Father inlaws trench art

[NJM15]

My father in-law was stationed in the Aleutian islands in 1942
serving in the Army, he made these items all by hand using
discarded ammo cases. Couldn't get a clear picture with my cell phone but the head stamp on the small ashtray says DEN 42 the large ash try with the lighter says 90 mm M19 it looks like a 5" artillery shell with a 50 caliber being the lighter, I always knew he was creative but these are a good example of his skill. Those are his initials on the large one

 

[Maddog 521]

Wow very creative.

 

[BigCityChief]

Very cool!


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[Matt Hooper]

Nice! Great reminder.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Thanks for sharing, trench art is cool especially since it is family. I have a few ash trays and candle holders and such. The only thing I have of my fathers is a ash tray made out of a aircraft engine piston.

 

[da gimp]

neat art work....... I hope you keep these & pass them down through the generations to come. my dad fought up in the Aleutians too...... he said the lessons he learned about fighting in cold weather with less than ideal clothing stood him & his company in good stead when they fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

 

[wundudnee]

My Dad was stationed in the Hawaiian islands in WWll. He was a Navy gunners mate working in an armory. Here is some of his trench art. He said they had a hole in the floor where they would strike and fire the primers on the different shells. He had an officer that wanted some things built. They said they told the officer that he had to blow his own primers, because that would involve him in the project. Then the enlisted guys would do the art.

 

[LTC]

I am working on duplicating a trench art lamp my Father sent home from the ETO near the end of the war. Pop has just passed away and my older brother has asked for the original. Seeing how he was born in 1942 and I in 1947, I agreed that he should have it. Pop's lamp was a 90mm casing on maybe a 105 case end with six 50 cal. cartridges surrounding the 90mm.

I got lucky and found the makings of a second lamp on ebay in about 2 days once I started looking. It will be my spring project.

LTC

 

[shouldazagged]

Very nice. I'm fascinated by trench art, especially knives.

 

[Frank46]

One of the few items from my ship is a 5"54 cal shell casing that I aquired when our 5"54's were target shooting. Asbestos gloves, airdale type ear muffs and a trash can to lug my treasure back to the generator room. Hacksawed off the majority of the casing and a buddy in the machine shop trued it up. Many hours spent on watch sanding the inside and hand polishing it. 40 some odd years later finally found a piece of brass just the right size and will get it engraved. Always liked trench art, as it is only limited by the imagination of the maker. Frank

 

[CajunBass]

To the OP. That's pretty neat.

I suppose this kind of stuff has been being made since the first men learned to smack two rocks together.

When I was a kid, we did a lot of metal detecting for Civil War relics. Growing up in the Gaines Mill/Cold Harbor area, we had plenty of stuff to look for.

I remember my Grandfather finding what he called "carved bullets." Soldiers from both side would carve the solf lead minnie balls into various shapes. The most common was simply a sharp point, most likely used as a writing tool, but he found several that had been carved into what were recognizable as chess pieces. Never had a full set of course, but IIRC, he had a half dozen or so of them.

 

[labworm]

Something I picked up probably 30-40 years ago at a flea market for $10.00. Weighs about 1 1/2 lbs.

Whether it is trench art or not, have no idea, unmarked, but still a piece that interested me.