Ammunition Crates - End of Hostilities period

[Jim Lawrie]

Hi, new here.

I was wondering if the knowledgeable people here could direct me to the best sources to find information on ammunition crates at the end of the war, it doesn't matter what belligerent (or even non-belligerents) it is.

Specifically I'm looking for the weights of the crate in shipping form and amount of ammunition contained therein. Extra details as to whether the crates are in bandolier form and so or if the crate contained ancillary gear is a bonus for me.

Thanks in advance for any effort spent.

[Chasemuseum]

This is an absolutely enormous subject. Ammunition boxes were a standardised product for all belligerents. For major ammunition products such as small arms ammunition or light field artillery QF ammunition, the volumes of ammunition used during the war saw packaging evolve into multiple iterations of design. Initially there was the intention for all ammo boxes to be returned to the manufacturers as salvage for re-use. As the war developed this was rapidly identified as impractical and a variety of single use one-way ammunition boxes were introduced. Other economies included wooden boxes going from painted to unpainted and/or dressed timber to rough sawn, metal hinges for lids to binding wires only.

 

Many heavy shells were never provided with ammunition boxes, the shells being provided with wood dunnage secured to wires with staples and wrapped around the driving bands to protect these and a lifting ring screwed into the fuze socket as a shipping plug.

 

In the case of Germany, as much of the artillery ammunition could be shipped by rail directly from the final factory to the ammunition depot immediately behind the front lines the provision of ammunition boxes was unnecessary and the ammunition was only ever transported in wicker baskets. The same ammunition sent to Turkey needed to be packaged in wooden crates to protect it during sea transport. I would presume that prior to the war that Germany had stored the same artillery ammunition in warehouses in either steel or wooden ammunition boxes.

 

In many ways this has been a poorly documented and poorly recorded subject. At the time the contract specifications for the manufacture of ammunition boxes and packaging would have been very detailed. Unfortunately comparatively little of this information has been preserved and only a relatively miniscule sample of containers have survived.

 

Good data has been researched and is circulated for a very small number of ammunition types for a small number of belligerents. eg for British small arms ammunition, 18pr QF shells, 3-inch stokes mortar and the mills series of hand grenade. Groups like the British Ordnance Collectors Network, are your best starting point for this data.

Cheers

[Jim Lawrie]

Thank you very much and as I survey the subject I can see it is really, really big. Probably a bit too big but I'm committed now (or maybe 'should be committed' for undertaking this)

I'm currently going through "Treatise On Ammunition, 10th Edition, War Office 1915" Eastbourne 1915 for basic statistics as well as "America's Munitions 1917-1918, report of Benedict Growell. Assistant Secretary of War, Director of Munitions." Washington 1919.

I was just wondering if there's any other munitions handbooks anyone is aware of that sets out weights and rounds that anyone might suggest, not actual lists they have compiled themselves. I also understand that as you say many non-standard packages were used as well as the utility crates such as the Imperial German Patronenkasten 88.

Anyway, back to the reading!