British General Service Shovel, GS, Dated 1954 with Broad Arrow Stamp, C. T. Skelton & Co. Sheffield, Suez Crisis, Second Arab-Israeli War, Pioneer, Sapper, Engineer, T-Handle

 Well, as promised, here is the third shovel in my recently acquired British General Service trio.

This shovel is yet another distinct version of the GS shovels.  The previous two were from WW2, and this one is a post-war version.

You can read about the two previous, WW2 shovels here, as well as the history of the GS shovel style:

http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2020/11/british-general-service-shovel-gs-ww2.html

http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2020/12/british-general-service-shovel-gs-ww2.html 

This third shovel is dated 1954, and was made by the C. T Skelton & Company of Sheffield, England.  There is an excellent company history here: 

 http://trowelcollector.blogspot.com/2014/12/history-of-ct-skelton-co-tool-maker.html

 The shovel is stamped with the British Broad Arrow acceptance stamp and also has an ID number of some sort stamped:  H.2353   I have no idea what the number means, but it appears to have been stamped at the same time as the date and maker's stamp.

The handle is a T-Handle, with a metal strap reinforcement.  The wooden "T" has a a slight curve to it.

The blade has a welded front and back, forming an integral socket for the handle.

Originally the blade was painted black, with the paint extending up the wood handle a short distance.  There is still a bit of the original black paint visible, here and there.  Around the T-Handle, there are traces of a lighter, and brighter, green (not OD military green).

Although this shovel is dated 1954, it is identical to other shovels produced during WW2.  As I mentioned in previous posts, the GS shovels remained virtually unchanged for years and years.

In 1956, the British Army went to war in Egypt, with the Israelis and the French.  They joined forces against Egypt, in what was called the Second Arab-Israeli War, or Suez Crisis.  This shovel may very well have served there, since it is dated 1954.  Here is a photo of a group of British Royal Engineers, on the beach, during the war.  The shovel in the photo is a GS shovel.

Overall this is a very well made, and very solid shovel.  The blade on this one is exceptionally well made, and quite thick and reinforced near the socket shaft.  There are two small cracks on the upper edge, that are a testament to the hard use this shovel was put to.

If you haven't read up on these shovels yet, pop back to the previous two blog posts and review their history.  Now on to the photo album.  Enjoy!

British General Service Shovel, GS, WW2 Issue, Dated 1943 with Broad Arrow Stamp, 1940's Pioneer, Sapper, Engineer, T-Handle

 Well, as promised, here is the second British General Service Shovel in the grouping.  

Before we get into the details of this shovel, you can read up on the history of these shovels in my last post.  You will see another example, and slightly different style, of WW2, British General Service Shovel, as well as a few photos of these shovels in "action".

http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2020/11/british-general-service-shovel-gs-ww2.html

This second shovel is dated 1943, and has a makers mark that is only partial.

The date is a "partial strike", so only half of it was actually stamped.  The good thing is that it was the lower half of all the date numerals, so determining the year was pretty easy.  I was not so lucky with the maker.  Unless I can find another shovel with a clear stamping that matches, I may never know who made this shovel. 

The shovel has the British Broad Arrow acceptance stamp, so it was definitely military issue. 

This is an interesting variation of the General Service British Shovels.  It is constructed nearly identically as the M-1910, US, T-Handle entrenching tools!  The blade is welded, front and back to form an integral socket for the wooden handle.  The two open spots on either side of the handle, have been filled with wooden plugs.  This is the identical construction method used on the US, M-1910 entrenching tools.  I'll be looking into that similarity further, but for now, here are a few, side-by-side comparison photos of my 1943 dated US, M-1910 entrenching tool, and the 1943 dated, British General Service Shovel.

This GS shovel is basically "as-found".  I did a light cleaning of the rusted blade areas with a wire brush, and then applied a coat of danish oil over the entire shovel.  I leave the original patina whenever possible, and always go for conservation over restoration whenever I can.

Since I covered the history of these shovels in my last blog post, let's jump right into the photo album.  Enjoy!