Friend dropped in.....

Had a good friend contact me asking me if I'd like this apparently it was an old chaps range box for full bore shooting.
I said no worries most definitely yes, I have not seen to many grenade carrying tins it is made of very heavy gauge galvanised tin it's missing a divider but I'm not that fussed on that point its unique to me!
So it could house 4 - M36's or the like has SK72 on the lid any clues on this could it be an Australian manufacturer, I'd just rubbed in some Dubbin on the leather strap to keep it supple has brass rivets attaching it to the tin.

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

So it could house 4 - M36's or the like

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Maybe vehicle smoke grenades? From an armored vehicle? Are there any old bolt down points on it?

The standard WWII crate for Number 36 grenades held twelve with a tin box affixed to the bottom of the lid to hold the base plugs to be installed after the igniters....same for the Number 75 Anti-Tank grenade. The only grenade I'm aware of with a 4 grenade container was the Number 74 "Sticky Type".

No Jim no hold down bolt holes anywhere.

Maybe a couple more pics from angles? I still think it's for vehicles...

As requested Jim.

Marking on the side reads SK72A

The '72' in SK72A wouldn't refer to the grenade number since the Number 72 grenade was a last ditch emergency glass anti-tank design that was abandoned before it even got to trials. The Brits were fully expecting the Germans to complete Operation Sealion in 1940 and were thinking up all sorts of emergency defensive weapons and projectiles such as the Northover Projector and glass grenades filled with self-igniting phosphorous.

I'm not so sure this was actually a military item at all. The old shooter could have adopted a useful box from anywhere, used a couple split rivets to hold the strap on and away to the range... It's a cabinet door hinge holding the lid on, the kind that goes inside.

Only thing I think is possibly plausible that it was perhaps a field modded item then stencilled on top what it's contents were I'll drop an M36 in there tomorrow as well as a M26A2 to see how they line up in the compartment spots as the north south divider is missing.:dunno:

Could it be one of the old radio valve cases - as used for the 10 round Thompson gun magazine bozes. Easy to remove the yellowish hosehair matting and modify it for whatever you need......... like 10x 30 round Thompson magazines. Just a thought

If it was originally some sort of "grab box" inside a vehicle then, clearly, it wouldn't be bolted down.

I have seen metal "grab boxes" for bren mags in a WW2 Canadian vehicle. (I am NOT inferring that the box pictured in post 1 is for bren mags before someone tries to say that I am.)

I would have expected the hinge to be "piano type/style" hinge running across the full width of the box but this may have been replaced.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

I would have expected the hinge to be "piano type/style" hinge running across the full width of the box but this may have been replaced.

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That's what I would have thought would be there when I suggested it. As for not bolted down, anything in my armored vehicle that didn't get bolted down or strapped down ended up beat to destruction as it would be thrown around.

So here it is with a M-36 & M26A2 in situ if you look the wear pattern on the base matches where a grenade would have sat with the middle divider in place I took the M-36 launch plate off as I dont think they were issued with each grenade, so I reckon it's a repurposed unit cobble up by some one.

Note ~ The M-36 is deloused & drilled the M26A2 is a solid practice one.

How about "this one" seen on eBay UK, chaps? I'm not quite sure why anyone thinks the silver paint may make it Parachute Regiment?

I would have thought that this example is a surplus spare valve case repurposed for another use.

WWII British Army Parachute Reg Wireless Set No 22 - Z.A 14041 Spare Valves Set for sale | eBay

Sort of what Peter L. eluded to.

Without a steel rule to judge the size, that's what the CASE, spare valve set' looked like. Also about the same height as the Thompson magazines. All very well, until the length increased due to change from 20 to 30 rounds. Then everything turned to rat sh....., er....., manure. Pouches to short, magazine boxes too short and the Thompson chests obsolescent from then onwards!.

