jimintoronto
Well-known Member
Four WW1 brass artillery shells with intricate engravings that my Dad traded 200 cigarettes for when he was a POW guard after the war was over in 1919 in Belgium. He served in the Canadian Army overseas from October of 1915, to his return to Toronto in June of 1919. The German soldier who did the work had been a fine arts engraver before the war started. Dad didn't smoke but he was entitled to 200 Canadian made smokes each month, so he bartered them for the shell casings. They have his name, serial number, unit, and the name of the camp, which was near the Belgian town of Dave, in Belgium. Two are 8 inches tall and two are just 4 inches tall, made by Krup industries in Germany in 1916. The engraving was done with a large darning needle. It took the man 3 weeks to complete. They are sitting on my book shelf as I type this. Perhaps a donation to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, in my will ? JimB.