INERT DEACTIVATED. Original, 1917 Dated, British, High Explosive (HE) 2 Inch Medium Trench Mortor. - O 2238 INERT DEACTIVATED. Original, 1917 Dated, British, High Explosive (HE) 2 Inch Medium Trench Mortor. - O 2238 Other Ammunition

INERT DEACTIVATED This is a British, 1917 dated 2 inch medium trench mortor high explosive mortor bomb. The 2 inch Medium Trench Mortar, also known as the 2-inch Howitzer, and nicknamed the "Toffee Apple" or "Plum Pudding" mortar, was a British medium trench mortar in use in the First World War from mid-1915 to mid-1917. The designation 2 inch refers to the mortar barrel, into which only the 22-inch bomb shaft but not the bomb itself was inserted; the bomb itself was actually 9 inches in diameter and weighed 42 lb. The mortor measures 32 inches in length and the 2 inch spigot is held into the bomb body by a through pin. Firing the mortor could be dangerous due to the shaft detaching from the mortor on detonation and returning on the same trajectory into the mortor pit so there was usually a cut out in the side mortor pit for the mortor crew to take cover after firing. The mortor retains traces of its original yellow painted finish signifying high explosive and the ball of the mortor has cast into it at the top near the fuze hole 2in TRENCH HOWR F&C&S 311 1917 (date). The top of the mortor is fitted with the steel nose fuze which has cast into it H 1071 M&C/S. This fuze was a cast iron cylinder with a blank .303 cartridge in the top with a clip on protective cap with a fixed firing pin to the clip. The price includes UK delivery and no licence is required to possess this inert mortar in the UK if retained as part of a collection or display. O 2238