18 pounder shrapnel shell desk light

[Mike Cecil]

Interesting, and a common battlefield relic, as the case of the 18pdr Shrap essentially stays intact upon initiation of the bursting charge. I see yours has no rifling marks on the driving band, so a new/unused production item, rather than a b'field relic (like the one I used to have: now at the AWM).

I was amused by the CWM caption on their sectioned example: whoever wrote it fell into the trap if describing the shell as exploding in the air and shattering, which is simply not the case: it was a far more sophisticated round than that!

Nice curio.

Mike C