TooTallMike Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 Hi folks, I've been meaning to post this for years but never got round to it. My Dad has a wooden crate in which he keeps my maternal Grandfather's childhood meccano. The crate was found in the attic of my parents' previous house in the mid 70s and Dad covered it with old curtain fabric and fitted it with casters and internal trays to make it more useful. One time when tinkering I noticed that the crate is actually WW2 German. It is in perfect condition which is especially surprising given it's only made of softwood. He thinks the hinges and lock-downs were original. As can be seen there is a swastika-stamped label on the inside. I can see there were 21 items and they were packed in 1943 but the rest escapes me. I have no idea what markings there may be on the outside as it's covered and Dad cannot remember. It is not for sale (unless it's worth millions in which case we can talk) but we would be very interested to know what it was for? Also any theories on how it ended up in such good condition in the attic of a suburban South London semi! Regards - MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 I think it could be something to do with explosives, Zerstorkorper means 'destructor' and it seems to be made by a chemical company Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean N Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 Not just that - Sprengstoff means explosive. WASAG was a major German explosives manufacturer for civilian and military purposes; by WW2 it was part of IG Farben. I can't get a good translation for zerstörkörper but zerstören means to demolish, ruin or destroy, which would make zerstörkörper 'demolition body' so I think it's likely these were 3 kg demolition charges. Edit - In fact, further searching German results for zerstörkörper mainly throws up results for Luftwaffe documents, including several pilot's handbooks; the FW200 'Condor' handbook says: "For destruction of the aircraft in appropriate emergency, 2 brackets are mounted under the navigation table on the left for a single 3 kg [zerstörkörper]" As to how it got there - someone needed a handy crate for their posessions on return after the war? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 Thank you very much for your research. I'm pleased it was more interesting that just baked beans or toilet rolls! I will pass this info on to Dad. Regards - MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxy Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 Contained 21 quantity , hardly seems to be of military construction , probably for commercial fireworks display ,, If a German found a similar box marked 'Catherine Wheel' One score - would he be puzzled ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 Sonds like something used by a Spreng commando. The kind of guys who blew up church towers in my area at wars end. So something engineers explosives. Zerstören translates indeed to demolish. Körper translates to body literally but better to somethinl like a small container, vessel etc. So, demolition container. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean N Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 Thinking about it, the way German abbreviations and acronyms work could Zerstörkörper F. Z. mean Zerstörkörper FlugZeug, which would confirm what I though about aircraft demolition charges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Ramsden Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 I can't help with identification but I agree with Sean N that it was probably used to ship possessions home. We bought a German wooden box on ebay which had the name and London address of a 15th Light Ack Ack officer written on it. He was with the regiment in Germany in 1945 and I assume that he picked up a suitably-sized box which was lying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pru426 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 my guess... F L. means Flugzeug F.Z. might mean the fuse (zünder) & type for the 3 kg charge EOD friend said that Wehrmacht had instructions and correct "bolt on" demolition charges for every fighting eguipment from 20 mm flak to tiger tanks and Luftwaffe had the same practice ........... i have couple of Luftwaffe 200 l lubricant drums Luftwaffe marking example: F L. SCHMIERSTOFF pekka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted November 2, 2016 Author Share Posted November 2, 2016 Thank you all. This is interesting stuff! - MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean N Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Mike, I took the liberty of posting this on Axis History. Didn't get much more information, but I did get confirmation of Pekka's thought that FZ might mean fuse - apparently it's usually an abbreviation for Fern-Zünder, or remote detonator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted November 16, 2016 Author Share Posted November 16, 2016 Mike, I took the liberty of posting this on Axis History. Didn't get much more information, but I did get confirmation of Pekka's thought that FZ might mean fuse - apparently it's usually an abbreviation for Fern-Zünder, or remote detonator. No problem, thank you very much for pursuing it. Regards - MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.