British Ordnance Collectors Network
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Ordnance on WW1 battlefields
- Thread starter Der_Feldgraue
- Start date
1
18pounder
Guest
quite right millsman.
I dont think this can be stressed enough,especialy for our younger or less experianced that want to go and explore WW1 battlefields.
i only touch things that are obviously safe.Spent bullets,empty cases and the like.
Things that you can see daylight through,or are VERY badly damaged.
Things like artillery rounds,grenades and mortars I never touch.
The risk totally out weighs the benefits of picking something up.
Its not worth losing a limb or my life.
I also think worth mentioning,is the dangers of trenches and under ground structures.
Hidden amongst the grass and weeds are tonnes of rusty wire ,caltrops and pits and craters all can be very dangerous, sharp and great at snagging or stabbing your skin and giving you tetanus or other blood disease,or worse
This stuff will go straight through a trainer easily.
You can imagine what would happen if you fell down a bank and land on or in this stuff.
Underground bunkers/tunnels are death traps,and I never enter them for the real risk of colapse or falling down somewhere,or being over come by toxic gas and not being able to get up.
Some of them are very deep,and havent been found or explored yet and i wouldnt want to become a relic.
below are images that are typical.
Ive nicked em off the net,so i appologise if they are yours.
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
Der_Feldgraue
Well-Known Member
Absolutely right and well said! No piece of rusty whatever is worth risking your health or life. There have been about half a dozen of people, or "collectors", killed in the Verdun area only in the last 5 years. For what?
Der_Feldgraue
Well-Known Member
I think that was two years ago near Metz. They have been in Verdun just one week before to clear the garden of a "collector" who had about 3 tons (!!!) of ordnance. As the collector tried to make a german 17 cm Wurfmine inert, the booster of the fuze went off and he died one hour later by his injuries. I think the neighbours were lucky, that it was only the booster and not the charge of 17 kg.......
It was at Pont-a-Mousson if I remember correctly, a little way SE of Verdun, but yes you were right it was to same team who had cleared the site of the fatal explosion (the fuze took a leg off) in Verdun. They had also cleared the garden sheds of a man who had died of natural causes in Verdun and his widow asked the Police to clear the three sheds that he had with 3.5 tonnes of stuff he had collected over 30 years.
John
John
Last edited:
Der_Feldgraue
Well-Known Member
Yes, thats the accident I meant. One of the two EOD guys was a Capitaine. Maybe I have the newspaper article somewere. There you could see photos of the "collectors" garden shed. The complete ground was made out of 75 shrapnel shells... :tinysmile_angry_t:
1
18pounder
Guest
My sisters boyfriends uncle had a mad collecton like this in belgium.
fFor many years farmers and locals used to bring him stuff and he would deal with it!
He didnt really keep alot of live stuff,just had alot of explosive material hanging around....as you do!!
When the guy moved out he had live grenades,bombs,mortars,rifles...you name it he had it.
EOD guys had to evacuate while they removed some stuff,because if it had gone off the village would have been flattened.
He had emptied contents in his cellor and it was like one big bomb.
Apparently my gas hell (inert) came from his collection.
The attitudes towards this stuff is strange.
This Uncle knew what he was doing and never had an incident,he just needed help with removal of explosive!
Strange and VERY STUPID.
He even emptied gas shells himself,wearing overalls and protective mask.
From what family has says he was a cracker short of a packet of jacobs.
Alot of people think this stuff is not so dangerous,I cant believe people think this way.
I supose it comes from many years of handling (he was ex military) and the confidence in what he was doing.
He felt he was providing a mini EOD service!
Crazy.
I was offered a LEE ENFIELD RIFLE for free that came from him,untill i saw that it was fully operational and it was GIVEN away go someone else.
fFor many years farmers and locals used to bring him stuff and he would deal with it!
He didnt really keep alot of live stuff,just had alot of explosive material hanging around....as you do!!
When the guy moved out he had live grenades,bombs,mortars,rifles...you name it he had it.
EOD guys had to evacuate while they removed some stuff,because if it had gone off the village would have been flattened.
He had emptied contents in his cellor and it was like one big bomb.
Apparently my gas hell (inert) came from his collection.
The attitudes towards this stuff is strange.
This Uncle knew what he was doing and never had an incident,he just needed help with removal of explosive!
Strange and VERY STUPID.
He even emptied gas shells himself,wearing overalls and protective mask.
From what family has says he was a cracker short of a packet of jacobs.
Alot of people think this stuff is not so dangerous,I cant believe people think this way.
I supose it comes from many years of handling (he was ex military) and the confidence in what he was doing.
He felt he was providing a mini EOD service!
Crazy.
I was offered a LEE ENFIELD RIFLE for free that came from him,untill i saw that it was fully operational and it was GIVEN away go someone else.
That guy nearly gets the Darwin prize. However innocent people are killed too. There was man killed in Belgium last year. He had dug up some shells in his garden and they were stacked about two metres away from where he lit a garden bonfire. One went off - killing him, even though it was not heated directly.
