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Weapons You Have Seen In Locations You Did Not Expect To See Them

Not a weapon per se, unless used in a road rage incident.  It was an 85ish Chevy Suburban with Ontario plates and a rattle can cam job, in Borovo Croatia, then in Serb hands.  April 92
 
Not a weapon, but a very distinctive piece of kit.

During the construction of camp JULIEN in Kabul in 2003, an excavator unearthed a world war two German helmet.  Though covered in muck, grime and whatever, it was in fairly good shape, all things considered.  The leather was gone, but the metal was fairly intact with very little rust.
A German signal corps Hauptfeldwebel spotted it (oh, the irony) and claimed it.  Very odd.
 
Midnight Rambler said:
Not a weapon, but a very distinctive piece of kit.

During the construction of camp JULIEN in Kabul in 2003, an excavator unearthed a world war two German helmet.  Though covered in muck, grime and whatever, it was in fairly good shape, all things considered.  The leather was gone, but the metal was fairly intact with very little rust.
A German signal corps Hauptfeldwebel spotted it (oh, the irony) and claimed it.  Very odd.

- The Wehrmacht had a fairly large military mission in Kabul in WW2.

 
While working as a Paramedic in Nova Scotia I was treating an older gentleman for chest pain, a retired fisherman. I looked over his shoulder and out in his yard was a large Naval Mine. He said he found it one day while at sea. He assured me it was safe. The RCMP checked it out anyway.
 
Like the guy wandering into the casino in Santo Domingo when I was there, and, IAW with the little "No guns" decal, pulled out his .45 and handed it to the concierge?

MM
 
my  old highschool  in Renfrew had an indoor 22 cal range.  it was built by  the military when they had army  cadets in the highschools. My  mom was on the shooting team there and use practice with her fathers platoon in Petawawa and Valcartier in the 60s. Getting back tothe range in the highschool it was used by  the highschool starting in the 50s till DND ordered all indoor ranges closed in the late 80s early  90s. Lack of clean air and the lead comtanation over the years made them a health issue. The last highschool coach there was very  sick with a lead posion issues. The weapons were the same ones the cadets used  right up till the range closed. Not sure what happened to the 12 or so  rifles they had there
 
From time to time used to come across some Cdn Mk1* 'T series' Inglis 9mm BHPs here, ser's in the 0T range.

Since the force wide issue of the BHP MkIII Vigilante most of those Ingies have gone to smelt, as have the VN vintage L9A1s.

In Baghdad in 06/07 came across some .303 rifles, some No1 MkIII UK SMLEs, and a Stevens No4 Mk1*. Thinking back these could have made it home legally through a 3rd person. I'd loved to have had the No.4 here.

OWDU
 
I worked on Tel Dor Excavations in Israel in the summer of '87. One of the Israeli students was digging with a pick when we heard a big metallic 'clink' - we found a stash of WWII AAA rounds (40mm ?). I think it was Aussies using the old amnesty bush...

That, or the .22 revolver my Grandma kept tucked in the cushions of the couch....such a sweet old lady...who knew???
 
Staff Weenie said:
That, or the .22 revolver my Grandma kept tucked in the cushions of the couch....such a sweet old lady...who knew???

Brings to mind the #36 grenade my late Grandmother had on the mantle in her living room when I was a little kid.  Her son had brought it home in 1945. 
 
I never actually saw these weapons, however, while I was the Bn Orderly Sgt in 1 VP, many moons ago, there was an entry made. Apparently a disgruntled wife phoned the Bn, and reported that her husband had 2 x M72s, some para flares and other assorted goodies in their home.
I wonder who took the declaration "I have no live rounds, empty casings, rockets in my pockets, mortars in my quarters" ;D
 
Two locations

1. Brandon MB- in garden shed and basement - paraflares, inert projectiles, smoke grenades
2. In my coursemates luggage by Customs Agents when returning from out-of-country training
 
When I was at the Bug School in Borden they showed us some old training kits from WWII that had actual glass vials with Mustard Gas or Lewisite in them. Some folks had brought them home after the war and years later, when Grandpa passes and the family cleans out the basement, they get found.

I wonder how much UXO is still out there in basements and attics across the country.
 
Staff Weenie, not only are noxious substances found in basements, to wit:

While on ex in 92 in Suffield, we observed a backhoe in the distance digging something, of what we were not sure.
The next day we were told that an old truck (post WW2 I think) that had been filled with 45 gallon drums of something (we heard mustard gas) had been found buried in the trg area, and they were in the process of recovering it.
 
A rusted FN C1A1 leaning against a tree in Meaford training area that had been there long enough that we had to cut the muzzle out of the tree because it had started grow around it.
 
421 EME said:
A rusted FN C1A1 leaning against a tree in Meaford training area that had been there long enough that we had to cut the muzzle out of the tree because it had started grow around it.

It would be interesting to see the loss/write-off report on that one!
 
now if it was a yank's rifle, it wouldn't be that big a deal..... I think it was someone on these boards told me a couple years ago, of a joint ex, in which the US Army soldier beside him 'demonstrated' the lack of repercussion for lost kit, stating 'we can even lose 1 of these a year' and hucks his rifle into the swamp.
 
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