Woodworking sometimes leads me on strange journeys, and this was one of the most enlightening. The original goal here was to build a replica World War II Ammunition Box for a memorial display. I thought, how difficult could it be to build a box ... right? Then I made the mistake of going on to the Internet to see if there were any examples and that's where the fun started.
There were TONS of examples, some old, some new some replicas some originals in every shape and size you can imagine, but I had to figure something out that was "original to the time era" as best I could, and what I uncovered was truly startling ....
So first of all, why wood, why not metal? Well since ammunition of all shapes and types was produced in many different regions, the one thing that was somewhat easy to get was wood. But there's more, wood was easy to work with, it allowed all sorts of different shapes and sizes and designs, AND it could be made strong enough to do the job.
So who would build these boxes for the troops? Well, there were of course a few woodworkers around, but there was also a LOT of unskilled labor. With the help of a few woodworkers, probably an engineer and for sure some farmers, because every farmer I know is cross between a woodworker, a metal worker and an engineer who can make anything from almost nothing AND they can often supply the logs and wood for these boxes too.
The Designs need to fulfil a number of criteria, the boxes needed to be easy to make, strong and above all, needed to be carried and moved by people ... soldiers and helpers, in field, because in WW2 there were NO pallet jacks, no forklifts almost nothing mechanized for lifting and carrying ALL ammo boxes, it was all done by hand.
Also concerned by the design, was the people making them, so JIGS needed to be developed and wood cut at specific sizes and lengths so that all that was needed was pre-cut wood, place in a jig and nailed together. Nails were quick, easy to come by, could be bent over during the construction which made the boxes VERY strong, and of course the boxes needed to be easy to carry, easy to get things in and out of and easy to re-pack if needed.
By this time my mind was in TOTAL AWE !! of those people who designed these boxes and those who build them. Everything about these has come together with such precision and form in what I had initially thought was just a simple box.
Then I found out that all these boxes, had new lives once they got into the field, they became chairs, tables, foot stools, ladders keep-sakes and more, and during those frigid winters in Europe, they were often burned to help keep the troops warm or even warm up a very rare cup of tea. Nothing about them went to waste.
As a woodworker, I cannot think of anything I have ever made that was so ingenious in design and that could be used for so many purposes and involved so many people ... a simple ammunition box, who knew the secrets it has held.
Colin Knecht
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