Trench art cigarette light made by someone serving with the French Armee d'Orient. || This is a French trench art cigarette lighter. On one side is engraved '1917 Armee d'Orient 1918' and the other side bears the stylised initials of 'JB'. The Armee d'Orient was a French Army that was based in the Balkans during the First World War. || || Other || Français

This trench art is made from a shell from a French 75 field gun. I measured it to ascertain this, and it is French. The manufacture stamp is for July 1917. I bought it about four of five years ago in a museum in Albert, France, which is a few kilometres from the site of the Battle of the Somme. My own uncle was killed in October, 1916 at the Somme. He fought with the Roual Irish Fusilliers. || Trench art - French shell casing || || Memorabilia || 46.227638,2.213749000000007 || France || Trench art made from a shell casing from a French 75 field gun with a manufacture stamp of July 1917 || || France || Memorabilia || Trench art made from a shell casing from a French 75 field gun with a manufacture stamp of July 1917 || 46.227638,2.213749000000007

This trench art item is a spent 37MM shell, marked at the base with '37-85' signifying the calibre (37MM) and original year of deployment for this type of munition (1885); 'PDPs' the manufacturer, who was 'Pinchart Denys Paris'; '180' - the production batch number, being '180' in this case; '2 16' the date of manufacture, with '2 16' indicating 'February 1916'. The design on the side of the shell shows an ornate Serbian eagle - the heraldic, national symbol - with the French word 'Serbie' and '1918'. || Soldiers at the front would sometimes occupy themselves with making trench art. Commonly, trench art would involve the use of everyday objects, in this case a 37MM shell, and the soldier would spend his personal time transforming them with some artistic adornment.