What's the history of this mortar shell?
Upvote:3
My best guess is an 18 Pounder Mark II shell casing (18 PR II) from World War I. The dimple in the middle indicates it has been fired. Here's an example of the full round from the Imperial War Museum.
I'm guessing 30 5 17 is May 30th, 1917, though I don't know what that date signifies.
I can't read much of the fine detail, but it looks like it may have been filled and fired several times.
Better images with the details in focus and with good contrast would help immensely. Here's an example of a good image with explanations of the markings.
Upvote:6
A great resource to help identify the markings on shell casings is usually the Explanatory List of Service Markings to Be Found on Ammunition and Ammunition Packages in Use With the Field Armies 1918. In this case, unfortunately it is of limited use since it appears the main shell case may have been manufactured in Canada.
The stamps that one might expect to find on the base of an 18-pounder cartridge can be found on pages 9-10 of the book.
The markings:
18 PR
II
indicate that this wasn't actually a mortar shell, but is in fact a shell case for an 18 pounder QF Mk II shell.
(The 1914 version of The Handbook of the 18-PR. Q.F. GUN - Land Service is available to read or download as a PDF file from archive.com if you're interested in reading more about the type of gun that would have fired these shells).
The date
20 5 17
is the date on which the shell was filled.
The S contained within concentric circles is the monogram or trade mark of the manufacturer. It isn't shown in the list of Station Monograms and Initials on pp 56-57 of the Explanatory List of Service Markings, but several sites (for example on the Great War Forum) have suggested that that monogram was used by the Copp Store Company, Canada.
The marking below that
L U N
should be the lot code for that batch of shell cases. I understand that these three-letter codes are unique to Canadian shell cases.
I can't make out enough detail on the lower markings on the shell case to identify them with any degree of certainty. There appears to be 1917 (presumably the year), over-stamped with other markings.
The markings on the primer are easier to interpret. A primer should have been stamped with:
- (i) Number and mark of primer.
- (ii) Initials of the firm or factory making the primer.
- (iii) Acceptance mark (after filling).
- (iv) Filling factory number.
- (v) Date of filling (month and year).
(Explanatory List of Service Markings, p26)
In this case, we have
No 1
stamped above
II
on the left side of the primer, indicating that you have a a No 1 Mark II primer.
The 17 on the right indicates that it was manufactured in 1917. The number above the 17 is not clear in the photograph, but will be the month the primer was manufactured.
The remaining stamps below the contact pin show that the primer was manufactured at NSF (National Shell Factory) Keighley - No. 2, which was rented from Hall and Steels Ltd (hence the H&S marking).
The indentation in the centre of the contact pin show that the shell has been fired.
If you are interested in researching the background to your shell case futher, there is quite a lot more information on the 18 pounder shell types etc. in the Treatise on Ammunition 1915.
More post
- 📝 How were the holes for the guns in battleships' turrets protected?
- 📝 What is the difference between the Ancient Greek religion and the Ancient Roman religion?
- 📝 Why are some later Mayan scripts unintelligible to archaeologists, while earlier ones can be read?
- 📝 Works of "Longue Durée" history in English
- 📝 Was jealousy the cause of Ernst Winter's death?
- 📝 Was there a melee weapon that was used by many people at the same time?
- 📝 Nazi Germany - Income of low-wage workers, and prices of food and other items?
- 📝 Why did the offices of Shogun and Emperor never merge?
- 📝 What damage did anti-tank rifles hope to inflict on tanks in WW2?
- 📝 How well were early WW2 naval tactics and strategy accounting for the importance of aircraft carriers?
- 📝 What advanced educational opportunities were available to native Africans in the early 1890's?
- 📝 When did the Greeks start the practice of burying their dead relatives' bodies?
- 📝 Did Japan ever retaliate for the Russian attacks of 1806?
- 📝 Why didn't every nation commit genocides against every other nation when they conquered land?
- 📝 What military first used fire support bases?
- 📝 Why did the Roberts Treaty of 1833 have a Portuguese translation annexed to it?
- 📝 Why didn't the British Grand Fleet force an engagement with the German Imperial Navy in WW1?
- 📝 Why did the father of algebra speak Arabic instead of Persian?
- 📝 How were years numbered on the Republican Calendar?
- 📝 Were bricks instead of bombs occasionally thrown out of war planes in WWI?
- 📝 What types of jobs did upper class Romans do?
- 📝 How were Muslim Turks treated in Byzantine Empire?
- 📝 Reichsmark value
- 📝 What was the extent of military conscription by the German Army during World War 2?
- 📝 How were the earliest automatic traffic lights automated?
- 📝 What is the original variant of the "Charles V Dominating Fury" statue?
- 📝 How much of Nazi iconography came from Hitler?
- 📝 How was security on the Silk Road between China and the West maintained?
- 📝 Why is the motto of the Swedish university Chalmers in French: avancez?
- 📝 Incentive to ban women having more than one husband?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Does anyone know the history on this artillery shell I found in my grandfather’s shed?
- 📝 What's the history of this mortar shell?
- 📝 "America is the richest country in the history of the world" -- Would a historian consider this true?
- 📝 What is the history of this coin? By Mandate of Heaven) Emperor of the Great Qin", Nurhaci - 1616-1626
- 📝 What is the history behind this English village well?
- 📝 Can someone give me the history on this Japanese Crest symbol
- 📝 Does anyone know anything on the history or any other information on this dagger?
- 📝 What are the markings on this shell casing? (Dubrovnik)
- 📝 Identify the era or any other clues from this soldier's picture?
- 📝 Is history always written by the victors?
- 📝 Did Albert Einstein really receive this rejection letter from the University of Bern?
- 📝 What is the logic for the map maker classifying the map this way, specifically in Canada?
- 📝 What do the numbers on this 1960s anti-integration sign mean?
- 📝 Which year in history had the highest ratio of non-natural deaths?
- 📝 Why is this Latin text black but the Latin numerals are red?
- 📝 What is the date and original source of this medieval picture?
- 📝 Why do the horses on this vase have too many legs?
- 📝 What are the text and subtext of this 1949 Soviet cartoon?
- 📝 What is the object moving across the ceiling in this stock footage?
- 📝 Is this depiction of command hierarchy, with the chain of command standing next to each other, historically accurate?
- 📝 In this cartoon from Puck, what indicates the identities of France and Britain?
- 📝 Was Kaliningrad offered to the Lithuanian SSR; was this offer rejected; and if so, why?
- 📝 Identify the circa 1920 uniform in this photo
- 📝 What was the first battle in history fought by vast-majority-% "distance-shooting" non-mechanized force?
- 📝 Can anyone identify the military branch and rank of the man in the front row? This is from Germany @1932
- 📝 What is this military patch with the silhouette of a pegasus on it?
- 📝 Is black American history only about segregation, slavery, and the 3 people you get taught about in school?
- 📝 Does anyone recognize the identity and location of this octagonal structure?
- 📝 Japan is known for being isolationist, so what cultivated its history of interventionism in the 20th century?
- 📝 How to identify this coin with a bust on one side and the letters S and C on the other side?