My latest German shell. Great cammo.

My latest find! This is a wonderful find with Normandy cammo patern on an M-40 German shell. It has some battlefield (or frost) damage , but still has most of the cammo on it. I did not discover a decal and I haven't looked for digits inside yet. I have just protected it with some kaki polish to avoid further rusting.

 

Wonderful item, Skip!

It's certainly had a few coats of paint applied to it during it's life, the red base coat primer is also showing through.

It's a little difficult to see in your photos but is that an M35 shell rather than an M40?

I can't give you a 'like' as I've apparently used all my quota...even though I've not used the button today???

 

Thanks John , M-35 seems right (the rivets are a bit rusted so I thought they were part of it, but they seem separate)

 

So that means the shell has probably seen a lot more action than you first thought!

 

I was obviously painted in sand cammo and the Normandy colours (green and rust) were added later. There are two green colours too (the kaki over the rust is polish )

 

What a beautiful example. Much more meaningful than one showing little use. Imagine where it has been !!

 

The Rheims area (France) is here it was apparently found. My guess it that it came to France in 1940 and that it was pushed back east in 1944, if only it could speak.

John do you think I should look at the usual spots and remove somE paint to see if there are maker markings?


One more picture:

 

That's a tough one to answer. I'm certain it will have a manufacturers stamp as well as a production run number, but do you remove the paint just to satisfy your curiosity?

Although not as historical as you helmet, I have an M35 that was repainted and reissued to the Norwegian army after the war and I often wonder if the decals are still present under the repaint?

I've been tempted to rub of the paint quite a few times but have so far resisted the urge to do so!

 

Well, 2013 is going to be a good year for me! Another nice find today at a local flea market.

This is a m-40 model . It's in great condition and even has some of the decal left. It also has a surviving rivet and and markings of the band can still be found inside. It has maker and size figures too .

 

'I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous'...Damn! I'm thinking aloud again!

I'm not even going to ask what you paid for it!!! :green:

BTW Lovely shell, Skip. The production run number is clear but I can't quite make out the manufacturers stamp?

 

SEL or SEL64 ?

 

Wow...history in your hands...when you say you found it...what does that mean?

 

My guess is the stamp is actually SE64 which was the mark of Sachsische Emaillerwerk (translates to something like Saxon Enamelling Factory) and were located in the town of Lauter, Germany.

The company later used Hkp to mark their helmets.

 

SE64 is correct John, I am currently trying to see if I can save some more of the decals (the first one is covered with some rust, so there could be more under it , as to the national colours on the other side, it was possibly covered according to the 1943 regulations, but I suspect there is something under the paint. It's quite tempting, but I don't want to ruin it. I love the colour