Socyberty » shells

The Iron Harvest at Varlet Farm: Notes From a Lecture, Part Four

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:49:25 +0000

Note: as with all my other First World War articles on Triond, the author’s share of the per-view revenue this page generates is being donated to St Dunstan’s – a UK charity which assists blind and partly-sighted ex-Services men and women. So just by reading this far you have helped ensure a better life for these veterans. See my article here for details and for links to the other articles donating in this way.

This article is a continuation from part three. For the start of the series, click here.

Poison gas shells are a particular problem. Identifying them takes experience as the coloured paint markings used to differentiate the different types of shell have long since corroded away. Until the 1970s the Belgian authorities encased identified unexploded gas shells in concrete and dumped them at sea, but concerns that the concrete will eventually decay meant they changed to stockpiling them on land until a purpose-built chemical shell dismantling facility was created a few years ago. Here, suspected gas shells are x-rayed to determine if that is what they are and if they still contain liquefied poison gas. An automatic cutter opens them in a sealed room and the contents are pumped away before the empty case is retrieved by a man in full chemical warfare protective gear.

The contents are still dangerous even today. As shell cases rust, the contents can leak – known as ‘sweating.’ Even tiny drops of liquid mustard gas can cause massive blistering. During the War, just touching the clothing of a soldier exposed to mustard gas even hours after his evacuation was enough to bring about serious blistering. Touching the case of a sweating gas shell nowadays will still cause blisters inches across. I have heard of two collectors being gassed to death in their car when they took away a live gas shell that was leaking, though I do not have references to verify the word-of-mouth story.

As well as artillery shells, other sorts of munitions are also sometimes found, along with rifles (basically the barrel and mechanism – all wooden parts long since perished) and very occasionally a machinegun. One of the star finds on Varlet Farm was a German machinegun in slightly rusty but still easily recognisable state. Then there are non-weaponry metal finds such as the steel posts used to hold barbed wire in place.

Charlotte interspersed her talk with several horror stories of groups visiting her bed and breakfast accommodation who had brought with them a ‘find’ that was still live and which could have gone off being bounced in their bus. Really, better safe than sorry – don’t pick up anything which has the slightest possibility of being live. First World War munitions can kill, even after over 90 years in the ground.

It was a fascinating talk and I hope I’ve given enough of a flavour of it to whet your appetite without stealing her thunder if you ever do get a chance to hear her talk. And if you do plan to visit the battlefields of Ypres, Varlet Farm is the perfect base to stay at. The website is here, with info on the accommodation, prices, and contact details for booking. Personally, I think she should consider writing a book as her experiences living with the legacy of the First World War are fascinating and she is very good at getting them across.

The Iron Harvest at Varlet Farm: Notes From a Lecture, Part Three

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:38:20 +0000

This article is a continuation from part two. For the start of the series, click here.

There are plenty of rifle and machinegun bullets too, but those are too small to be noticed when ploughing and anyway are solid metal so do not need to be disposed of. In previous decades, a common sight around ploughing time in the old combat zone of western Belgium was a rusty shell leaning against the bottom of an electricity pole at the side of a field (or even placed in the holes that run through a common type of concrete electricity pole!). The Belgian Army bomb disposal vans would simply drive around continuously to spot and collect them, with no reporting being necessary. This practice has since been banned, partly for fear of electricity blackouts if there was an explosion and partly because it was far too tempting for collectors who would take the shells and risk an explosion due to careless handling (or worse still, when attempting to make the shell safe with workshop tools in their garages!).

Once unexploded shells have been collected by the Belgian Army, they are taken to a workshop where they are identified and then stacked in boxes to be taken out onto an Army range and exploded. This is by the simple means of burying them with a modern explosive charge on top then detonating the charge from a safe distance. During ploughing and harvest times several of these disposal detonations per day can be heard coming from the Belgian Army bomb disposal ranges. It is done in batches so that individual explosions can be kept relatively small (90 kilos of high explosive being the current maximum).

Continued in part four…

The Iron Harvest at Varlet Farm: Notes From a Lecture, Part Two

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:18:30 +0000

This article is a continuation from part one.

