SMLE Clinometer for grenades

[Nigel]

Forgive me if I have posted these pictures before from La Boisselle, France. They were unearthed as part of the archaeological dig that Roger and I worked on between about 2011-2013. As you can imagine, when they realised that Roger was an expert at identifying manufacturer markings and dates on cartridge cases and that he and I had a passable knowledge about WW1 rifles and grenades we were given the task of cleaning up some of the artifacts - somebody has to do it. We were like pigs in ****.

We soon realised that the rifles earmarked for grenade launching in the early stages of the war were the older 'obsolete' models as you can see from inspecting the original sights. The clinometer is very rare. We also found loads of aluminium tubes with a hole in the bottom. It was only later that we realised that they were for transporting rodded grenades.

About 7 bodies were exhumed and we soon learnt how to identify them from their leather boots. One still had his 1914 Pattern leather equipment on. Part of the project was to explore the 8.5 km of tunnels that the British dug - 80'-120' underground. Check out the BBC Four documentary - The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars. The hand pressing the handle of the detonator box is mine.

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