Two questions about 36M detonator tins please. What does T P stand for? Regarding the 12 det tin that went in the wooden crate, were rectangular and round produced at the same time or was one early or late? I mean during WW2.
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36M Det Tin Questions
- Thread starter Houndsworth
- Start date
TP - Temporary Packing. Excessive moisture content of the wooden blocks used in the cylinders No.124 had been found to damage the igniter sets. From August 1943 a temporary alternative was for the manufacturers to wrap the individual igniters in greaseproof paper or cellophane and ship in round or rectangular cylinders - with no wooden block - marked "TP". Thereafter the permanent solution was for igniters to be packed in round cylinders with two perforated metal diaphragms.
It was all something of a repeat of the WWI experience - the wooden blocks swelling and fouling the igniters, and a chap called Frederick Vickery having the idea of using perforated millboard diaphragms to save timber, weight and money.
It was all something of a repeat of the WWI experience - the wooden blocks swelling and fouling the igniters, and a chap called Frederick Vickery having the idea of using perforated millboard diaphragms to save timber, weight and money.
Ah, so early in the war the tin was a cylinder with wooden block, then the block was removed and "TP" was put on the lid and they could be a cylinder or rectangle, then round with perforated tin. Right?
Forgot to ask if the tins were always red or not.
That's right.
I should add that of the limited number I have seen, physically or in photographs, all the rectangular tins have had labels indicating Canadian manufacture and filling. Others might have seen ones of British, Australian, NZ or SA origin, but I haven't.
Cylinders and tins for service igniters were painted red.
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Assume that 12 det tin that went in the wooden crate was replaced with 3 det tins (it follows that there would be 4 per crate)? If not, what were 3 det tins issued for? I have some round 3 det tins with earliest date I've seen stamped on base being 1945; I also have an Indian rectangular tin - assume for 3 dets but from memory it doesn't have insert so can't be sure.
Three grenades, plus one tin No.530 for three igniter sets, were contained in a waterproof board tube No.267. Four such loaded tubes were held in a G70 steel box, sometimes referred to as the "jungle pack"* - a late war development for Pacific and Indian Ocean theatres.
* "Jungle packs" were developed for much more than just grenades - 2" and 3" mortar bombs, No.119 fuzes, 25-pr cartridges and shell, 3.7" how. cartridges and shell, etc; anything that could be degraded with prolonged exposure to hot and humid climate
* "Jungle packs" were developed for much more than just grenades - 2" and 3" mortar bombs, No.119 fuzes, 25-pr cartridges and shell, 3.7" how. cartridges and shell, etc; anything that could be degraded with prolonged exposure to hot and humid climate
Thanks for info 
It seems like this arrangement then persisted post-war for packaging ordnance generally, not just for the tropics?
It seems like this arrangement then persisted post-war for packaging ordnance generally, not just for the tropics?
Thanks for info
A number of these tubes and the contents were found by UK and US troops in Iraq, so Middle East exports as well as tropics.