Sunday, October 04, 2015

UK WOMAN USES WW1 BOMB SHELL AS FLOWER VASE FOR 30 YEARS

Unknown Sunday, October 04, 2015 No comments :
A UK woman found a WW1 shell so attractive, she has been using it as a vase for the last 30 years. Only problem is, the shell was still live.t seems Kathryn Rawlins, 45, has been extremely lucky, having a piece of live ammo decorating her home. She reportedly found it as a teenager when playing in the fields close to her school and has been using it as a vase ever since.
According to the Tamworth Herald, when Rawlins spotted the WW1 shell, she thought it would make an attractive and unique vase and ever since then has been regularly adding fresh flowers to the artillery shell. However, on watching a recently television documentary about the First World War, she realized she may have been sitting just a few feet from anunexploded piece of ordnance for the last thirty years.
Mum used unexploded bomb as a VASE on her mantelpiece for for 30 yearshttp://t.co/VvUuaUueCjpic.twitter.com/t6jUly0QP7
— Mirror Weird News (@MirrorWeirdNews) October 2, 2015
Rawlins contacted the local police and told them about the WW1 shell and shortly after this, Ministry of Defense experts were brought in to take the vase away from her home and safely remove the explosives. Once this was done, the shell was returned to Rawlins and is now a much safer way to display some fresh flowers.
She told the media they explained to her that the WW1 shell “had the potential to have killed anybody within about 20 meters of it” and that it could have taken the entire house down in an explosion.
“It’s funny to think that I had it on my mantelpiece the entire time – it’s just become a part of my family now.”
Rawlins continued by explaining that the WW1 shell had been on her mantelpiece or coffee table for three decades and that she even took it with her to university, adding that she “used to stick plastic roses out of the top of it when I was dancing around to Madonna.”
“Luckily my husband Chris just thought it was funny.”
According to Rawlins it was by sheer coincidence that she found out she might have unexploded ordnance sitting in her living room. She had apparently taken a day’s sick leave and was relaxing and watching a daytime documentary film about unexploded wartime artillery shells, dropped on nearby Coventry by the German zeppelins during the First World War. It suddenly dawned on her just what she had sitting on her coffee table, filled with flowers, right at that moment.
“I made the strangest call to the police non-emergency hot line. I started off the conversation by telling them not to panic and attempted to describe the shell that I had.”
She described the WW1 shell as being 12 inches in length and around three inches across the base and that it had a conical tip which could be unscrewed, which is exactly what she did when using it to hold fresh flowers. Rawlins said that the shell was really heavy and had some writing on it that looked to be German.
@DailyMailUK That is an Artillery Shell, not a bomb!http://t.co/johzVDt30g
— Dave! (@DaveVForce)October 3, 2015
Eventually she sent a photo of the shell to the police and once they saw that, an officer arrived at her home within the hour. On seeing the WW1 shell up front and personal, the police said they would have to take it to the Chetwyn Barracks in Nottingham where the Ministry of Defense specialize in bomb disposal, so they could examine it in more detail.
According to authorities there, the artillery shell was from the First World War and was possibly of Egyptian origin.
While the whole thing was very worrying, Rawlins said the police eventually brought it back to her and assured her the shell had now been made safe and she could continue to use it as an unusual vase. No doubt, Rawlins breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Police have since warned anyone who finds similar world war ammunition to immediately contact the authorities, just in case.
While it may sound a little unusual to use a WW1 shell as a vase, a Twitter search reveals that this is a relatively common thing.
WW1 Trench Art Vase. Engraved Bullet Case Vase. First World War..http://t.co/0oTzD2VBcg#Etsyshop #etsyretwtpic.twitter.com/YvvHS6Snvr
— LeBonheurDuJour (@BonheurJour) September 24, 2015
A Pair of #Beautifully Hand Crafted First #World War#Brass Artillary Shell Vase, LINK: http://t.co/Q4KdRH3CnUpic.twitter.com/cB6kBbIrKs

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