No4 Battle damaged relic....

[bigduke6]

Forgot about this pic I took at Cole House Fort in Tilbury, not the best pic (was taken on the Mobile phone) but you can make out the damage, a round straight through the action,

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[jmoore]

More than a rifle bullet strike, methinks!

[bigduke6]

Jmoore,

Was looking for the other thread to post this but couldnt find it, if you want to put this direcly in were you put the link.

[jmoore]

I would if I knew how! Photos get huge when I try to move them by brute force.

[Son]

Forgot about this pic I took at Cole House Fort in Tilbury, not the best pic (was taken on the Mobile phone) but you can make out the damage, a round straight through the action,

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSC00060-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSC00059-1.jpg

Saw a very similar WW1 No1 a few years back in a traveling display for ANZAC day. It had been struck by a shell fragment. The note went on to say it was cocked and had nine rounds in the magazine. I asked if anyone had confirmed it wasn't loaded. Came back the next day with a camera to discover it had been removed- it had been loaded and was picked up by an explosive ord. disposal team....

I wonder if that one still has a round up the spout?

[browningautorifle]

So what eventually happened to it Son? Did they blow it as a blind? Or did it just "disappear"?

[Son]

So what eventually happened to it Son? Did they blow it as a blind? Or did it just "disappear"?

They said the Officer that picked it up was going to blow it up... not too many options I'm afraid.

[fergs]

They had special troops running around on the western front in ww1 picking up weaponry and equipment, and it wasnt unusaul for them to pick up weapons that were loaded and cocked which subsequently discharged, leaving either the member or others injured.
The canberra war memorial has a webbly cylinder that has rounds stuck in it where it had been slammed from the side and mis shapen jamming the spent rounds in. That cylinder was from the Laffin collection i think.
Regards
Fergs

[Peter Laidler]

It is a simple matter to drill into the side of a rifle chamber to inert a suspect live round that's jammed in. Just drill in through a stream of slow running water. We drilled one out through a blob of childs plastercine (a sort of play-do) in order that a Chemist friend of mine could centrifuge it, separate the steel drillings, brass case and propellant in order to analyse it for a student project.

Yep, the propellant was as volatile as the day it was made!

[bigduke6]

Yep, the propellant was as volatile as the day it was made!

During my younger years, well before beer and women had entered my life on a more regular basis, I spent plenty of my time on the moors nearby my parents place in Cumbria with my metal detector, the moors were a practice ground for the army in WW11, apart from plenty of spent .303 cases that were from the Bren guns, there was a huge amount of live rounds I would find, in one instance they were scattered down a slope about a 150 altogether, most of these I didnt need the metal detector, as they were still lying on the surface were they were dropped over 44 years before, my mum was not too keen on me bringing old live rounds to the house so I carried a set of pliers on me and old freezer bag that had a zip on, once collecting up my hoard I would find a nice spot with a view then proceed to get the contents from the cases ( strands of cordite) the case was so brittle that the bullet would snap off when using the pliers, then would empty the contents in the freezer bag, once home the cordite was stored in a sealed tin until I was making a batch of Mini rockets.

Progress from mini rockets to bigger ones was a quick learning curve, at the end I was able to produce a decent rocket, and using the contents of 2" parachute flares ( used to find these complete, with the parachute in side, they had failed to go off) the rocket would gain some height and then explode with a shower of bright sparks etc.

All good fun, but I never realised the dangers involved at that age, other items I would find every now and again was live 2" HE mortor rounds, which the Bomb Disposall were called in to explode, for the fist one I found An officer from Deysbrook barracks let me watch over him as he prepared it for detonation then let me light the fuse, exciting stuff when your a kid, I very much doubt you could do that these days

One thing I would say on the first one I found, the Local Bobby come out to inspect it, I was with my father at the time and we walked to the spot of the HE round, I couldn,t believe what the Policeman did at this point and I know it caused my Dad some sleepless nights, he picked it up and threw it, me and my dad ducked for cover, but it landed with a dull thud LUCKY for us, the copper turned round and then told us thats how he tests them, I can still see today the shock and horror on my Dads face and hear some of the distinct words he had used.

Not long after this a local in the village told me how him and a few mates had found a grenade (not long after the war), they were messing about with it and it went off, dont remember the wounds he received, am sure one was killed and I remember seeing one of his mates, who was blinded in one eye and suffered some wounds to his face.

My outlook on old live ordnance changed after that meeting, and whenever I was out on the moors I proceeded with caution, and not long after I stopped going.

About 16 years after my Interest with the metal detector was rekindled but I was looking for valuable and less dangerous loot, namely Roman gold and silver.

Back to the original thread, I pass the Fort every other day on my bike when I,m off duty, so will ask one of the wardens at the park to see if I could contact the the guy who did the Ordnance museum part of the Fort, and get some better photo,s.
The Fort is open every last Sunday in the Month for anybody thinking of a visit, not a lot in there, but its run by volunteers, with some council funding.
Its strange that Tilbury fort is run by the English Heritage that approx 3 miles down from the Coalhouse fort.