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.

[4] 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.

[5] As a result of these shortcomings, 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.

[6] 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.

Its explosive content consisted of 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg) of polar ammonal gelatine dynamite or nitrogelatine – both of which were highly flammable and could be detonated by the impact of small-arms fire.