Aust. WW1 Shell Case

[Mervyn Mitton]

I think you will find this an interesting item. The shell case is for an 18 pounder artillery field gun - the main

artillery weapon of the time and very widely used. Unusually, it has an Australian slouch hat Rising Sun

badge fixed to the brass. This immediately suggests an Australian memento.

Not the Dardenelles - the Anzacs had been withdrawn at the end of 1915. However, they continued in

the Mesopotamia campaigns into 1918. Many Aust. units also served in France.

The origins of this shell are therefore, rather abstract. I think we can safely say that it has an Australian

connection - although we will probably never know if it was for a serving survivor - or, perhaps taken

home by a visiting relative in the years following the War. I think we must hope it was the former.

The details on the base are clearly shown - as is the date 1916. The wear to the brass on the back could

indicate that it lay in a trench - or, on a beach for a number of years.

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[Mervyn Mitton]

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[Mervyn Mitton]

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[Mervyn Mitton]

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[Mervyn Mitton]

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