Passion & Compassion 1914-1918 : WW1 militaria and technical documentation

On other parts of the earth than the Western Front, different armies of several countries used several kinds of fuzes, whose principles are very often similar to the one exposed in the other sections of this site.

Needless to say that finding documentation is even more difficult for these 'exotic' fuzes than for the usual western front nations ones. Therefore the descriptions accompaining these items will look really liminar in comparaison with the ones included in the pages dedicated to the other nations.

Italian WW1 fuzes

Italian fuzes *Italian fuzes collection and cut-outs*
		There is little litterature in French or English on the Italian Artillery material and ordnance, although the equipments were various and typical. Italian Army was using Italian made technology, but also French guns and ammos, as well as captured Austro-Hungarian ones.
A very interesting Italian WW1 fuzes collection in an Italian museum. Pictures courtesy Luc Malchair.
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Italian fuze mod 900 *Time and percussion fuze Mod 900 for 65/11 mountain gun*
		The Italian mountain gun of 65 mm Mod 1911 could fire both high explosive and shrapnell shells. These last ones were equipped with the 'Time and percussion fuze Mod 900 for 65/11 mountain gun', named 'Spoletta a doppio Efetto Mod.900 da 65 M'. I do not own any wartime scheme of that time and percussion fuze but it seems this device, made in aluminium in the case of the one pictured here, is classical design of a 2 disvs fuze. The mobile disc is graduated from 0 to 51 hectometres with 0,5 steps. A cross is marked for the disc position programming a percussion behavior. It seems the time and percussiob fuze of the 75A field gun was very similar, with graduations from 0 to 55 hectometres ans was named 'Spoletta a doppio Efetto Mod.900 da 75 A'.
Spoletta DE Mod. 900. The lower disk is missing.

Spoletta DE Mod. 900. Original markings : 'OCT 1/15 BA'. This item have been transformed into a war souvenir and is also engraved 'L - Orient 1918 - A'	Spoletta DE Mod. 900. Marking '65 MONT'

Spoletta DE Mod. 900. Mobile disk track	Spoletta DE Mod. 900. Graduations up to 51 hectometres.

Spoletta DE Mod. 900. Disassembled top. View on the first graduations of the disc, starting at 0 hectometres, and the cross indicating the percussion behavior.
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Turkish WW1 fuzes

Turkish fuze *Time and percussion Turkish fuze for 75mm field gun*
		Thanks to its alliance with Germany, the Turkish army was equipped with modern Krupp guns and ammunitions, and particularly the 75mm field gun Mle 1903. They also had some French Schneider mountain guns... That fuze is most probably a German design of time and percussion fuze for 75 mm field gun. It is entirely made of brass, and wears arabic characters markings that I cannot decode. This reminds us that that period of Turkish history happened before Mustapha Kemal took the power and took several modernizing initiatives, including the adoption of the roman characters. I suppose that fuze had a German counterpart used by the Kaiser Army, but could not find it. I have no idea of the list of guns that used that fuze. Thread diameter 50 mm.
Turkish fuze mounted as a souvenir with infantry bullets	Turkish fuze - look on the arabic characters used for the time graduations

Turkish fuze. Arabic markings on top	Turkish fuze
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Other conflicts fuzes

WW2 stated 21 years after WW1 only. As a consequence, a lot of equipment designed between 1914 and 1918 took part in the operations between 1939 and 1945, and even afterwards.

This is valid for some artillery equipments, and in particular for fuzes.

However a lot of new fuze models were developped, most of the time using the principles of their ancestors of the Great War, before the arrival of moderne electronic fuzes.

This selection shows some examples.

US WW2 time fuzes
		The next three fuzes have been observed in the Vosges area, in france, where fight occured in both WW1 and WW2 conflicts The first fuze is most probably a TSQ M54 fuze. It was a superquick or time action (to 25 seconds) type fuze. Its time system was a classical two-discs pyrotechnic type, and its superquick impact system was a very simple inertia mechanism located at the very top of the cone. This fuze was usually used with the high explosive projectiles of all calibers, including 75, 90, 105 and 150 mm The second fuze is most probably a TSQ M55 fuze. It was a special version of the first M54 fuze, but having its booster integrated. This fuze was usually used with the high explosive projectiles of all calibers. The third fuze looks like a M43A3 mechanical time fuze. Mechanical fuzes replaced the classic pyrotechnic time fusing system by a clock mechanism, set to count time before explosion. That fuze has no impact element, and is therefore specially well suited for anti-aircraft use. Its maximum time setting allow a 30 seconds flight before explosion, by increments of 0.2 seconds. The clock mechanism is actuated and driven by the cenrifugal force given by the spin of the shell. This fuze was usually used with the high explosive projectiles of the : M1 90 mm gun M3 105 mm gun
US fuzes US TSQ M54, TSQ M55, and TM43

