[BCMA] CMA Clip Serv: Museum rapped for displaying live ammo

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

A couple of years ago I sent over 500 grenades and about a dozen grenade
launching rifles to the Canadian War Museum. These were donated by my
late friend Barry Gillis and the CWM now has a World class grenade
collection dating back to about 578 AD and it includes rarities such as
a US Navy late 1700s hand grenade, a US Civil War lawn-dart shaped hand
grenade, prototype grenades (including a Beano grenade for WWII secret
agents), glass grenades, pottery grenades, cut-away instructional
grenades and even improvised WWI hair-brush grenades (so called because
of their shape).

 

The CWM sent out their weapons curator and an explosive ordnance expert
(i.e. bomb disposal). They checked each item and certified it as INERT
(i.e. empty). Seems that art galleries might get nervous about a grenade
collection travelling in the same truck as their Rembrandt painting
though I can't image why they would worry. ;-) 

Luckily the items were already accessioned by me so we had an exact
unique number to refer to in each case for the record. A few items were
rejected as being too corroded or "unknown" and not worth the risk of
trying to open and the bomb squad was called to dispose of those. 

 

The technician informed me that in Canada, the Federal Government is
responsible for the safety of ALL ammunition or explosive ordnance in
museums and private collections ... PERIOD. It does not matter if it was
brought to Canada by a veteran in 1899 or 2009, whether it was ever used
by the Canadian Armed Forces or not. 

 

I run a city museum and I also run an official Canadian Forces Museum.
For the city museum, I have checked all of our weapons to ensure that
they are unloaded and I had the above technician examine our ammunition,
grenades etc and certify them as INERT. I am presently preparing all of
the military museum's ammunition, grenades etc. for inspection and I am
checking all of the weapons. 

 

A community museum had me check out their ammunition and they had some
live rifle/machinegun cartridges. These are relatively easy for a
knowledgeable person to deactivate. 

 

It can happen to anyone: 

 

* A national historic site had an artillery shell on a desk in the
office for years ...

* A senior NCO in the army handed me a phosphorous type smoke grenade
for the above military museum ...

* A recent donation of pistols for the military museum came with
cartridges ...

* While cleaning out the basement of an old soldier some flares were
found ...

* While checking out the gun collection in a large city museum to see if
any were loaded ...

* A veteran donated it (or it came from a vet's estate) so surely he/she
would have made sure it was safe ...

 

NO NEED TO PANIC. If in doubt, QUARANTINE it. Put it away and lock it
up, then have an expert examine it. If you have an armed forces base
nearby (OK, I admit that this is a rarity in Canada) contact them and
request assistance. If not, contact your local police. 

 

Do state that you are a museum and that these are artifacts in your
collection, that your mandate is to preserve history, and ask for their
co-operation to make the items safe where possible and only to destroy
as a last resort. Even if they have to blow something up, ask for the
pieces to be returned. If you are a very remote museum e.g. Bulkley
Valley, there may be firearms knowledgeable people in your area who can
assist.

 

Most responders will be very sympathetic and work with you to preserve
history. Some however may overreact (e.g. a young newly graduated police
officer who hits the panic button and wants to destroy everything.) If
you run into that problem, simply go up the line to his/her Sergeant or
even higher up the chain of command if necessary. 

 

Some things to look for:

 

*	A cartridge ("bullet" to most people) looks intact AND the
primer on the bottom centre does not have a firing pin dent in it. Most
cartridges when rendered inert for display have a hole drilled in the
side (above the primer) to provide easy verification that the round is
empty. 
*	If a cartridge has a colour painted tip (e.g. white), that can
indicate tracer etc. which means that there may be a burning or
explosive in the bullet (part that exits the front of the barrel). NOT
for the amateur to deal with. 
*	Any cannon shell that has a fuze on the nose (pointy end) should
be checked by an expert. 
*	Any cannon ball that has a fuze (a screw-in plug) means that
something could be inside. If the cannon ball is solid metal it is not
explosive. 
*	Don't play with grenades or artillery shells. Leave those to an
expert. 

 

If in doubt, don't mess about. 

