mortar find

[cornishboy]

Just thought id show you this 2in mortar i found recently in my fathers attic.its stamped 11FD 2 1940 Z can this be read like a head stamp?He tells me it was used at home for holding the door open

[cornishboy]

Z = fill compound (in small arms Z usually denotes nitrocellulose). okay can anyone help with the manufacturing code,thats if iv copied it down correctly?

[zwerge]

Here`s some info on it.

[cornishboy]

Thanks zwerge, so its manufactured at Fry's Die Castings ltd, london. 2 denotes the die used.The Z is for the zinc based alloy its made from,that makes sense as it would be on the tail as these were common to all types and of course the date. sorted

[Feuerbach]

Looks like a 2" smoke mortar to me, looking at the base of it. If I'm not mistaken the HE 2" mortar had a different base, flat not with the boat tail like this one.

[m3bobby]

Rather than smoke, I think its a multi star Para Illum. The tinned body and red paint are consistent with that type.

inert 2 inch mortar bomb para illum. 1941 (original tinned variety) - SpecialistAuctions.com Rare, vintage and collectables online auctions