Matching Garand En Bloc Clips in a Bandolier?

[RT Ellis]

Excuse the diversion from the main topic, but the comment about salvaging SA ammunition intended to be dumped at sea reminds me of a story. An uncle by marriage, who was an Aviation Machinist Mate USN in the 1930s. He related that one day a barge was headed out to sea from the Port of San Diego, California. While rounding North Island (Navel Air Station) the crew of the barge dumped cases of small arms ammunition, which were intended for deep water, as they passed close ashore. My uncle and a friend were able to recover several cases at low tide. I have a vague recollection that they made some kind of a fuse using powder from some of the cartridges, packed into a pipe, lit it off and ran. The explosion rattled the city across the bay, broke a few windows, and set off an official investigation that didn't identify the culprits.

There must have been enough debris left to identify the source of the explosion as SA ammunition, and the connection to the barge was probably determined, but my uncle and his friend must have "sweated bullets" until the excitement died down.