1916 British 18 Pounder Colouring?

[jimmy9fingers1]

Hi All,

 

I have a 1916 dated inert 18 pound shell + shell head and fuse.

 

Could anybody shed any light on the colouring of the shell as it looks a little unorthodox.

 

The shell head is hollow, I'm guessing these weren't filled with shrapnel as the fuse doesn't appear to have a timer.

 

Although I know very little about these things.

 

Thanks,

 

Jim

 

[MikB]

The colours are for HE, but I don't know if the paint's original - my guess would be not.

 

The fuze would presumably be impact and/or graze rather than timed, but there are plenty on here who'll know a lot more.

Edited 5 June , 2019 by MikB

[jimmy9fingers1]

Thanks MikB,

 

The paint is definitely not original, is HE an original paint scheme, please excuse my ignorance, I don't know what HE stands for, I will do some goolging,

 

Regards,

 

Jim   

[kmad]

HE=High explosive

[MKC]

The paint colours are for an HE shell filled with Amatol 80/20 (Ammonium Nitrate & TNT mix). Don't know about originality - the body seems to be quite rough, as if rusted and re-painted. The smooth driving band indicates an un-fired projectile (figures: not generally much left of a fired HE shell!).

 

The fuze appears to be/may be a 'Fuze, Percussion, No.101 with a Gaine, No.2'. 

 

Mike 

[jimmy9fingers1]

Thanks chaps for some great info, I'm usually into British firearms and bayonets, but this caught my eye, Yes only the shell casing has been fired, I suspect the rest came from a stockpile after the war or somebody took it back as a souvenir. And MKC thanks for the more in depth facts

 

Jim

   

 

 

[GraemeD]

Yes this is an 18 pounder HE cartridge with unfired shell. The brass bit at the bottom is the cartridge case, sometimes called a shell case, but never just shell. Because shell is the "shell head" or projectile. Projectile = shell. It's fitted with the correct period No. 101 Mk II percussion fuze and No. 2 gaine. The shell paint is not bad - pretty close to the correct Golden Yellow (much brighter than the WW2 Middle Buff), but the green is too pale. Here's a photo by Tomo.T of a couple of well painted WW1 era 18 pounder cartridges he did - shrapnel on the left and HE (this one painted for Trotyl filling). But I have no evidence that the nose caps on the No. 80 shrapnel fuze were ever painted red.

 

Graeme

 

 

Edited 19 June , 2019 by GraemeD

[303man]

From the ammunition book, 18 pdr colour schemes.

[GraemeD]

2 hours ago, 303man said:

From the ammunition book, 18 pdr colour schemes.

 

This plate is from the 1940 handbook and is not quite right for a WW1 era shell. In 1939 the shell colour was changed from Golden Yellow to Middle Buff. Also in WW1 the red filling indicator was a solid red band, not red crosses (that signify the shell is suitable for use in hot climates).  Tomo.T's photo above is pretty spot on for a Trotyl (TNT) filled shell of WW1 era.