Souvenirs of Ypres on Display

War correspondents examine dud 17 inch German shell, 1917 (Wikimedia)

Saturday 19th June 1915:  This week a number of souvenirs from the Ypres district have been on display in the window of the office of the Biggleswade Chronicle. They include fuse caps from German shells, shrapnel fragments, shell bullets and rifle bullets, and were sent home by Sandy soldier Private Percy Gadsby of the 1st Bedfords to his father-in-law at Biggleswade. Sadly Private Gadsby has since been seriously wounded and is now in hospital at Aldershot. Lance-Corporal Dickens of the same battalion has identified the types of shell to which the fuses were attached. The largest fuse cap weighs over 3½lbs and belongs to a 15 inch shell, which Lance-Corporal Dickens points out is only one-tenth of the size of the fearsome Jack Johnson.

Source: Biggleswade Chronicle and North Bedfordshire Gazette, 18th June 1915