WW2 Allied findings
Mortar bomb tails of British origin. The tails with 2 holes are the 3 inch model, the tail with 3 holes are the 4.2 inch type. From both types a reference photograph is depicted.
QF 25-pounder Artillery was used in very high qunatities by all British, Canadian, Polish and other Commonwealth forces during ww2. On German battlefields many shrapnell and fragments can be found. All detonator tips are marked with types, date etc. Those which I found are always H117 (standard HE) and H119 (graze HE). On a certain location I also found several detonator caps - indicating that spot being used before by an QF 25-pounder artillery battery.
No 117 HE Direct Action fuzes were used for standard QF 25 pounder ordnance effect. The shell would explode on immediate contact. The shrapnell can be identified by a smooth surface - no carved rings - and of course the '117' marking. These would have a distinctive seprate striker mechanisem attached at the topside, often found without it creating a smooth rim. Shrapnell parts of the striker can also be found.
The other mainly found type is the H119 HE 'Graze' action. This type would set off the ordnance after the projectile would slow down instead of immediate on impact. Therefore it could penetrate something first (structure of part of soil). These shrapnell parts can be identified by two carved rings, two rgip holes to fasten the fuze onto the shell and a screw on one side to set the striker.
Other, more difficult to find shrapnell parts are the H211 Timed Fuze. This fuze would set off the explosive a certain time (seconds) after firing. This way, by calculating, it could be set to explode tens of meters above ground.
Parts of the time set ring (with numbers) are distinctive for the H211 fuze. On a rare occasion I also found a partially intact piece of the clock setting mechanism. The photo of the shrapnell pieces with screwing threads are mainly of H211 fuzes but most likely also of other types (among these H117 and H119).
Below a sample of several other, unidentified, parts of shells.
20mm Hispano canon rounds were used by many allied fighterbombers - including models of the Typhoon, Spitfire, Hurricane etc. and also by bombers like the Shackleton. The empty cartridges were discarded in flight when used. Therefore these can litterally be found anywhere, not just on battlefields. Of course on battlefield were these aircraft gave ground support you will find more of these.
Small arms cartridges can only be found on battlefields. These are most of the time marked with the production year; at the end of the war many would have a 1943/43 or 1944/44 mark. The first photograph depicts .303 Enfield/ Bren gun cartridges - the Bren gun rounds can be identified by a elongated dot in the primer. The Enfield rifles left a round dot in the primer. As can be seen in the fourth photograph beneath. The .303's can be easlily identified by rimmed base.
The second photograph shows 7.92 Besa rounds and 30-06 cartridges. The 7.92 cartridges were used by the British made tanks which had Besa machineguns as secondary weaponry. Weapons which used 30-06 were .30 inch (30 cal) machineguns. All are marked with wartime years and can be identified by the rimmles base. For comparison see the third photograph beneath.
The third photograph are 9mm wartime era marked cartridges used by Sten guns.
