All I want for Christmas are my Mackerel Grenades
“1st Marine Division, Vietnam, December 1969: NVA Chi Goms, M-16 rounds, grenades found in the hooches.”
Photo by LCpl R.L. Pearson, Marine Corps photo A372861, NARA 127-GVB-Vietnam-Marine 002035
Note the improvised shrapnel sleeves on the Chinese Type 67 grenades— minus their “potato masher” wooden handles ala the old German Stielhandgranate— via the use of empty cans of Ace of Diamonds A1 mackerel, likely crammed with rocks, dust, and screws.
The use of the fragmentation jacket sleeve dates back to the old Russian RDG-33 of Stalingrad fame, albeit with a fishier aftertaste.