FOUND ITEMS
47th 58th 88th 3rdg fencibles foundspike rartmhelmetplate hiltobv hiltrev
musketball2
palacehotelplate palacehoteldetail germanlinincloth frenchcartridge frenchcartridge martinicases range2bullets S_Mine_Pressure_Ignitor S_Mine_Pressure_Ignitor


These buttons were worn by men of the British Garrison in Jersey. They are all made of pewter. The first three and the helmet spike were found on the Five Mile Road, St Ouen and the last two and the sword hilt were found on the beach at Havre des Pas, St Helier. The Militia Artillery Helmet Plate was found in the rocks on a beach in Grouville.

The musket ball was recovered from the Royal Square, at the time when Vine Street was being resurfaced, near to the Peirson Public House. A reminder of the Battle of Jersey in 1781.

The fragment of plate and the tablecloth were recovered from the Palace Hotel in 1945, after the disasterous fire that led to the destruction of the hotel by an explosion in March 1945. The tablecloth has a extremely good quality edging, which consists of lots of little swastikas. The hotel was being used by the occupying German forces as a training HQ and ammunition store.

Another relic from this explosion surfaced (literally) in 2003 when I was handed a Mauser K.98 rifle cartridge by a resident of Palace Close. This cartridge was discovered by his dog on the grassy area in the centre of the estate. The cartridge case shows the effect of extreme heat on the brass casing which has been twisted and deformed as the cartridge was expelled from the hotel by the explosive force. The bullet head has also sustained severe corrosion over the last 60 years underground.

The next pictures shows several .577/450 Martini Henry Rifle Cartridge Cases and bases, these were all found at the old Militia Rifle Range on the Five Mile Road, St Peter. The second lot of bullets etc were found on another range which is not marked on any maps.
They were literally picked up off the ground, the one next to the complete cartridge (shown for comparison) was picked up by me in the 1980's, and the others by my wife and son in 2009.

The last pictures show a German Anti-Personnel S Mine Pressure Ignitor. This was found by my son in May 2012 when walking across the sand dunes in St Ouen, it appeared to have been 'evicted' from a rabbit hole.



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