The West Spring Gun was a bomb-throwing catapult used by British, Canadian and Australian forces during World War I.

It was designed to throw a hand grenade in a high trajectory into enemy trenches.

It required a crew of five - three to compress the springs, one to load the bomb, and one to fire as soon as the fuse was lit or the grenade pin was pulled.

28 chemical grenade, equipped with a slightly longer fuse (typically 9 seconds) to ensure to reach the enemy trench before exploding.

[4] Many operators, including Captain West himself, lost fingers in the mechanism.