ignite the detonator. Any impact in the horizontal axis would cause the ball bearing to follow the slope of the conical housing converting the horizontal acceleration into a vertical one, touching off the detonator as before. The fuze was worked by the user first unscrewing a plastic cap to expose a long, narrow cloth streamer with a curved lead weight attached to the end. Upon release from the hand or projector the weighted streamer, would catch the air and quickly unwind from the top of the grenade, eventually withdrawing a loose safety pin from the fuze. With the pin removed the striker and detonator would be free to come into contact, which would happen due to the force of impact when the grenade struck a hard surface. The all-ways fuze had a minor design defect in that the hard steel ball bearing would be propelled away from the explosion as a piece of shrapnel. When used in an "offensive" application such as the No. 69 grenade, where the user was not required to take cover before throwing, there was a chance that the user could be struck and injured by the fast-moving ball bearing. According to military author Ian V. Hogg, this problem led to restrictions in the use of the grenade as practice ordnance. Markings A ring of red "X" in the top half between the safety cap and middle indicated that it has a filling suitable for tropical use (humidity). A green band just under the middle ring indicated an Amatol 80/20 filling. The white letters "BAR" on the green band indicated a Baratol 20/80 filling. The white letters "LYD" on the green band indicated a Lyddite filling. References External links Photo of No 69 grenade Sectional view showing "all-ways" fuze Another sectional view of a No 69 grenade World War II grenades of the United Kingdom Concussion grenades Hand grenades of the United Kingdom Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1942