John
John
dano1917
RIP
First of all let me start by saying that I know it is a dangerous game. Now keep in mind I live in the US and have never been to Europe. If I were to get to Europe I would want to walk the Verdun area. I know better than to pick up a grenade that has a live look to it, but if I were to see, say a Citron Foug with no fuze and just an EMPTY body i'm afraid I would have to pick it up. I think if something is obviously safe then go for it. Now I am not an EOD tech or anything along those lines, so maybe i'd be best to leave all things sit. But I know me and curiosity just could kill the cat. A spent German WW1 fuze that has obviously gone off, well put that one in my pocket. Walking these battlefields is a lifelong dream of mine and if I saw, lets say a P1 pear there with spoon and all, obviously I would let it lay but only after a minimum of 10 snapshots. I consider myself a man of common sense and I would certainly noy risk life and limb if there were any doubt about the live status on a particular piece. I do also realize this is hallowed ground and you're actually walking on graves of brave men who laid down their lives for a belief. So tread lightly, use your head for something other than a hat rack, and enjoy seeing history as it were. I may never make it to Europe, as it would take the death of a rich relative to get me there. Still a dream. Ring ring ring, what's that. Crap it's the alarm clock, time to arise..Dano
Dano
You are right in some of what you say and I'm sure many on this forum have walked those fields and picked up obviously spent shells and fuze heads. However, my limited experience of Verdun showed me that what you do see most of is unexploded shells, about 60% of which still have the fuze attached. The line I draw is if it is a complete shell, keep clear. As you say it's common sense. However there seems to be plenty of collectors in France who pick up and take home everything they find, which is what leads to the deaths we read/hear of. Common sense is unknown to these guys. I actually brought nothing back from Verdun except a feeling it was a dangerous place.
John
You are right in some of what you say and I'm sure many on this forum have walked those fields and picked up obviously spent shells and fuze heads. However, my limited experience of Verdun showed me that what you do see most of is unexploded shells, about 60% of which still have the fuze attached. The line I draw is if it is a complete shell, keep clear. As you say it's common sense. However there seems to be plenty of collectors in France who pick up and take home everything they find, which is what leads to the deaths we read/hear of. Common sense is unknown to these guys. I actually brought nothing back from Verdun except a feeling it was a dangerous place.
John
jeeeensy
Well-Known Member
Still a dream. Ring ring ring, what's that. Crap it's the alarm clock, time to arise..Dano[/QUOTE]
Dano ! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Dano!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Danoooooo!
WAKEY WAKEY,
Dano it is dreams that keep us going mate,,if you got no dreams what have you got to look forward to?
one day you will get to be over there. Best regards nick
Dano ! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Dano!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Danoooooo!
WAKEY WAKEY,
Dano it is dreams that keep us going mate,,if you got no dreams what have you got to look forward to?
one day you will get to be over there. Best regards nick
Hey all,
This year I was so lucky as to be able to visit the Verdun (Mort Homme and Cote 304) and Argonne region ( Four de Paris / Haute Chevauchee) with two friends, quite an experience I must say.
Two things struck me:
How "unspoilt" the battlefields still were in some places (vast trench systems including dugouts) and the enormous amount of large calibre unexplode ordnance still to be found. In fact it was more common to find arty shells than rifle ammo!
A lot of the unexplode ordnance we found looked as if it had been placed in a spot to be easilly retrieved from years ago, but had simply been forgotten about, either that, or nobody (EOD?) bothers to collect it. (I had the same experience while visiting Mametz wood on the Somme, along one edge were dozens of unexploded shells, possibly even CW shells, that just seemed to have been dumped there for posterity).
We stayed well clear of ordnance, dugouts and thick undergrowth, that's why we still manage to do these tours after more than 15 years!
greetz,
Menno.
This year I was so lucky as to be able to visit the Verdun (Mort Homme and Cote 304) and Argonne region ( Four de Paris / Haute Chevauchee) with two friends, quite an experience I must say.
Two things struck me:
How "unspoilt" the battlefields still were in some places (vast trench systems including dugouts) and the enormous amount of large calibre unexplode ordnance still to be found. In fact it was more common to find arty shells than rifle ammo!
A lot of the unexplode ordnance we found looked as if it had been placed in a spot to be easilly retrieved from years ago, but had simply been forgotten about, either that, or nobody (EOD?) bothers to collect it. (I had the same experience while visiting Mametz wood on the Somme, along one edge were dozens of unexploded shells, possibly even CW shells, that just seemed to have been dumped there for posterity).
We stayed well clear of ordnance, dugouts and thick undergrowth, that's why we still manage to do these tours after more than 15 years!
greetz,
Menno.
Der_Feldgraue
Well-Known Member
Der_Feldgraue
Well-Known Member
cdngunplumber
Well-Known Member
I just discovered this thread...very very interesting for sure. I'll keep coming back to look in.
Grenademan2005
Well-Known Member
Hi:
A top thread here, very well done Der Feldgraue, keep this awesome pictures coming, please.
A top thread here, very well done Der Feldgraue, keep this awesome pictures coming, please.