37mm wooden ammo box - help with identification

[wichitaslumlord]

Any help with identification and vintage of this box would be of help. THANKS! Pat

 

[Taber10]

This box held 16 of the 37 X 94R rounds, carried in a fabric "belt" from which the rounds were extracted and loaded manually into the 37mm "trench" gun of WWI. The gun was man portable, and "copied" from a French version. There are several good on-line references to the gun, and I'll try to track them down.

I'm trying to figure out what the "strap" riveted to the box bottom was for--obviously to help pull the belted rounds out of the box. My box doesn't have as much of the strap remaining.

 

[Gspragge]

The strap

attached to the belt of loops that held the rounds, always cut off it seems.
These go in a special wagon that holds I think 16 of the boxes and the gun is towed behind. Used from ww1 into ww2.

 

[wichitaslumlord]

Thanks to both of you! That answered my questions. Pat

 

[Taber10]

A recent thread on BOCN provided a link to the Hayes Otoupalik site, and in his "want list"--yes, I thought he had everything also!--it shows the same box with the fabric shell holder. My wife has agreed to sew one if I can find measurements.