Frederick Marten Hale

Frederick Marten Hale was a British explosives engineer and inventor. After education at the Devon County School and in Brussels, Belgium, Hale worked in hydraulic and fire engineering. He became involved in the design and manufacture of explosives from 1895 and rose to positions at the Cotton Powder Company and the Roburite & Ammonal company. Hale saw the successful use of hand grenades in the 1904–05 Russo-Japanese War and designed his own grenade in 1906. This was rejected by the War Office but during the 1914–1918 First World War it was used by the British Army as the No. 2 grenade.