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!
Rare from Russia, but.. but...
- Thread starter jhonni \
- Start date
Out of more than 25 trips to various regions of China, I would be very skeptical of any supposed antiques - especially if purchased within 200km of any of the major cities/tourist areas. Virtually anything you can imagine is copied and sold, most often as original. I've seen people come back with fake coins, swords, stamps, antiques - there are some real masters that are turning things out. This is not to say that there isn't some real stuff over there, but you'd better be a very knowledgable individual on the partiular items before you buy them.
I'll add this much, there was a form of Chinese grenade(?) hand delivered bomb, etc. very similar to this, which was in common use in China - but during WWII. Still, I would have my doubts about this one.
You have to keep in mind that most China was at a low level of industry in the 1940s, and the Japanese took control of most of what was present. Chinese guerilla forces made weapons out of whatever they could find, and munitions of this type were made in hundreds of styles, to be placed against targets or sometimes rolled down hills at convoys and such during ambushes.
In different regions we would occasionally see them recovered with dumped chemical weapons, either buried or dumped in rivers and lakes. You can also see numerous varieties and explanations in a couple of the National Museums in Beijing (Beijing Military Museum and the Peoples Museum of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression). If I get a chance this weekend I will look for some photos.
You have to keep in mind that most China was at a low level of industry in the 1940s, and the Japanese took control of most of what was present. Chinese guerilla forces made weapons out of whatever they could find, and munitions of this type were made in hundreds of styles, to be placed against targets or sometimes rolled down hills at convoys and such during ambushes.
In different regions we would occasionally see them recovered with dumped chemical weapons, either buried or dumped in rivers and lakes. You can also see numerous varieties and explanations in a couple of the National Museums in Beijing (Beijing Military Museum and the Peoples Museum of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression). If I get a chance this weekend I will look for some photos.
Here's some of the pictures. I've got better museum pictures, but they are on another hard drive still in storage. First shot is of one of the basic types in the Resistance Museum, second is a "diorama" of some of the types of "bombs" being used during a convoy ambush, final is a shot of some segregated conventional munitions at a CW recovery site. Note the many different designs and sizes. As a resistance weapon these were made in makeshift factories at quite poor quality. Sizes observed are from small grenade size to the size of bowling balls.
Attachments
jhonni \
Well-Known Member
) very funny !!Two lugs it to fix a rope for a distant throw.
Remember antique clay hand grenades.
This is grenade, but fake or not i don't know.
Trenchwarfare
Well-Known Member
It is vaguely similar, to the Chinese mfg. Type 23 Japanese grenade. The two loops, would be for split rings, for boobie trap attachment use. As stated, the varieties, and styles of weapons from China are mind boggling. Usually the more common items are faked. This piece is not common