The majority of intact shells are ones that were fired but never exploded – most often due to the fuse not detonating in the quagmire that the Ypres Salient battlefields became. Sometimes there can be unfired rounds, most likely if the field was the site of an artillery battery. Very occasionally a large dump of unfired shells is found: a shell storage dump built underground to protect it from aerial observation and attack then forgotten as the fighting moved on. Luckily none of these large dumps have been found on Varlet Farm.

One can tell a fired from an unfired shell by whether the copper driving band is smooth or gouged. The driving band is a ring near the base of the shell that grips the twisted rifling grooves in the gun barrel to make the shell spin. The width and positioning of the driving band also helps tell apart otherwise quite similar British, German and French light artillery shells.

The most common shell type found on Varlet Farm is the British 18-pounder artillery shell, with some German 77mm shells too. The 18-pounder artillery piece (named for the weight of its shell) was the standard light field artillery gun equipping batteries near the front line and millions upon millions of 18-pounder shells were fired during the war so although most did go off there are still many unexploded ones left.

The 18-pounder shell is around 3½ inches in diameter by around 12 inches long. There were versions filled with shrapnel (small balls that would scatter out in front of the shell when a time fuse made it explode in the air, turning it into a sort of giant shotgun shell), high explosive (HE), smoke (for screening attacks) and gas.

Continued in part three…

The Iron Harvest at Varlet Farm: Notes From a Lecture

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:50:40 +0000

Varlet Farm is a working farm near the infamous village of Passchendaele in the Ypres Salient of Belgium, the half circle around the east of Ypres where fighting was almost continuous for the four years of the First World War. The farm also offers bed and breakfast accommodation for visitors, particularly those who are exploring the battlefields. The proprietor, Charlotte Descamps, has over the years developed a deep interest and expertise in the First World War munitions and debris which her husband (like all farmers in the area) digs up year after year when ploughing and harvesting the fields. This spring (2012) she is travelling to give talks on the subject to various groups, including the Worcester branch of the Western Front Association which she talked to on Friday 17th February. This article gives an overview of what she told us.

As well as many hundreds of tons of fragments, around 140 tons of intact, unexploded, and potentially dangerous First World War shells are still dug up every year on farms across Belgium, creating a heavy workload for the Belgian Army bomb disposal unit. Usually, shells are moved by the farmer to a small dump and then collected by the Army by van to be taken away to workshops to be identified and then disposed of safely. Very few are actually detonated in-situ – the number found means that cordoning off every single find would bring agriculture to a standstill – and although they can still go off they can usually be moved carefully. It is a risk those working the land on the old battlefields just have to take, though there are surprisingly few deaths or injuries among farmers: the majority of those killed are collectors who take greater risks by moving them further and keeping them longer. All in all there are two to three unexpected explosions across Belgium per year due to First World War munitions.

Continued in part two …

The Gory History of Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:49:38 +0000

If you were a nursery rhyme fanatic when you were a lot younger, you would certainly remember Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary and that happy tune you’d sing by yourself. When you hear the gory history behind it, all of those happy memories might come crashing down in an instant.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary is set in the reign of Mary also known as ‘Bloody Mary’, the daughter of King Henry the VIII from his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. After her father separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church as a result of when he wanted to marry his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Catholic Mary found herself get demoted from being a princess. Ultimately, when she did become queen, she wanted to rid England of any Protestants because her step sister or Anne Boleyn’s daughter Elizabeth was a Protestant and thus, her chances of getting to the throne would be ruined. She wanted an heir to the throne so she married a Spanish prince Phillip who was 11 years her junior. However, she couldn’t give birth after two false pregnancies; she died of what was believed to be ovarian cancer.

There are 3 interpretations of the nursery rhyme that goes:

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

One religious interpretation of the nursery rhyme describes the ‘silver bells’ as Catholic cathedral bells and the ‘cockle shells’ as being a sign of pilgrimage to Spain’s Catholic Shrine of St. James. The ‘pretty maids all in a row’ were the Catholic nuns.