 

Don't over-react and destroy everything in a knee-jerk reaction. ---
These items are all part of our history. No shooter could hunt for food,
hunt for furs, fight in a war to defend (or rebel against) Canada,
compete in Olympic shooting sports without ammunition. Police officers
carry ammunition every day in the course of their duties. The military
explosive items are a normal part of a soldier's life - be it in
Afghanistan, Holland, South Africa or Saskatchewan in 1885.  

 

Colin MacGregor Stevens,

Manager,

New Westminster Museum and Archives,

302 Royal Avenue,

New Westminster, BC, 

V3L 1H7

 

Phone Office:    604-527-4639

Work Cellular : 604-830-6965

Fax:                  604-527-4641

E-mail: cstevens at newwestcity.ca 

Web Site: www.newwestminster.ca 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. [mailto:bcma at lists.vvv.com] 
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 3:51 PM
To: bcma at lists.vvv.com
Subject: [BCMA] CMA Clip Serv: Museum rapped for displaying live ammo

 

Newfoundland museum gets knuckles rapped for 

displaying live ammo: report 

Dean Beeby, The Canadian Press, Sunday, November 29, 2009 

 

A Newfoundland museum is proving that military history can be a blast. 

 

Safety officials gingerly removed 13 pieces of ammunition from display
cases at the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Museum after an inspection
showed the ordnance might be dangerous. 

 

Later tests proved that 11 of the pieces were indeed still live and
packed with explosives. The cordite propellant was carefully removed
from 10 cartridges and their primers were fired, rendering them safe for
return to the displays. Another live fuse for an artillery shell had to
be destroyed. 

 

"The museum staff was informed that the items could not remain on
display," says an internal army report into the incident. 

 

"The cause of the incident was due to the lack of knowledge of the
museum council members." 

 

Documents outlining the case of the perilous projectiles were obtained
by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. 

 

"People donate the weirdest things to museums," Aubrey Halfyard,
chairman of the museum committee, said in an interview. 

 

He cautioned all museums to inspect any donated munitions to ensure
they're inert before going into display cases. 

 

The problem was uncovered last year during the visit of an explosives
safety officer from Canadian Forces Base Halifax, who toured the museum
on the lookout for any rogue ammunition. 

 

The small facility is located on the second floor of a Second World
War-era officers' mess built by the Americans in Pleasantville, a suburb
north of downtown St. John's, N.L. It's currently the location of a
Canadian Forces station. 

 

The small museum and archives document the venerable history of the
Royal Newfoundland Regiment, which traces its origins to 1795 and saw
horrific fighting in the First World War during the Battle of the Somme.
The regiment was all but wiped out at Beaumont Hamel on July 1, 1916. 

 

Visitors can view the collection of uniforms, medals, letters,
photographs and other military memorabilia year round by appointment. 

 

The museum, created in the late 1970s, is not an official National
Defence facility but as a tenant in a military building must abide by
Canadian Forces rules, which require any display ammunition to be
certified inert. 

 

The official report into the incident notes that the still-dangerous
British munitions - .303 cartridges and an 18-pounder fuse - were
donated to the museum by a now-deceased soldier and a private citizen. 

 

"Although the museum has been in existence for a long time, public
knowledge of the displays and public access have been limited," says the
document. 

 

The facility, which receives between 500 and 600 visitors each year,
must now undergo annual inspections for explosives safety. 

 

Inspectors also found some suspicious ammunition at the Highlander
Museum in Sydney, N.S., documenting the history of the 2nd Battalion,
Nova Scotia Highlanders, based in Cape Breton. 

 

Later examination found the 16 rounds to be inert but not properly
labelled so. 

 

The Canadian military instituted stricter controls over so-called dummy
or inert ammunition in July 1974, when a live fragmentation grenade was
accidentally mixed in with non-explosive training grenades at Canadian
Forces Base Valcartier, Que. 

 

The live grenade was detonated in an exercise, killing six cadets and
injuring more than 40 others. 

 

In 2007, the Canadian Forces created a new directorate to promote
ammunition safety. 

 

Last year, ammunition accidents injured 34 people in the military, the
highest level in a decade and reflecting a rising number of occurrences
that involve human error. 

 

---   30   --- 

 

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