and 4 June 1940, a German invasion of Great Britain seemed likely.

[3] However, the British Army was not well-equipped to defend the country in such an event; in the weeks after the Dunkirk evacuation it could only field twenty-seven divisions.

[4] As a result of these shortcomings, a number of new anti-tank weapons had to be developed to equip the British Army and the Home Guard with the means to repel German armoured vehicles.

[5] Many of these were anti-tank hand grenades, large numbers of which could be built in a very short space of time and for a low cost.

[8][9] When a vehicle drove over the grenade, its weight crushed the plate, which in turn cracked the igniter; this then leaked acid onto a sensitive chemical which detonated the charge.

[13] The Hawkins was also used in other roles, such as breaching walls,[1] and its small size enabled its placement into the "web" of a railway line to destroy a section of track.

[9] The weapon received the nickname "Johnson's Wax tin" due to its appearance to a commercially produced floor treatment product.