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Uk. Ww2. Saa.

P

poltewerke

HONOURED MEMBER RIP
Hi guys, Here are just a few more images l hope you will like. Cheers, RonB.
 

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Ron,

I can understand the silhouettes of the tank, target and cylinder. But,what is the meaning of the chicken, 'barred gate' and star?

Thanks

TimG
 
Apparetly these were so that native labourers who could not read english could be instructed to unload crates with the same picture on into the same stacks. All sorts of odd pictograms unrelated to ammunition were used.

I like the 15mm Besa label, finding 5 10 round belts of those cartridges today would be problematic!
 
TimG said:
Ron,

I can understand the silhouettes of the tank, target and cylinder. But,what is the meaning of the chicken, 'barred gate' and star?

Thanks

TimG
Click to expand...
Hi Tim, You will find that 'Falcon' has given you the answer. These pictorial images were instituted about 1928. l'm not sure when they ceased use. Must have been shortly after the 2nd. world war but know not of the exact date. The chicken as you call it was officially known as the ''Cockerel'' . Cheers mate, Ron.
 
Some of these symbols were used well before 1928. I have seen .303 packets from the late 1890s with the "barred gate" symbol, and I have also seen an official list somewhere, which gives the symbols used with calibres such as .65" Gatling, .402" MG, .450 Martini, etc.
 
Ron,

I was looking a bit deeper. The target on the .22 one takes to mean it was target rifles, the chamber on the .455 shows it for revolver and the tank on the 15mm shows it is for AFVs. One would thus assume that the Cockerel etc., have some symbolic relationship to the intended weapon, as opposed to a random shape.

I wonder if the 'star' on the .303" incendiary is actually a propeller, thus signfying its use in aircraft.

Regards

Tim
 
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Symbols

Hi Tim

The full list of symbols is in Pamphlet 11. I published it in an ECRA journal a few years ago, but if you do not hav eit I can get a copy to you.

Cheers
TonyE
 
ydnum303 said:
Some of these symbols were used well before 1928. I have seen .303 packets from the late 1890s with the "barred gate" symbol, and I have also seen an official list somewhere, which gives the symbols used with calibres such as .65" Gatling, .402" MG, .450 Martini, etc.
Click to expand...

It is in one of the early Treatise on Ammunition, the 1892 one I think.

Regards
TonyE
 
ydnum303 said:
Some of these symbols were used well before 1928. I have seen .303 packets from the late 1890s with the "barred gate" symbol, and I have also seen an official list somewhere, which gives the symbols used with calibres such as .65" Gatling, .402" MG, .450 Martini, etc.
Click to expand...
Yes, but they did not have 15mm. BESA cals or many many of the other cals. and their operational loadings! So the note l have from Jim Stonley which states year, 1928 l'm assuming does raise the possibility of some kind of revision. Sorry, l should have been more precise. Cheers, Ron.
 
Pictorial symbols for SAA.

TimG said:
Ron,

I can understand the silhouettes of the tank, target and cylinder. But,what is the meaning of the chicken, 'barred gate' and star?

Thanks

TimG
Click to expand...
Tim, you are reading too much into this. Example; 20mm.HS-Cannon its loading: High Explosive/ lncendiary. Symbol is a ''Telephone", so tell me, what does that signify?. May l put foreword an explanation - they are all everyday things anyone will recognize. Cheers, RonB.
 
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Tony,

I would be most grateful for a copy.

Ron,

Yes, it would appear so. I was unaware of the 'phone symbol. It seems odd that some, though probably only a small fraction, have a logical connection.

Regards

TimG.
 
Pictorial symbols

Tim, a few more in 20mm., flat lron/anvil/aeoroplane/ tigers head/Lyre/ Maltese cross/beer mug/searchlight/trident/bollards and blowlamp. Regards, Ron.
 
Ron,

Many thanks, you've opened my eyes to a whole new area of markings.

Regards

Tim
 
I suppose these symbols also reduce the risk of confusion by someone who has been unloading boxes all morning and can't be bothered to read the labels anymore.
 
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