BAR is dead right about AFV kit. If it ain't bolted down or stowed away safely and securely it is thrown about to destruction. The tankies used to laugh at the thought of tanks being able to load and fire the main armament on the move. Only in your dreams - or on a decent battle run - in the summer!

As I recall the metal grab boxes, for bren mags, they sat in some sort of holder, down the centre of the vehicle so that they could be got at quickly if needed. I don't think that they were bolted down but were quite possibly strapped into the holder to retain them. Unfortunately I didn't think to photograph it for future reference.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

quite possibly strapped into the holder to retain them.

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There were lots of brackets inside an AFV and they all had an exact purpose. That's why some things didn't fit too well, they weren't what was supposed to fit. You should have seen the 1976 issue Chev mortar trucks, by the time they arrived we'd changed ammo natures so NONE of the new crates fit. Anyway, everything had to be strapped down or it migrated to underfoot.

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

Anyway, everything had to be strapped down or it migrated to underfoot.

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I do realise that Jim.

The point that I was trying to make is that not everything is bolted down, i.e. with bolts requiring spanners to remove, especially if it needs to be removed in a hurry.

Incidentally I do have an unmolested spare vale case, in my collection, which looks similar to the one which I posted pictures of in post 14. When I got it I did check it against the known dimensions of the Thompson 20 rnd mag box and they were a little different. It is possible that a different spare valve case was used for the Thompson mag box or a the size of the Thompson mag box varies.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

not everything is bolted down

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Nope...

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

Could it be one of the old radio valve cases - as used for the 10 round Thompson gun magazine bozes. Easy to remove the yellowish hosehair matting and modify it for whatever you need......... like 10x 30 round Thompson magazines. Just a thought

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Unfortunately the Case No.2 for the WS 38 has a piano hinge and the Case Spare Valves for the WS 19 has something similar across the full length of the back. All bits of kit for radios were stenciled or stamped with a number with a Z.A. prefix. I don't think Cinder's case is radio related.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

How about "this one" seen on eBay UK, chaps? I'm not quite sure why anyone thinks the silver paint may make it Parachute Regiment?

I would have thought that this example is a surplus spare valve case repurposed for another use.

WWII British Army Parachute Reg Wireless Set No 22 - Z.A 14041 Spare Valves Set for sale | eBay

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The WS No. 22 along with the WS No. 38 were carried by paratroopers in WWII although I wouldn't want to have been the wireless operator stuck with humping the 22 set which weighed 36.5 lbs.! What is for sale in your picture appears to be a home made step down transformer and filter to produce rippled D.C. and is not military. The 22 Set was a scaled down 19 Set with no provision for intravehicular intercom or long range voice communications.

Here is the spare valve case that I have in my collection. I believe from looking at what has been offered for sale the same "physical sized metal box" was used for several different numbered "Case Spare Valves", this example being a number 4A. The internal linings may have differed of which is missing in this example.

By referencing the dimensions shown in the pics below one can see that this case is a little larger than known examples of Thompson magazine case, https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=77655 (bottom of page), although the height is about the same. As I previously alluded to, it could be that a different spare valve case was used for the Thompson magazine case or there was more than one size of Thompson mag box.

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Originally Posted by Sapper740

What is for sale in your picture appears to be a home made step down transformer and filter to produce rippled D.C. and is not military.

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I wondered if anyone was going to notice that.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

Here is the spare valve case that I have in my collection. I believe from looking at what has been offered for sale the same "physical sized metal box" was used for several different numbered "Case Spare Valves", this example being a number 4A. The internal linings may have differed of which is missing in this example.

By referencing the dimensions shown in the pics below one can see that this case is a little larger than known examples of Thompson magazine case, https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=77655 (bottom of page), although the height is about the same. As I previously alluded to, it could be that a different spare valve case was used for the Thompson magazine case or there was more than one size of Thompson mag box.

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That's the spare valve case for the R 106 HRO radio set which was a militarized commercial radio mainly made for the U.S. Military but also supplied to the British.