Description

Sarajevo Artillery Shell:

There are many different types of artillery shells, with various types of explosives and detonating fuses, but a basic artillery shell consists of a projectile, filled with explosives. When it’s fired, it blows up and scatters pieces of the metal fragments in all directions.

In a combat zone, like Sarajevo, there was lots of evidence of metal shards on the ground near destroyed buildings and anywhere there were signs of war damage. Occasionally, people would come across projectiles that would impact a target, or the ground, and not explode, but split open and expose the explosive material inside.

We were told that it was because the shells being used were from old JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army from the former Yugoslavia) stock. The unexploded shells were sought after by the Army of the Republic of BiH soldiers inside Sarajevo. They would extract the explosive materials and repurpose them for other offensive weapons to use against the Serbs surrounding the city.

The one in the collection was a projectile that hit the Sarajevo Television station. Fortunately, it didn’t blow up.