The potato masher was/is a British wording for the
German Army's Stielgranate 24. It was used by every the entire Wehrmacht.
Due to it's shape and appearance it was called potatomasher by the British forces. The video game Call of Duty 2 features this fact. Interestingly the Soviet Red Army's soldiers are calling the stick grenade potato masher also.
Nowadays the
German Modell 24 Stielgranate is one of the most easily recognized WWII small arms.
In the
USA the Stielgranate is collected
like stamps by some collecters. Especially the
US soldiers returning home took one or more home with them as a "Souvenir out of the Reich".