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Two-Inch Mortar Round to ID

peregrinvs

Well-Known Member
Hi,


Just scored this online and await delivery. (Not my pictures) I'm hoping it'll tidy up fairly well.


I assume it's some sort of illumination round, but is it possible to ID which type?


Thanks,
Mark2in mor 1.jpg2in mor 2.jpg2in mor 3.jpg
 
My guess is a Mk1 Star Shell. 4 vent holes can also be Mk2 which usually has a steel tail fin.
The end cap should have a raised symbol for ID but new caps may not be marked.(If unfilled).
Red has a raised cross. Green a raised triangle. Multi stars have two raised symbols. Illum has a raised P.

Length overall will tell if a single star or an illumination with parachute.
Stars should be 222mm long. Illum is 242mm long.
 
The first production runs of Bombs 2" Mortar Signal Single or Multi Star up until 1942, did not have the various symbols embossed on the caps. This also applied to the Illuminating bomb. All markings were stencilled on the body.

The only way to distinguish the early signal single/multi star bombs from illuminating bombs is by overall length, from the bottom of the primary cartridge cap to the top of the closing cap. Signal bombs were 9.0" and illuminating bombs 9.62".

Later production had the embossed closing caps for identification.
Later in WWII, a Bomb 2" Signal Success was introduced, which was the same length as the illuminating bomb, but had the cap marking. This was too late to have a plain cap and was short lived.
 
Thanks for the replies. I haven’t received it yet, but an attempt to scale it off the photos suggests it’s an illumination bomb.

Are there any good illustrations of what the pre-1942 markings would have been?
 
Received today and the fins are 1942 dated. The fins will unscrew from the body, but the front cap is seized in place through rust and the rear cap won’t unscrew. The casing is empty as I can hear crud rattling about inside. Silly question: does the end cap unscrew in the usual anti-clockwise direction?

I’ve also started taking off the yellow paint and there’s a trace of red paint on one of the fins. Does that indicate the colour of the flare?
 
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The fin date 1942 would have a red blob of paint on one side to denote the fins being made of mazak as opposed to the number one tail fin made of aluminium which was weaker and tended to split the tail upon firing. the red painted fin would be placed on the other side of the fin marked Z, date or fin number ie No 2. This tail could accept both types of cartridge the 47 or 55 grain cartridge although it had problems at extreme low temperatures. By the way the signal success used a No5 steel tail unit and fired a 73 grain cartridge or 55. As for removing a stuck cap i found that a square edged piece of hard wood slid along the body to the edge of the cap usual knocked it off quite well especially moving around the body worked well. As for the flare colour depending on the body length it could be red, green or white, or multi star in each colour or a mixture. Bodies were either phosphated, or bright tinned, black for late illum. Signal success fired at a greater height to show off the multitude of stars from a parachute.
The 4 holed vents would be a Mk1 model, the Mk2 would have two vents of the same size with the holes reduced down smaller later on, They had a lot of problems with the early 4 vent holes due to moisture ingress especially for jungle tropic use.
 
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Further progress: I’ve got the front cap off the body and have unscrewed the rear cap from the fins. It also looks like a lot of the phosphate finish is still there. I’ll post some pics when it’s finished.
 
I’ve measured it and it’s just under 9 inches long with both caps attached. Presumably it’s a signal bomb?
 
Post-clean up. The yellow paint was a pain to get off (there are still a few traces) but it seems to have helped protect the alloy parts and the cap. I was also pleased to find there’s still some of the phosphate finish left, although sadly no trace of the stencils.

The fins are marked ‘Z 15 FDLtd 1942 - 4’ and the bottom cap is marked ‘43’ over ‘WDC’.
 

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