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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Ypres 'Souvenir' shop Fuses.


ryandunny

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Hi all. I noticed one of the shops in Ypres has a box of fuse heads. Would these be Inert and safe to buy?

 

Surely they wouldn't be able to sell them if that wasn't the case??

 

Thanks

Ryan. 

 

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Impossible to vouch for their safety but they are sold in many establishments including the museum in Albert. I suspect if the place is reputable they are fine. Keep your receipt so Customs don't think you've been digging.

Dave

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Thanks Dave.. The shop in question is over the top tours near the menin gate so I presume that's reputable? 

 

And I'll have a look into that too jay. 

 

 

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Just because something is legal to sell does not mean it can legally be carried across national borders. Inert or not, a fuse is legally a component part of a firearm/weapon, whatever its condition.

 

Buyer beware.

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Dr John Pimlott, head of war studies at RMC Sandhurst, was killed by a "souvenir" he had brought back from the El Alamein battlefields in 1997. Don't put your life in the hands of a shopkeeper who may not have any real expertise in the subject. Munitions are designed to kill, and they still do, many years after the event.

 

TR

Edited by Terry_Reeves
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Presumably these are fuses that were fired and functioned and have spent most of the last century in the ground? If so, yes they are inert in any practical sense. Are they forensically inert? Maybe, maybe not. Would the UK Border Force be pleased to find them in your luggage? Probably not.

 

I bought a load of such fired fuses back from Ypres about 15 years ago and had some fun cleaning them up. (Mostly since given away as presents) I never had any worries about whether they were inert or not as they quite clearly were.

 

PS. There’s plenty of such things for sale within the UK.

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