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Casing found, 1943

Article about: Hi, I just found a casing in my woodland, your sticky on headstamps is really helpful thanks! The casing says: K2, 20mm, 1943 Is this exciting? Allied? Any ideas? There are pictures on our b

  1. #1
    Tracy
    ?

    Default Casing found, 1943

    Hi, I just found a casing in my woodland, your sticky on headstamps is really helpful thanks!
    The casing says: K2, 20mm, 1943

    Is this exciting? Allied? Any ideas?
    There are pictures on our blog, if links work
    Peplers In Rye: Metal detecting

    Thanks in anticipation of your knowledge!
    Tracy

  2. #2
    ?

    Default Re: Casing found, 1943

    Looks like a pretty standard British 20mm cannon shell.

    K2 indicates ICI Kynoch manufacture.
    ..

    Gary J.

  3. #3
    Tracy
    ?

    Default Re: Casing found, 1943

    Thanks Gary! I wonder why it is in my woodland??? ;-)

  4. #4
    ?

    Default Re: Casing found, 1943

    Probably dropped from an aircraft firing overhead ..

    Gary J.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Casing found, 1943

    Tracy

    Glad the sticky was of help !

    Polski is spot on. It's a British 20mm cannon shell casing. These type of 'bullets' had a large explosive tip which, when they struck an object, made a VERY large hole. Any plane hit by two or three of these things was usually enough to cause major damage. The punch mark on the centre of the base shows it has been fired and, as Polski said, it has most likely been fired by a plane flying overhead. However, you may have stumbled across an old firing range or even old barracks in your wood and the case has been dropped by an airman/soldier for some reason.

    These type of shell were not used by the Americans in their aircraft so it is almost certainly from an RAF plane.

    Nice find

    Steve T

  6. #6
    Tracy
    ?

    Default Re: Casing found, 1943

    Super exciting, thanks! I am charging my detector batteries and dying to go back to the wood

  7. #7

    Default Re: Casing found, 1943

    Tracy

    When you get to the woods look around to see if you can see the remains of any building foundations. There is virtually NOTHING in nature that makes a perfectly straight line so these may just appear as lines on the ground rather than raised/sunken patches. If you see something like this, chances are you're in an old WW2 camp !

    One other thing to note (and don't let this put you off.....you'll be fine if you go easy with the spade !). If you do find more, please be VERY careful. If you find a 'complete' 20mm cartridge (it will have a big rusty head on it, with or without a brass tip), please leave it WELL ALONE. These buggers have a tendency to be a little over sensitive after being in the ground for 65years and can still explode with enough force to remove fingers/hands.

    Good luck with your search ! (and be careful )

    Steve T

  8. #8
    Tracy
    ?

    Default Re: Casing found, 1943

    Thanks Steve, I will be careful. We coppiced that area last year, so I think we would have tripped over anything strange like structures, while we were working there. I will go over the site again though and spread out a bit from where I found the casing. Unfortunately it is right on the edge of the bit that belongs to us, and there is no way the neighbour will let me go onto his bit :-( Anyway, I shall keep looking and shall be careful. My dad once got in trouble when he found an unexploded bomb on the beach and he took it to the police station!
    Dafty!
    I also like your top tip. There is another section in the wood, where there is a strange indentation, I found a knife handle(plastic) so far, and the detector is still going crazy. Deep hole - I will spread out more!

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