What happened to spent casings?

[CollectRussia]

I noticed a lot of German 2cm guns have spent case collection baskets. Were these just tipped overboard or were the empties recycled for the brass when possible? Curious

Dave

[behblc]

As far as I can recall the casings were to be brought home to be recycled , kgm crews were expected to do this.

[Jean-Loup]

Brass is quite expensive, particularly in war time, and wasnt wasted when the situation permitted (although I have seen trenches with the floor covered a foot thick with spent casings...).
I knowsome diggers, even here in France, who keep all the casings they find to sell them as scrap metal.

JL