Ammunition box for M1 anti-tank mines and M1A1 fuzes

Nailed rectangular wooden crate with a hinged lid. The long sides are all single planks of 20mm thick wood. There are a pair of zinc-aluminium alloy hinges and a centrally-mounted twist elbow clamp lock screwed to the lid, each with some traces of black paint. There are two angled cut-outs and matching screw-holes evident on the front face, indicating the box has been re-used on a number of occasions and the current lock has been re-sited. All external faces have been roughly varnished. There are ten vertical slots cut into the internal front and rear faces, which can locate internal dividing boards. Five of these have been used to locate filing trays, four of which are made from masonite and chipboard (and likely post Second World War), the fifth and upper one made from wood salvaged from the same wood that the box is constructed from; this bears bands of yellow paint. The orientation of the trays suggests that this box has been recycled as a vertical filing cabinet. Holes (two per side and two broadly spaced at both front and rear) have been drilled to locate rope carrying handles.

There are numerous heat-impressed markings on all sides and lid of the box. On the lid: 'EXPLOSIVE / DETONATING FUZES / HANDLE CAREFULLY' 'BOOSTER LOT I.O.P. 5-4 / LOT I.O.P. 5-4 (repeasted). On the front: '5 M1 NES / ANTI-TANK M1 A1 / 5 -- FUZES M1A1' 'PACKED 1-43' 'FUZE LOT I.O.P.-5-4 / MINE LOT I.O.P.5' 'BOOSTER LOT / I.O.P.-5-4'. On the rear: 'FROM / IOWA ORDNANCE PLANT / BURLINGTON U.S.' '63.6 (crossed out) 73.6 LBS / 1.45 CU. FT.' 'BOOSTER LOT I.O.P. -5-4 / FUZE LOT : I.O.P. -5-4 / MINE LOT I.O.P. -5 / SHIPPING TICKET NO.' Both sides repeat the Mine and Fuze title and serials and both sides bear a small graphic of a round smoking bomb.

This box was used to store and transport the American M1 anti-tank pressure-operated mine. Essentially a circular steel case topped by a cruciform presure plate (called a 'spider'), and incorporating a carrying handle, the M1 mine was stored upright, five to a box, packed with a sliding wooden divider between each. The sixth compartment, usually at the far right, held a sliding wooden former to which five fuzes were attached. The compartment dividers were designed to be removed and used as a base for the mine in soft soil.

American manuals confirm that the box lid was originally fitted with a pair of latches and that this example has been altered.

The American Army was late in its development of mines as a tactical tool, lagging well behind German and even Japanese thinking, and M1 production wasn't commenced until October 1940, with deployment starting in 1941. It was obsolete by 1943. The Iowa Ordnance Plant commenced production in 1941.

The mines were normally painted in green with a yellow band with stencilled marking on the top. Each mine weighed 4.9 kilograms and contained 2.75 kilograms of TNT, and required between 120 and 250 kg of pressure to activate.

This box, along with REL44948, were donated together and REL44948 bears a certificate associated with Lithgow. Both boxes appear to have been used after disposal as vertical filing cabinets, with the dividers modified into trays.