Verdun Finds

[Horst]

A number of years ago a few fellow collectors and I spent a long weekend walking through the Verdun battlefield - heres a few of the items I discovered.
The pictures reflects a metal boot heel,couple rifle rounds,empty clip,button,potato masher end,buckle,piece of bobwire and a most interesting object a small metal spear. The metal spears were thrown out of WWI airplanes by the handfull as they flew over enemy trenches, hoping to strike an enemy.

Horst

[sitges1990]

Hi Horst, got some great stuff there. 98 stripper clip looks like. I had never heard the story about airplanes throwing out those metal spikes. It would not be pleasant getting impaled by one of those. The two live rounds are strange. What caliber are they, is there writing on them? Must be French.

Jay

[Horst]

Jay - heres a picture of the ammo info - Yes, those sharpe things were thrown by both sides, played hell on the leather pickelhaube

Horst

[Reg]

Hi Horst

The metal darts are called "flechettes", they generated quite a speed with the weight on them by the time they hit the ground (or some unfortunate squaddie in the wrong place at the wrong time) A modern version is still used in Longbow Apache ordnance, although fired horizontally not dropped vertically.

Nice French rifle rounds too...even if they do still look live!

Reg

[Horst]

Reg - Good information, Thanks

Horst