As the world pauses to remember the 100 year anniversary of the start of WWI, I can’t help but think of a little leftover piece of that war that I have. I inherited from my grandfather a 1915 WWI howitzer shell that sat next to his fireplace throughout all my boyhood. It was something that always fascinated me, and we would occasionally open it up. Unfortunately, I don’t know the story of  how this unused WWI relic came to our family. He may have told me once when I was a kid, but nobody in the family seems to remember the origin either. I guess it will remain a mystery.

This empty shell is heavy. I can’t imagine a day spent loading these into the a gun, and the incredible noise of one firing. Worse yet, the horror of being on the receiving end of these things.

A few years ago I sent some pictures to the Canadian War Museum, and this is their explanation of the shell and it’s markings:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting the Canadian War Museum Concerning the Artillery projectile that once belonged to your grandfather.

The object in the images is a projectile for the British 4.5-inch howitzer. General details on the gun can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_4.5_inch_Howitzer.

The actual filling would have been painted on the projectile. Since there is no paint, we can only guess. Since it is hollow, it is probably not shrapnel. It is probably a forging for an HE shell.

The driving band near the base appears intact, so it probably has not been fired. Indeed, it the interior is clean, it may never have been filled.

The plug on the nose is to cover the hole where the fuze would go – the No 1 means that it is a Plug, fuze hole, No. 1. This plug was used in the 4.5-inch howitzer and others.

The markings on the base:

4.5-in How V – 4.5-inch howitzer [shell] Mark 5 – (V=Roman 5)
F S – forged steel construction (as opposed to cast steel)
11-20-15 – date of manufacture

CFL – manufacturing company. At this time I cannot identify the company – about 400 Canadian companies were involved in manufacturing ammunition inWW1 and similar numbers in Britain. If, as I suspect, it was never filled, then it is probably of Cdn manufacture.

I hope this information proves useful to you,

Sincerely,

Jason
Collections Manager, Transport and Artillery

Canadian War Museum

I also have a few artifacts from WWII.

The ARP (Air Raid Patrol) helmet is, I believe, made of tin, and was really just symbolic.

.50 cal – military ammo puts the date on the case, so the original case was made in 1942.

.50 cal – military ammo puts the date on the case, so the original case was made in 1942. Next to a British 303 case for comparison.

.50 cal – military ammo puts the date on the case, so the original case was made in 1942.