Shrapnel collected from Tonbridge Wells, Kent.

These items were kept by Mrs Foster of Tonbridge Wells, Kent. Items include anti radar foil, bomb splinters from bomb tail fins & bomb cases. Each item has a lovely hand written note stating the date & place it was picked up.

Shrapnel & Relics

Items picked up after the raids

It never ceases to amaze me the variety of shrapnel & relics that can sometimes turn up. Collecting shrapnel after the raids was a popular pass time for local school boys during the war. More often than not their collections were thrown out by their mother in the post war years that followed, no doubt they were keen to forget about the war. Every so often though, shrapnel collections do still turn up & provide a fascinating insight into history. A simple carboard box or gas mask box can contain a variety of items & if one is lucky their may be a date or note on where the relic was picked up. This can then be furhter researched through ARP records & quite often what may at first appear to be a simple un-important lump of metal can become a very interesting piece of history as the story behind that item unfolds.

Below are a few of the items & shrapnel collections in my own collection which I display at a museum for all to see.

World War Two  - Air Dropped Ordnance

Commemorative ash-tray

Ash-tray made from bomb damaged Oak from teh Naval & Military Club damaged by enemy action & rebuilt in 1958.

Shrapnel collected from West Hoathly, Sussex.

Fragments of bomb casing & shards of German bomb tail fin taken after the air raids from the West Hoathly area, the item with the paper label seen below is a fragment of a 1kg Incediary that was dropped on East Grinstead. With thanks to Mr Stone.

Shrapnel collected from Tonbridge, Kent.

These items were taken at the time by a gentleman who worked for the water board during the war. Items include various pieces of German bomb casing, anti-aircraft shrapnel, bakelite ballistics head from the front of a 3 inch anti-aircraft shell. The steel piece with remains of light blue paint is from what I believe to be a large 1000kg bomb tail fin.