More Shell Identification's.

[t.ryan]

While there are a few shells flying around at the moment, and a bit of interest in them, I have a couple of shell casings which I would like to know a bit more about.

The first one which unfortunately has had the primer hole brazed up, is 1917 dated, 9 1/4" long, 4" across rim and 3 3/8" outside neck. It may have been shortened a little.

This shell casing has plenty of head stampings, some of them I can see in the "Broad Arrow Mk 11" and other marks unknown to me.

The shell casing appears to be Indian, ^ over I. The A in diamond (annealed stamp) the S in diamond, large and small, (scleroscope stamp), but other markings unknown to me. Looks like it may have been reused or re checked a couple of times.

18Pr. over 11* I suppose could be 18 pounder 11*.

The second shell casing which we have had for well over 50 years, may be a later shell casing. It is 11 1/2" long, 3 5/8" across rim and 3" outside neck.

Other than the headstamps showing crossed cannons, a couple of numbers, a single letter, and a few other markings on casing and primer, I cannot find anything to identify its origin.

Cheers,

TR

[peregrinvs]

The first one is a cut down MkII 18 PR case made by Vickers Sons & Maxim in 1917.

The second one is more intriguing. I think it may be Japanese, but I am unsure of the gun concerned or whether it is WWI or WWII. I suspect the latter is more likely.

[Knotty]

Hi TR

Looking at the top 18lb, I can add

VSM = Vickers,Sons and Maxim initial manufacturer 
*= possibly denotes case withdrawn from service, (thought it was stamped in a circle)
RL in a rectangle = Royal Laboratories repair for refilling after first use
CFF = Cordite filling and 2 Full charges used
S (with punch mark)- sceleroscope inspection after repair, near to repair site as you say.
A in diamond (annealed stamp) also identified by you.

A few more suggestions for you to go on.

John

[14276265]

The 18-pr Mark II* case was made by Vickers Ltd (VSM monogram - Vickers Ltd from 1911 when Sir Hiram Maxim left the company) in 1917, was filled twice and repaired twice.

First repair was by Royal Ordnance Factory, Woolwich (RL in rectangle) and the second was by the Metal and Steel Factory (MSF), Ishapore - hence the Indian acceptance stamp. On one repair annealing was omitted (U), and low temperature annealing was carried out on the second repair (A in a diamond). The latter marking is post-WWI and the conversion to MkII* - which involved removing the plain portion of the boss of the case above the screw threads in the primer hole - was approved in 1924, so it looks like the case made it to India after the war, but was not filled after it was repaired at Ishapore.

The second case is a March 1940 Jap 75mm field gun case, made at the Osaka arsenal (crossed cannon monogram) with a December 1940 Osaka primer. I am not sure for which model of gun, but it is WWII anyway so beyond GWF discussion...

 

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[t.ryan]

Thanks lads, very helpful information from all. With all those markings on the 18 pounder casing, I thought they must have a story to tell and your information proves that.

It also gave me what I needed to look for and I have already found more valuable info on previous sites on this forum. As yet I have not been able to find the correct length of the case.

It is a shame someone has made a flower vase out of it at some stage. I only found it a few weeks ago being used as a door stop so it has had a very long useful life.

Thanks also for the second Japanese case information, but as it is WW2, not for this forum.

Cheers,

TR

[14276265]

18-pr Marks I, II, II* and III case length: 11.6".

 

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