The second interpretation was a series of rude references to Mary’s personal life. ‘How does your garden grow?’ was a direct reference to Mary’s womb and her inability to have children. The ‘cockle shells’ referred to her relationship with her husband Philip who became Philip II where he only married her for political reasons. The ‘pretty maids all in a row’ were interpreted to be the series of miscarriages and failed pregnancies that Mary went through, resulting in the unavailability of an heir to the throne. Pretty scathing, isn’t it?

The final interpretation is probably the goriest where the name ‘Bloody Mary’ really lives up to it. The ‘silver bells’ signify torture instruments like thumbscrews and ‘cockle shells’ were other torture instruments attached to the genitals! Not so sure now, are we? The ‘pretty maids’ refer to the earliest type of guillotine called the ‘maids’ or ‘Maiden’ which was used to behead victims who were the Protestants at the time.

So now you know the gory tale behind this lovable children’s nursery rhyme, you probably aren’t so sure now. These theories, like many others, have tried to be proven wrong but this rhyme is a good reminder of some of the darkest times in history and a very different approach to censoring the brutal details. Quite contrary indeed!

Killed for a Dollar

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:36:22 +0000

Sand Dollars are disc shaped creatures that live on sandy ocean bottoms, unfortunately for them this is usually next to a populated sandy beach. Even worse is the fact that some people like to take home dried Sand Dollars as souvenirs, or worse, they play Frisbee with the, tossing them into the surf.

When they are alive, they are dark grey-green, as they die they fade to white. What you see is then their skeleton, which is referred to as their “test”. It have an arrangement of five openings and a star pattern and this is considered one of the attractive features of this animal. They bury themselves just below the surface of the sand and in clear waters you can easily find them by digging where you see a circular shape on the sand beneath the water.

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I remember seeing a television program about a man in Eastern Canada, collecting hundreds of Sand Dollars, laying them on the beach to dry, and giving them away to tourists. He was quite popular, and the show was focused on what a neat, friendly, gesture the man was doing. The show seemed quite oblivious to the fact that the man was killing animals for no reason but to give them away to somebody who probably broke it in their suitcase anyhow. I did write the producers of the show, but never heard back. Killed for a Dollar. More to the point, he was killing Sand Dollars, for nothing at all.

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Other sea animals are killed this way, starfish being one of them, even sea horses. Anything that leaves a skeleton or shell worth keeping. Tiny ones are sold in mixed bags of shells to children or used to decorate a “beach theme” table or picture frame. Very few of these died of natural causes. Many were netted while a live and set in the sun to dry/die for our viewing pleasure.

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Below we have a Seashell vendor in Tanzania. Creatures are caught from the ocean and are killed so the shells can be sold to tourists. Not all of the creatures who lived within the shells are edible, as such they were only killed for one purpose, their shell. Killed for a dollar from a tourist who wants a cool souvenir.

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So the next time you are at the beach and see your children digging up Sand Dollars or asking you if they can dry out the starfish they found, remind them that those are living animals, no different than their cat or dog at home. Just because it doesn’t struggle, does not mean it doesn’t suffer.

The Goddess of Love: Aphrodite

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:33:05 +0000

The heavens roared as the power of fertilization was released upon the world; Zeus, the prodigal son, had severed father, Cronus’s vital organ. It fell through the heavens and splashed into the sea.

Aphrodite, the last progeny of Cronus (Saturn), arose from its foam mounted upon a chariot fashioned from shell and drawn by a team of dolphins. She rides across the cresting waves of bliss and blesses lovers with fulfilling sensuality.

