Trench art shell

[RussM]

Japanese shell which has been turned into a piece of 'trench art'.

Difficult to read the details as it has been polished heavily over the years.

But it reads as follows:

Top scroll: Guadalcanal

Anchor: 1943 USN Eve, W B Bustard CMM

Bottom scroll: Solomon Islands

If someone can please help with a translation of the base, and what type of shell it is, it would be most appreciated!

The width of the base is 90mm.

Regards

Russ

[ghp95134]

Hey Russ,

Have you seen this pdf for Japanese Ordnance Markings? 75 pages of good info.

Primer:
昭十七2
Shō[wa] jū-nana 2
Feb 1942
☆ Tokyo Arsenal Star
* = unk. kanji ... looks like it has the 火 "fire" radical, but I cannot read it even when enlarged.

Shell base:
F八10
F8 10

Crossed Cannon = Ōsaka Arsenal


--Guy

[RussM]

Guy, many thanks for the translation and also the PDF!

I haven’t seen that before so that will be very useful. I will take another look at the character that you can’t read tonight and will see if I can find it in the document.

Regards

Russ

[RussM]

This is about the best pic I can take of the character - I've had a good look but I can't find it in the pdf (but that's not at all surprising... !)

Regards

Russ

[ghp95134]

This is about the best pic I can take of the character - I've had a good look but I can't find it in the pdf (but that's not at all surprising... !)

Aha! It matches the star.

東
Tō/higashi East. Short hand for
東京
Tōkyō

--Guy

[RussM]

Thank you Guy - you’re a treasure!

Regards

Russ

[ghp95134]

I'm always happy to help when I can.

--Guy