Talk:White phosphorus munitions/Archives/2020/November

Historic photos of phosphor processing plant


An interesting set of photos is currently being sold via Delcampe. One photo shows a narrow gauge railway, but I am confused by the French descriptions which can be summarised as follows:

"Atelier Phosphor - Selles Chimie Vidange Munitions - Atelier de désobusage artillerie lourde sur voie férrée ALVF en milieu humide en automatique récupération du phosphore - Atelier de récupération du phosphore (bombes obus 155 mm) - Decoutage d'obus de 400 mm dans l'eau (commande a distance)"

Do you know where and when these photos have been taken, of which a retouched version is shown here? Do you think, it is just an old oil drum on a Decauville truck, or is is an artillery shell to be disarmed?

It looks, as if this was a workshop recovering ('steaming' out) phosphorus from 400mm and 155mm shells to make them safe for disposal after World War I. --NearEMPTiness (talk) 04:41, 28 November 2020 (UTC)