Aphrodite is one of the most celebrated of the twelve Olympians. Her beauty is incomparable and she is the “mother of love, queen of laughter, mistress of the graces,” patroness of courtesans and the joy of the pleasures. (J.E. Zimmerman)

Shells are a symbol of Aphrodite and with their crescent opening and evocative shape, they resemble the female sexual flower, the Yoni. The Romans called the Cowry shell, Matriculus, little matrix or womb. It was also known as porcella meaning “vulva” and hence our word porcelain arises. The Greek word kteis also meant vulva, shell and comb. (Woman’s Dictionary, Walker)

A waning dogma of religious belief has regarded sex as animalistic, as something dirty—another chore in the production of offspring, hence its inherent virtues and pleasures were oft ignored and forbidden. The late Alain Danielou defined two forms of sexuality; the first of which leads to birth and strengthens our bond to the material world, both in the manner of the family responsibilities that a new birth necessitates and the genetic remainder that must again participate in the wheel of Karma. The second form of sexuality draws us away from worldly concerns and closer to liberation. Its basis is the timeless and god-like experience of ecstasy.

One form does indeed compliment and balance the other. However, the moral straight jackets, stitched with the cultural yarn of indignant persecution, confines and badgers our collective psyche. It is ultimately guilt and fear that leads to self immolation, stress and finally death. Let us be tolerant and not bury what has become uncomfortable beneath the pretense of ignorance and again claim the beauty and true compassion that is present in all the postures of existence.

Aphrodite inspires blissful sexuality. She helps us confront our own short-comings and transmute them into sovereign blessings. All that she touches is infused with fertile creativity. Her heritage stretches deep into the dark depths of the sea of time; the famous Venus De-milo and the Bablio-Sumerian Ishatar are but a few of her ancient antecedents. Ishatar was the courtesan of the gods and sacred prostitution was practiced in her temples.

She appears in the Gilgamesh epic where she is shunned and cursed. Her bitter rebuttal was to eventually culminate in the hero’s death. Although Ishatar preempted the down fall of many a man, her favors could also elevate one to great places. Sargon, King of Akkad (about 2370-2284 B.C.), related the following account.

“My mother was a priestess, I did not know my father. The priestess, my mother, conceived me and gave birth to me in hiding. She placed me in a basket made of reeds and closed the lid with pitch. She put the basket in the river which was not too high. The river carried me away and brought me to Akki who was a man responsible for libations. Akki looked upon me with kindness and drew me from the river. He adopted me as his child and brought me up. He made me his gardener. It was while I was his gardener that the Goddess Ishatar loved me. Then I became King” (Dhome’s Translation, Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, Pg.60

The parallels between Sargon and Moses are indeed extensive. Too much so, to be gone into in this short essay. The Pearl, the treasure of Aphrodite and the moon, not only carries the luster of love and the beauty of purity, but also represents the perfection of wisdom.

System of Coinage

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:04:13 +0000

The invention of coinage is generally attributed to the Lydians during the early 7th century BC. They were wealthy and powerful people. Their coins were stamped and had a guaranteed weight. They were made from electrum, which was a mix of gold and silver. They were the size and shape of a bean and were known as “staters” or “standards”. The first to issue gold and silver coins was Croesus of Lydia in the 6th century.

The idea of using coins soon spread to the Greeks who began to use them from the 6th century B.C. the Bulgarians also began to use coins around the same time. By the 5th century, all the Mediterranean countries were making use of coins. Gold coins were the most valuable, followed by silver and finally copper.

Greek coinage lasted for about 500 years. The Romans picked up the idea of coinage from the. Slowly the system of coinage declined after 500 years. The coins slowly looked thin and unattractive. The Celtic and German tribes, who had close contact with the Greeks and Romans, also began the coinage system by the 2nd century BC. At first they copied the Greek coins but later changed them to abstract shapes from heads, horses and chariots.

The Chinese at first used cowrie shells as coins. Later they shaped bronze coins in the same of the cowrie shells, knives and hoes. The proper coins were issued in 212 BC by the first emperor of the Qin dynasty.

By the 15th century the art of coinage was revived as metal became more plentiful. Skilled artists engraved the coins. The first British coins were struck before the arrival of the Romans to Britain.

Coins are made by punching a piece of metal with the design of a coin on it. The Chinese cast their coins in moulds. The coins are made in a “mint”. Coins usually have pictures and some writing on them. They also have a milled edge. This was originally used on gold and silver coins to avoid fraudulent “clipping” of the edges of the precious-metal coins. The tradition is still continued to this day.

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