Oak Transit case

[things_green]

cheers Chris, so possibly not a military transit case at all.

I guess that could/would explain it being named to one person.....one mad scientists' experimental flubber enhancing machine.

Brent

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by things_green

cheers Chris, so possibly not a military transit case at all.

I guess that could/would explain it being named to one person.....one mad scientists' experimental flubber enhancing machine.

Brent

Er, Royal Laboratories was pretty much the government armament R&D and (early on) manufacturing plant.

I've fired a lot of .455 Webley ammunition with R/|\L headstamps over the years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Arsenal

Your case could well have housed some test equipment manufactured and used there.

Chris.

[things_green]

excellent, back on track thankyou.

[rob love]

I see the letters RCD beneath the R/l\L. That was the marking for Royal Carriage Department, who produced the limbers and artillery pieces. I see lots of markings and stampings......all or many may have significance.

[things_green]

that's great Rob, yes some of it appears to be overstamped so difficult to discern.

I know of some chaps here in NZ who are heavily into horse drawn Artillery so i'll contact them to see if its of interest to them.

[things_green]

an update for any interested parties.
I received this reply from the Royal Artillery Museum today.
Fascinating insights.

"The box is an oak ammunition box dated 1891. It was manufactured in the Royal Laboratory, one of the departments of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich in south east London. An ammunition laboratory (ie. Workshop) was established within the Warren, the original site of the Arsenal, in 1695. It was originally controlled by the Board of Ordnance, hence the broad arrow mark of the Board of Ordnance forming part of the impressed ‘RL’ stamp on the edge of the lid and on the box clasp. The Royal Arsenal came under the control of the War Office in 1855.

The Royal Laboratory manufactured all natures of ammunition, including shell, shot, shrapnel, bullets, fuzes and percussion caps both for the Royal Navy and the Royal Artillery which used common types of guns at this stage. The box could therefore have been used by either Service. Without the dimensions, it is difficult to identify which type of ammunition it contained.

The box would originally have had a tin-plate liner with lid. The recesses on the upper edges of the box sides were for the lip of the tin liner and the circular recess on the underside of the box lid was for the lifting handle of the liner. The clasp and hinges should be of bronze (to prevent the possibility of sparks). The rope handles are not original and would have been of woven copper wire with leather sewn grips (again, to prevent sparks)."

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by things_green

..."The box would originally have had a tin-plate liner with lid. The recesses on the upper edges of the box sides were for the lip of the tin liner and the circular recess on the underside of the box lid was for the lifting handle of the liner."

Of course it is! Now that's been pointed out I remember having a WW2 wooden ammunition box with exactly that kind of liner. (The lip of the box was a 'U' channel and the edges of the lid were rolled over to fit into that so that when the box was filled, the channel was filled with a putty-like sealant and the lid pressed into that to make it airtight and waterproof. The lifting handle was fixed to the lid by a soldered on strip of tinplate like a rather flat pipe saddle clip.)

Chris.