Hi all,
Bit of a long shot with this one, but I'm curious to know others opinions on this piece.
I took a trip to the Ypres salient to visit the old battlefield sites in November 2017, and whilst visiting Wytschaete Military cemetary (resting place of one of our relatives) discovered this piece of steel plate which was found on the fringes of Wytschaete village, beside the Kemmel-Wytschaete road. This road had been dug up to be resurfaced and had a continuous trench dug along one side to install a new drainage system.
The digging of the trench revealed this plate, along with rolls of German and British barbed wire, Pickets, timber shoring and lengths of narrow gauge railway and a belt buckle.
After breaking the ice with the construction manager with a crate of beers, I was allowed to pile the lot into the car (or at least most of it, space permitting).
Post cleaning, I'm trying to figure out what this plate might have been part of, and whether the hole is a shell strike or not. I'm of the opinion it is, but what do you think?
The plate has 2 straight edges, one at a 45 degree angle with what looks like 2 machined holes, possibly countersunk. (see 1st image..The top edge is the machined edge, the 45 deg edge is to the right where the metal is crumpled. All other holes are damage related.
The plate is 6mm thick but reduces to around 3-4mm in places.
I'd appreciate any ideas on this, I'm sure it could tell a few stories...
Many thanks in advance!





Bit of a long shot with this one, but I'm curious to know others opinions on this piece.
I took a trip to the Ypres salient to visit the old battlefield sites in November 2017, and whilst visiting Wytschaete Military cemetary (resting place of one of our relatives) discovered this piece of steel plate which was found on the fringes of Wytschaete village, beside the Kemmel-Wytschaete road. This road had been dug up to be resurfaced and had a continuous trench dug along one side to install a new drainage system.
The digging of the trench revealed this plate, along with rolls of German and British barbed wire, Pickets, timber shoring and lengths of narrow gauge railway and a belt buckle.
After breaking the ice with the construction manager with a crate of beers, I was allowed to pile the lot into the car (or at least most of it, space permitting).
Post cleaning, I'm trying to figure out what this plate might have been part of, and whether the hole is a shell strike or not. I'm of the opinion it is, but what do you think?
The plate has 2 straight edges, one at a 45 degree angle with what looks like 2 machined holes, possibly countersunk. (see 1st image..The top edge is the machined edge, the 45 deg edge is to the right where the metal is crumpled. All other holes are damage related.
The plate is 6mm thick but reduces to around 3-4mm in places.
I'd appreciate any ideas on this, I'm sure it could tell a few stories...
Many thanks in advance!




