Guys, I just wanted to add to this thread for those that are interested. This is actually an Israeli Mills Bomb. Apparently the filler plug is the give- away here. The base plug style is still a mystery, although all of the Israeli ones I have seen are marked 44, so I am confident that this is the origin.

Regarding the 44 marking, this is subject to debate (I have just finished reading a rather lengthy and heated one on BOCN). Some believe that these were made late and immediately post WW2 for anti- British guerrillas and that 1944 was the first year of production. This does not explain, however, why all of those I have seen are marked 44.

Another theory is that the 44 is the Hebrew date, which would make it 1983 dated, although, as others point out, why would they still be making mills bombs in the 1980s when they could either produce or buy more modern designs from America. It is this that makes me believe that they are early post- war grenades.

Anyway, that is the sum total of my knowledge on this grenade I have thus far............. Why can't I pick the easy items lol