Those things sat in the garage.....
Hi all
A short story for you, and another example of why you should always take all relics home with you UNTIL you positively ID them as crap.
You may recall the numerous digs the RRPG has carried out at the army dump we pinpointed a few years ago. The dump has yielded huge volumes of finds, from weapon parts to ammunition boxes, trigger gauges to inspection rounds, bayonets to gasmask parts. The range of finds has been remarkable and we are hoping to return to the site this year with a digger to really open it up.
I have a large box of stuff from this site that I just can't bring myself to throw away. The items I keep just look too interesting, or too much like someone should know what they are. So, there they sit, waiting for unsuspecting visitors to the house to be presented with the box, in the vain hope that something will be IDd and added to my War Room. Every now and again I bring the box down from its perch and rummage through the bits myself, picking pieces up whilst mumbling to myself 'This has GOT to be from a weapon of some sort.....' and 'I am sure I've seen this somewhere before.....'. All the objects in this box are imprinted on my mind, and the unexpected identification of the PIAT triggers remembered, (I found about 20 of these funny shaped 'triggers' at the dump and they sat in my 'To be IDd' box for a long while. Whilst walking around the Victory Show a few years back I stopped to admire the weapons of one of the re-enactment groups and suddenly spotted the PIAT, along with its trigger. After scaring the crap out of the re-enactor sat next to the PIAT, and when I finally stopped shouting and swearing, I explained he had just inadvertently IDd stuff from the army dump
Anyway, I have been working at some 'slow' places of late and have been taking selections of my WW2 book collection along with me to make the day pass quicker. Whilst reading one particularly excellent book on British weapons, I came across the following picture.
It shows a guncotton metal container, with the airtight lid in place which ensured the guncotton stayed wet, (when it dries out it becomes very unstable with even friction liable to initiate and explosion).
I went past the page and continued reading for a few minutes, then something sparked in my mind. I went back to the page.
I had seen that lid somewhere before.
I am sure I had.
Now.......where the hell had I seen it????
It bugged me all afternoon and it wasn't until half way home that I suddenly realised where I had seen it !!!
In the bloody TO BE IDd BOX !!!!
I dashed into the garage and scrabbled about, trying to yank the box from its normal resting place. As it came out from under the shelf, there, on top of everything, was this......
HA !!! BLOODY HA !!!!!
Another piece IDd and added to the War Room. Airtight lid from a guncotton container.
HA !
Laters
Steve T
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