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Possible 208 fuze?

G

GeoffR

Active Member
280bcrop 208 fuze poss.jpg
These fragments were found on a beach (south of Harwich) and so are most likely to have come from nearby WW2 AA gun sites or coastal battery guns. Can anyone identify the type of fuze from these pieces please - possibly No.208? or are others a possibility?

Does the position of the individual indents beneath the numeric scale pin down the type of fuze? Also, are these indents part of an automatic time-setting mechanism before loading?

Do the numbers on the scale represent timed 'seconds' before detonation? Did the scales vary? One of these pieces looks like having a scale of 1 to 28 (or 38)?.
Numbers visible on each piece are as follows (some are very worn from their time on the beach):

top left: 3 to 7
top right: left to right - ?8 followed by two small vertical strokes, break in the scale, arrow marking followed by 0 to 3
bottom left: 18 to 26
bottom right: 9 to 15

Any thoughts welcome, thanks.
 
Could also be a fuze No. 214 which was used in the British 3.7in, 4.5in and 5.25in Anti-Aircraft Guns during WW2. The No. 214 was an American made fuze copied from the British No. 208 and was used as an interchangeable replacement for the British type.
As they look and are quite similar, it could be either one of them.

Robert
 
Thanks Robert. As the AA guns were not in place until 1944 (to combat the V1 attacks) I imagine the timing would be right for either type of fuze.
 
Could be No. 207 fuze as its very similar to 208 and was used on 3.7in AA. Markings are just numbers as the max time would exceed 30 secs. The two facing indents are for an automatic setter.
 
Thanks 2pounder, the local AA battery did have 3.7" guns. Do you mean the 207 fuze is the one most associated with the 3.7" AA gun and the 208 more associate with other weapons?
If the scale markings are 'just numbers', what is the point of them and why cover such an odd range as 0 to 28 (or 38)?
 
I have the mechanical (clockwork) 207 as a 43 second fuze but numbered to 30. Time is relative as they say, with an automatic setter you only need to know the safe position for checking the fuze has not been set, after that you dont actualey need markings. If the setter fails and you have to hand set fuzes then markings would be required but even then it doe not need to be an actual time in seconds. Early combustion fuzes did have seconds but they weren't very accurate as weather and height conditions altered the rate at which the fuze burned.
 
Quote from the 3.7-inch Mark II handbook (1940)

The external part of the coned surface is graduated for nearly the whole of the circumference in quarter divisions and numbered from 1 to 30. A safety mark with the word SAFE is engraved on the ungraduated portion midway between 30 and 1.
 
Thanks 2pounder and Quatermass, that's two mentions of a 1 to 30 scale.
Looking closer at the top right fragment with a magnifying glass, the first number is definitely 0. There are quarter divisions between numbers, and the last number is 28. I cannot see the word 'safe' in the ungraduated portion, but wear might have removed it if it had been feintly stamped. Does that change things from a No.207 and even 3.7"?
 
The word 'safe' is stamped almost opposite end of the time scale, see picture:

02.jpg
picture from interweb.
 
Thanks Collector. I did another trawl through the web and came back full circle to the BOCN site - found a couple of much earlier postings by BONNEX describing the construction of the 208. One diagram clearly showed the graduation on the MkI ending at 28, exactly as in my top right picture, and the indents between graduation numbers 21 and 25 as in my bottom left picture.
 
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