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File No.: Battle Relic # 30
Title: “The Silver bullet
from the Lochnagar Crater“
Investigation made at: D20,
80300 Ovillers-la-Boisselle, Péronne
arrondissement, Hauts-de-France
région, Somme département, France.
Period Covered: 1JUL1916
Date: 28MAY2017
GPS Location: 50°00'55.1"N
2°41'51.3"E
Case Classification:
Description of a World War One
British Cupronickel jacket .303
bullet.
Case Status: Case Closed
REASON FOR INVESTIGATION:
This agency purchased a silver
bullet of World War One vintage at
the Lochnagar Crater in France. The
history of both this historical site
and this battle relic are described
below. |
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SYNOPSIS:
The Lochnagar Crater was formed at
7.28AM on the first day of the
Battle of the Somme; Saturday, July
1st 1916. The detonation of a
gigantic mine placed beneath the
German front lines created the
crater. Its aim was to destroy a
sizable strongpoint called 'Schwaben
Höhe'.
Close to a British trench dubbed
Lochnagar Street, sappers dug a
shaft down about 90 ft. deep into
the chalk. They then excavated
approximately 300 yards in the
direction of the German lines, and
packed 60,000 lbs. (27 tons) of
ammonal explosive in two large
underground rooms at 60 ft. apart. |
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Two minutes before the offensive
started, the mine was detonated,
leaving the massive crater which
still exists today. |
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Because the chambers containing the
explosives were overcharged, the
crater is as gigantic in diameter
and depth as it is. Sufficient
explosives were used to not just
break the surface and form a crater
but enough to cause dirt to fall in
the surrounding fields and form a
lip around the crater. The 15ft. lip
protected attacking troops from
German enfilade machine-gun fire
from the village of La Boisselle.
Debris was thrown almost a mile into
the air, the whole earth heaved, and
a magnificent column rose up into
the sky. The dirt column rose to
almost 4,000 ft. (1.2 kilometer). |
At present the Lochnagar Crater has
in excess of 200,000 visits a year,
many of them British and French
school children. On the anniversary
on July 1st, a remembrance ceremony
is held, starting at 7.28am - the
exact time of the explosion. It
lasts about an hour and is attended
by up to 1000 people.
On July 1st 1978 the crater was
bought by Richard Dunning from
Great-Britain and
an organization named “The Friends
of Lochnagar” was founded; a
non-profit making organization
furthering the memories of the Great
War. Lochnagar receives no official
government funding or support, with
all finance provided by the
generosity of individuals.
In order to not only keep alive the
memory and to commemorate the events
of the Great War and maintain the
Lochnagar Crater historical site, we
found Friends of Lochnagar at the
crater selling several modest
souvenirs when this agency visited
the crater on May 28th 2017. |
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Silver jacket .303 bullet
It was thus, that we were able to
acquire a silver .303 bullet, found
in close proximity of the crater.
It was sold in a handcrafted wooden
case, made from brushwood harvested
from within the crater.
The bullet is a .303 caliber and
bears evidence that it not only has
been fired but that it also struck a
given target. The pointed tip is
deformed apparently caused by
hitting a hard object and the
diameter of the bullet differs from
below to over .303 inches along its
circumference.
The "silver" jacket metal is
cupronickel, an alloy of ~20% nickel
and 80% copper.
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Exhibits: |
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7NOV2017 UPDATE: On September
30th 2017, Warren Osborne from
Derby County, United Kingdom
submitted through the
Facebook-page of this agency: "I
have just seen your Case No 30 on
line about the .303 bullet From
Lochnagar Crater. Made my day as I
am the one that found it. And tied
it together with its case. Brilliant
article well done. [...] This
is what they look like when I find
them." Mr. Osborne added this
photo of the .303 bullet as he found
them: |
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