US fuzes US TSQ M54, TSQ M55, and TM43

Wartime scheme - US WW2 fuze M54	Wartime scheme - US WW2 fuze M55

Wartime scheme - US WW2 fuze M43
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Time and percussion Czech fuze *DoppZ 10sm vz21*
		This fuze has been observed in the 'Musée des Abris' in Albert, in the area of the Somme. It shows several stunning characteristics : impressive dimensions (height and base diameter 80 mm) no visible markings time mechanism (graduated disc) and percussion mechanism (hole at the summit probably made for an instantaneous percussion mechanism) graduations of the time scale unusually extended (from 0 to 250 !) Two different identification hypothesis have been made on specialised forums : an english time fuze modified for intantaneous percussion mode, or a Czech WW2 fuze for 105mm shells. This latter identification is the correct one, thanks a JL Decherit for this participation. It is indeed a time and percussion Czech fuze *Dopp Z 10cm vz21* for 105 and 150 mm shells. Its presence on the Somme battlefields reminds us that WW2 also raided these regions, and that the materials of the former Czech army were integrated in the Whermacht during its succesful France Blitzkrieg...
Czech conical fuze graduated up to 250	Czech conical fuze

Czech conical fuze	Czech conical fuze, upper view

Czech conical fuze, view from below	Czech conical fuze, intact item

Czech conical fuze on 105 mm shell, modern drawing from JL Decherit	Czech conical fuze on 150 mm shell, modern drawing from JL Decherit
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Plugs and accessories

The transportation of the artillery ammunitions from the storage or manufacturing areas to the front line was preferably done separately for the fuzes and the shells, for evident safety reasons.

Therefore, plugs of different shapes and material were used during the shell transportation in order to keep its inner charge safe from humidity. This kind of material could justify a dedicated study in itself.

Here are some examples.

Transportation plug *German (?) plug with transportation hook hole*
		That plug type has been seen in some museums mounted on German heavy caliber shells. It is a steel piece, with a hole for the introduction of a transportation hook. The thread diameter is 59 mm
Plug with hole for transportation hook	Plug with hole for transportation hook

Plug with hole for transportation hook
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Transportation plug *German zamac plug*
		That plug type is often observed in some museums mounted on German minenwerfer shells. Its material is zamac, a poor alloy of Zinc with Magnesium, Aluminium, and Copper. The thread diameter is 55 mm.
Zamac German plug	Zamac German plug

Zamac German plug	Zamac German plug
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Transportation plug *German synthetic plug*
		That plug type is often observed in some museums mounted on German minenwerfer shells. Its material is a light and poorly resistant synthetic black material, explaining the bad condition those plugs are often found nowadays. The thread diameter is 55 mm.
Synthetic German plug

Synthetic German plug	Synthetic German plug
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Transportation plug *German flat plug*
		I suppose that plug is German just because its shape has important analogies with typical German fuzes such as GrZ96, 04 ou 14. Its made with zamac, a poor alloy of Zinc with Magnesium, Aluminium, and copper (this is another clue to its probable German origin). The thread diameter is 57 mm.
Flattened plug	Flattened plug

Flattened plug
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Transportation plug *Plug with transportation hook*
		That plug type is often observed on some old pictures mounted on English heavy caliber shells. It is made of steel, and integrates a transportation hook. The thread diameter is 50 mm.
Plug with transport hook	Plug with transport hook

Plug with transport hook
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Transportation plug *English flat plug*
		For a long time I thought these pieces were some kind of rear fuzes. But it is in fact very unharmful English plugs. Their shape is made to take the place of the fuze tail and the detonateor in the shell charge. there are several varieties of that plug, with different head markings and shapes. The thread diameter is 50 mm.
Flat head English plug

Flat head English plug	Flat head English plug

Flat head English plug
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Transportation plug *English plug-adaptator*
		Some english fuzes (particularly the fuze nr 44) had a narrower thread than the shell hole. Therefore, an adaptator had to be used to receive the fuze thread, and then be screwed into the shell larger hole. An aluminium piece could replace the fuze during transport, so that the adaptator temporarly became a plug. The thread diameter is 50 mm.
English plug-adaptator	English plug-adaptator

English plug-adaptator
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Transportation plug *French 90mm plug*
		Steel French plug for 90mm shells.
French 90mm plug. Pictures courtesy Luc Malchair	French 90mm plug. Pictures courtesy Luc Malchair

French 90mm plug. It looks like the plugged shell exploded... . Pictures courtesy Luc Malchair
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Transportation plug *Italian 40mm plug*
		Italian shell 40mm with its transportation plug.
Italian 40mm plug. Pictures courtesy Luc Malchair

Italian 40mm plug. Pictures courtesy Luc Malchair

Italian 40mm plug. Pictures courtesy Luc Malchair

Italian 40mm plug. Pictures courtesy Luc Malchair
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OTHER FUZES AND PLUGS GALLERY

Other armies WW1 fuzes

Italian WW1 fuzes

Turkish WW1 fuzes

Other conflicts fuzes

Plugs and accessories