Meaning of 200rds PNC

[Weasel]

I have been sent the following piece of text and i have no idea if its even ordnance related, its in an artical relating to artillery, but it means nothing to me, can anyone offer anything.....?

"200 rounds of PNC was sent over into HD82, HD84 and NB23 by 163 and 179 SB's during the night"

Best regards Weasel

 

[glevum]

Was the article about France in 1916-1918?

163 and 179 Siege Batteries Royal Garrison Artillery went to France at the end of 1916.

 

[Weasel]

Hi Glevum,
The text is from the 1st World War Diary of the 81st Brigade RA.
Best regards Weasel

 

[glevum]

I don't have any information on the 81st Brigade.

What was the date in the war diary?

 

[Weasel]

The entry was written about the battle of Arras so that would put it 1916, as far as i know. Do you think PNC is a missprint ? As i can find no reference to any ordnance in relation to it.
Best regards Weasel

 

[Big Dave]

NC was the code for gas shells filled with 20% Stannic chloride , the P could be Phosgene shells, some sort of mixed barrage ?

 

[Weasel]

Thank you Big Dave, thats really helpfull,
Best regards Weasel.

 

[Weasel]

Ok so there is also a reference to another type of gas shell....any idea with this one, maybe one of our French EOD members can shed some light on this unless we have someone from Porton Down on here to look it up
" 25/01/18 179 SB engaged ID35 & I17a75.00 (trench map refs) with half P.S.K. & P.N.C. "

Best regards Weasel

 

[tankbarrell]

SK was Ethyl Iodoacetate.

 

[peteblight]

For information, under the British chemical agent codes during WWI and II, the following applied;

NC - 20% Stannic chloride, 80% Chloropicrin
SK - Ethyl iodoacetate
CG - Phosgene

the only P codes were

PS - Chloropicrin
PD - Phenyldichloroarsine
PG - a PS/CG mixture

 

[Weasel]

Thank you Tankbarrell and Peteblight,
I wonder what the P prefix is infront of both PNC & PSK then ? I thought initialy it was a typo but it appears a number of times in the dairy.
Best regards Weasel

 

[peteblight]

Projectile??????

 

[Weasel]

There is a good chance your right, i had not considered that as silly as it seems, as elsewhere in the diary he simply refers to HE shells used so i was not expecting to see another type of round refered to as Projectile SK or NC, i think you may well be right. Thank you very much for your input.
Best regards Weasel

 

[tankbarrell]

I wonder if it referred to gunpowder as the bursting charge? P was the code for cartridges filled with gunpowder.

 

[Bonnex]

Projectile??????

It could refer to the Ordnance say, being a siege battery, 9.2-inch How or 6-inch etc.

An ammunition code system seems to have been established in WW1 for reporting and supply purposes but, apart from the odd example of its use, I have not managed to find any documentation on it until 1936:

The Ammunition Handbook for the RASC shows the code as it was in 1936/7.
For example for 18-pr the first letter is F and the second letter shows the nature,
FA is Shrapnel full charge
FL is Shrapnel reduced charge
FE is AP
FC is smoke
FJ is streamline
FB is HE with DA fuze
FH is HE with DA fuze streamline
FM is HE with DA Fuze reduced charge

 

[Snufkin]

Projectile?

This is also perhaps supported in that the natures of shell supplied to the Siege Batteries were originally intended to be manufactured in the National Projectile Factories (as opposed to the National Shell Factories). So the NPFs were built to supply 60-pdr HE and shrapnel, 6-in HE and 9.2-in HE, and later 8-in and 12-in (and indeed 15-in)*. Therefore somewhat over-simplistically the Garrison Artillery fired projectiles and the Field Artillery fired shells.


*Official History of the Ministry of Munitions, Volume VIII Control of Industrial Capacity and Equipment, Part II The National Factories.

 

[flak18]

I have seen the word "Persistent" used extensively with regard to Gas.