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    #1

    Another Civil War casualty

    In the morning paper today was a story all too familiar. A civil war buff who collects cannon balls was working on a 9 inch 75 lb naval cannon ball in his driveway when it exploded killing him. A piece of shrapnel landed through a porch door a quarter mile away. A very high explosive shell with a complicated fuze. They say he knew what he was doing!! Guys name was Dan White from
    Virginia. 53 yrs old with a wife and son.
    geopop
    Tags: None
    #2
    Wow... another reason not to mess around with old explosives...
    I find allot of wwii explosive crap but always re-bury it right away!
    RIP
    I'm collecting anything related to the towns Castricum and Bakkum during WWII.
    Also soldbucher from 116pzdiv. And 1944-1945 eastfront pockets, kampfgruppe and Oder front.
    My website: Gotrick.nl

    Comment

      #3
      Shell

      Rick:
      Several years ago a French farmer and his son uncovered a metal canister while plowing a field. Instead of burying it, the father tryed to pry it open and it turned out to be phosgene gas from WW 1, killed both the father and son.
      I do not blame you for being so carefull with this stuff, there must be thousands of buried ordnance around your area and all over Europe!
      Also in Germany, a bull dozer and it's driver were blown up by an unexploded 500 lb U.S. bomb just recently.
      geopop

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        #4
        I read about it this morning on line for the first time. I found it odd as according to the article it happened back in Febuary.

        Chet
        Zinc stinks!

        Comment

          #5
          One of my biggest colecting interests is Civil War artillery projectiles and I'm well aware of the dangers they can pose still today. It seems that every few years some sort of story about the danger of CW projectiles makes the news. One of the more interesting ones that I remember was when a Confederate torpedo (much different from the torpedoes of the 20th century) was discovered. The bomb squad was originally to blow it up in a controlled situation, but some history minded individuals managed to prevent the destruction of this rare piece. I've had a couple CW projectiles in my collection that required clearing out the inside. On one large projectile it turned out that the fuse hole was just rusted over a couple inches into it, but there was another that was definitely filled with something dark that I never identified. Cleaning them out was not the most relaxing work.

          Comment

            #6
            Originally posted by Chet Sowersby View Post
            I read about it this morning on line for the first time. I found it odd as according to the article it happened back in Febuary.

            Chet
            It's old news that made the rounds on the internet back in Feb. The news papers are a little late but to most people it's new news.

            Wilhelm

            Comment

              #7
              This is another story that should be a lesson for weekend digger on WWI and WWII battlefields. I tell everybody how dangerous it is and most do not listen. I worked with grenades, explosives, artillery shells, etc. for years in the Army, they are never safe, especailly when they have been sitting in the ground corroding etc. Fuzes are especiially dangerous and higly unstable. All of it is bad news.

              I suspect the delay in reporting the story was a Police or FBI investigation. Since 9/11 all things like this involving explosives in the US are taken very seriously etc. Internet gets stuff out right away before it can be stopped. This may be what happened.

              Comment

                #8
                another casualty

                Another casualty happened a couple of years ago in Dalton,Georgia.
                A well-known "shell expert" was slowly drilling a 12 pounder shell and it exploded;taking off several fingers of the driller and a huge chunk hitting him in the skull.
                Being extremely close to the exploding ordinance is the ONLY reason he survived...
                Complications followed and he now is permanently hospitalized.
                Treat explosives with respect- no matter how old they are...

                Comment

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Rick Admiraal View Post
                  Wow... another reason not to mess around with old explosives...
                  I find allot of wwii explosive crap but always re-bury it right away!
                  RIP
                  Hi Rick, I am curious, I always hear from Europe when people are digging and find shells etc. that they rebury them. Is there not a program to call a bomb disposal unit for these finds rather than put it back in the ground. The possibility for someone else to find the shell who may not be as smart as you who leaves it alone, they do the less smart thing and take it for a collection with fatal consequences.
                  Regards,
                  Bill

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Tellermine dug up

                    I was on Utube, and found a video clip of what I believe was a Russian digging in the forest. He had a metal detector and shovel and would uncover helmets, and other small items. What was incredible was when he pulled up a tellermine from the muck, rinsed it off, then tossed it aside!!!

                    When uncovering what you think may be a helmet, and up pops a mine, I think I would have to change my shorts.

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                      #11
                      When I was about 10 years old we lived on a military base in Picton Ontario. There was the PMQ's where we lived and we attended a military run run school. Usually once or twice a year the Ordenance unit would come to the school and give talks about what to do if we found any ammunition, grenades, bazooka rounds etc. The explained the dangers of these things to us. The then showed us pictures of the damage they could do. One especially sticks out in my memory of a basement in a house where a man and his son were killed trying to take apart a bazooka round. Has stuck with me through out my life and I would never touch let alone pick up any rounds, bombs etc. There is an old saying "if you dance with the devil you will have to pay the piper"

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Bill Gaynor View Post
                        Hi Rick, I am curious, I always hear from Europe when people are digging and find shells etc. that they rebury them. Is there not a program to call a bomb disposal unit for these finds rather than put it back in the ground. The possibility for someone else to find the shell who may not be as smart as you who leaves it alone, they do the less smart thing and take it for a collection with fatal consequences.
                        Regards,
                        Bill
                        Main reason i think is because on most places you are not allowed to dig.
                        Not because its former battle terrain, but because its protected nature.
                        Here you can't even walk in the forrest on most places, you must stay on the path's.

                        And it takes to much time ofcourse, its been there for 60 years.. it can stay there easly for another 60.. then its probaly almost gone anyway.

                        I always fill up the holes again and don't make a mess of the terrain.
                        I wish everyone did that.
                        I'm collecting anything related to the towns Castricum and Bakkum during WWII.
                        Also soldbucher from 116pzdiv. And 1944-1945 eastfront pockets, kampfgruppe and Oder front.
                        My website: Gotrick.nl

                        Comment

                          #13
                          I thought the cannon ball had to have fire from the powder blast or you have to light it with a match to make it blow?

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Old gunpowder is very unstable and can still go off if not treated with utmost respect.

                            Comment

                              #15
                              blackpowder is highly unstable, and the type used in the the mid 1800's could become unstable virtually overnite..

                              That cannonball, mine, etc..has been dangerous almost since the day they were fired..

                              Comment

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