Could Someone Possibly Identify This For Me !!!!

Hi Guys

I recently found this in a field in Brighton, It had clearly been deactivated and left in the feild to rot, I am trying to Identify what this this?

Now its about 40cm weighs about 4-5 KG.

The HE111 dropped all there left over bombs from London off at Brighton however this size casing does not match with the specs of the standard set up of the HE111 at that point,

Howeve I could be way off as a Training base was less then a mile from where the item was found so it could be something they used for training.

If someone could take a look at the attachment and give me some sort of idea that would be great.

Just to add... On the nose of it there is a dial possible a time fuse, it looks like you could of set it a few years ago and it goes from 1 - 22 Approx

If anyone could help me I would be very greatful

Many thanks

Jason

 

Looks like an artillery shell because of the band on the bottom. You can see the rifling marks on the copper band.

 

Nice one thanks alot buddy Ill get looking, Please let me know if anyone has any further information

 

I am always the one to ask you to be careful.......in case by deactivation you mean the fuse is removed....there could still be the internal explosive material present which would be likely if this survived a trip through a barrel and the shell is still intact. If the shell had blown up then all you would find are pieces of the shell....so if it is not blown up....what is it? I know of an instance where the internal explosive was removed by wash out method but when a drill was used to penetrate the shell to indicate that it had been demilled it exploded nearly killing the driller. What may be inside the shell even in small quantity can be nasty. If it still has a fuse----then it may still have internal explosive material in my thinking. Some fuses are faulty and the shell lands with explosive unexploded.

 

I'll guess it's a 75mm. You must have big brass ones for digging it up. Surprised no one else here has chimed in on this. You should call the bomb disposal unit.

 

Check here, Poppy:
http://www.ww2f.com/new-member-forum/51924-rather-urgent-question.html

Nobody wants to be the Internet Police, but there really is only one sensible course of action with found ordnance.

~A

 

I'm with Adam on this one, inform the authorities of what you have found as soon as possible.

If it is live then it is probably unstable after all these years and messing around with it could be fatal.

 

To throw in my 2 cents, I think its an artillery shell (I think I can see some rifling on the band). I don't think it would be a bomb from an He111. That being said, I would also contact the bomb squad. That thing was likely sitting undisturbed for 60+ years, and all the sudden shaking from you transporting it home may be enough to restart the chemical reaction in the fuse. Even exposure to heat may be enough to set it off. No souvenir is worth blowing up your house over. I know that in cases like these people are often reluctant to listen to what people say on the internet, especially if you think it is something valuable, but this is the right choice. Do a google news search for unexploded ordnance. Stories come up every so often. I remember last year a noted Civil War collector and historian (in other words, someone who knew his field very well and was no novice) was killed when a cannonball he had for years exploded when he was handling it. Just because it is old and rusty doesn't mean it won't hurt you. I cringe when I hear people tell me this, but "safety first" is the right approach for situations like this.

Good luck.

 

Definately not german or airdropped .its artillery its a British 25lb BE (base ejecting) smoke or para illum projectile,,it is missing an alloy or bakelite cone from the fuze,if you have a look around the fuze other than the time ring numbering you should find "no221 or 390" this is the fuze type

 

Good Morning Guys,

Thanks alot for the advice and identification... You will all be pleased to know that the fuse compartment has been drilled and is 100% safe..

I had someone take a proper look at it and you can see where they have drilled all the way to the nose and is ENTIRE shell is accounted for now... Measured and checked..

I have now cleaned this bomb up at my factory and looks really good in my opinion, now I dont know how WW2 shells dug up from ground are ment to come up, but I have uploaded a new picture so please let me know if you think this is a good cleanup..

Guys appreciate all your advice to get it checked and report it.. I am pleased I did in the end get it seen too and luckerly some crazy man took the risk for me lol.


Let me know what you think..


Jason

 

I confirm, this is 100% British . Only the british had brass bands like that around their shells. You can recognize them among any others with those typical bands.

 

That makes me feel warm inside knowing its british sitting on my bedside, I can now relocate it to under my pillow case

Iv looked everywhere on the web to find the same one but never can, I would love to see the same one in a1 condition..

 

ok hopefully this lot of pics should help you,we dig 100s of these out every year,some in better condition than others depending on what the soil conditions are like,

 

some more

 

You might look around or ask here:
Untitled Document

 

Thanks alot Guys,

Thanks for the picture Spotter,

Now Im finding these over in Downs in Brighton where the training base would of been, So would they of been dud or would they of been live ?

Your website is class.

Cheers mate

 

There are two possibilities. This was either a storage area for live shells or they were used training in which case they would have been dud. Considering the large quantities i'd opt for a storage area, either for live or dud shells. (a depot) , because fired shells would not have been intact.

 

It is definitely a spent atillery shell. If you pass on the diameter and length it should be easy to identify. It is spent because the driving band (the brass at the base) has those parallel groves at an angle in it. This indicates that the rifling bit into the band for a gas seal when fired.

 

many areas of what is now public land was used as artillery and infantry training ranges during ww2 (and before) after the war they got returned to the public,we class these at work as historical ranges,because they have not been used over time the history of many is now long forgotten .Much of my work is on such places ,post war clearance did take place (clearance teams consisted mostly of displaced persons at the time many of which were ukranians) due to the search depth limitations of the locators used at the time many deep items got missed and over time due to erosion and items moving in the ground they can work their way back to the surface,or may have simply been missed,If your lucky you may find the closure disc for the base of your projectile ,these look just like an iron disc about 2cm thick

just adding what others have said if you do find any item like this dont take it home and DONT TOUCH (there are also base eject chemical rounds which look the same and can contain traces of nasty stuff) take note of the location and notify the police ,give them as much info as you can about the item size shape etc,,the expended base eject smoke rounds may be harmless but you never know what else may be in the area and who may find it and get hurt or worse killed.plus it keeps me employed clearing these places

The attatched image is of a 25lb base eject chemical projectile same shape etc virtually indistinguishable in this condition from the smoke versions..be very wary

 

They well could be either. Yours has the remains of a fuze in the nose (the brass portion, the aluminum outer portion has rotted away). When you cleaned it up did you notice any paint chips in the process? If so, what color were they? This might indicate what kind of shell you have. But, be forewarned, what you have could and very likely is, a dud that still contains explosives. These could very much be "ert" and detonate if handled wrong.