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Name that box....

B

BIG AL PRICE

New Member
hi guys,
i have 3 metal wartime dated boxes....C224,H501,C239.can anyone tell me what they would hold please?i've tried the search to no avail????
thanks,Allan
 
cheers mate,spot on!
H501 is a typo,its actually H50.I.(had to read from the inside to double check)
i have a couple of the wooden .303 boxes so will put those inside,
thanks again mate,
Al
 
H.51 was part of the "Jungle Pack". I'm still looking for information on exactly what this means so H.51 might not be correct for NW Europe 44-45.
 
H52 was the soldered tinplate liner containing amoung other items .303" Ball or Belted.
Packed inside the H51 Wooden Liner, then two to a H50 Metal Outer

I prepared a number of boxes of WWII dated .303" for disposal, and H51's were used in Europe. But was known as a World Wide Pack.
 
Hello Mike :) welcome to BOCN.

Big Al was asking about the use of H.51 for use in his hobby of WWII reenacting. I have seen some reenactors using H51 in desert displays and NW Europe 44/45 displays. I have a RAOC statistics pamphlet dated 1943 which lists all Ammunition Containers in use at that time and H50/H51/H52 combination isn't included. I have a RAOS pamphlet dated 1944 which deals with SAA that only mentions the H50/H51/H52 combination in passing and states that it is being developed for use in the "Jungle Pack". It doesn't say what the Jungle Pack is but I assume it is for use in the Far Eastern Jungles as the pine boxes in service probably couldn't handle the conditions there. I have seen a page of another RAOS pamphlet (I think on grenades) that mentioned some other boxes for use in the Jungle Pack. I think it was C238 and B166, both metal boxes, but I cant be certain what they were to contain. So my hunt for info on the "Jungle Pack" continues. THe H50/H51/H52 combination obvious worked well and at some point went on to become the standard AC for general service and therefore became the "World Wide Pack". Now I have something else to research.
 
I remember that a load of 1946 onwards dated Mk8z belted packed into H50/H51/H52 combination, but to be really sure on dates you need a war time dated case or picture in use really!

I have a copy of the RAOC 'ammunition' statistics pamphlet with amendment No1 somewhere, I will dig it out and look at the date.

Here is a H51 for Mark 7z is marked 1945 plus a H52 tin liner.

303ammobox_T.jpg
 
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I have a '44 dated example in my collection but it is not stencilled with any markings. I have some nice '45 dated examples complete with all the packaging and strapping but no ammunition.The only info I have come across mentions the Jungle pack but nothing else. Someone must have a definitive date that the packs were used in europe but i suspect it was not until after the war. I guess photographic evidence is our best option but have not seen any wartime photos from any theatre of the H 50/51/52 boxes in use.
Hangarman
 
hangerman,

Its a referance picture only. I think the stencils say

ALL SERVICE, NOT TO BE USED IN SYNCHRONISED GUNS AFTER 03/03/47

The date being 2 years after manufacture which was a common marking for Vickers MMG

LCplCombat

My copy of RAOC Ammunition Stats 1943 Pam 2 is dated April 1944 with Amendment No1 combinded with a copy of Amendment No2 dated January 1945 (Both Ser no 1805)

But still no meantion of Case H50 anywhere, which is odd even if it was only for Far East Use?
H51/52 would not be mentioned as they were inner packaging only and not intended for storage/transit use.
 
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Mike_2817 said:
hangerman,

Its a referance picture only. I think the stencils say

ALL SERVICE, NOT TO BE USED IN SYNCHRONISED GUNS AFTER 03/03/47

The date being 2 years after manufacture which was a common marking for Vickers MMG

LCplCombat

My copy of RAOC Ammunition Stats 1943 Pam 2 is dated April 1944 with Amendment No1 combinded with a copy of Amendment No2 dated January 1945 (Both Ser no 1805)

But still no meantion of Case H50 anywhere. H51/52 would not be mentioned as the are inner packaging only.
Click to expand...

That's the copy I have Mike. Is it original or a Groucho Publishing copy? Be careful what you say, It might be a "Confidential" document :p

I think the caption should be "AIR SERVICE, NOT TO BE USED IN SYNCHRONISED GUNS AFTER 03/03/47"
 
No its an original in good condition, with that mottling to the cover you only get with war time paper. Long De-Classified I should think :eek:

re ALL or AIR - Not sure really but it does seem that the H50 packed ammunition was for ground use as well.
 
The B166 rings a bell with me. It was a steel outer container for 2 inch mortar HE, smoke, chemical or practice bombs. My copy of DWS Notes 15/1 printed 10/1942 states that the B166 dimensions were (in inches) 19.8 x 9.1 x 13.0, held six 2 inch mortar bombs in two carriers and weighed 90 Lb. Issue 15 Section II (9/1943) however goes on to say that one carrier contained six bombs. Therefore two carriers would contain a total of 12 bombs. I hope this helps.
 
LCplCombat said:
That's the copy I have Mike. Is it original or a Groucho Publishing copy? Be careful what you say, It might be a "Confidential" document :p
Click to expand...


Ooops, I just checked and its NOT the copy I have. Any chance of a scan or photocopy?
 
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