Other Metal Items - Relics
Some metal used to make trench art objects is more significant than others. On the left we have trinkets made from the aluminium airframe from downed zeppelins, these two are from L32 and L33, both shot down in September 1916.
Objects salvaged from zeppelins and crashed planes are common, along with shell fragments from bombing raids on English towns, often simply mounted on wooden plinths with a little plaque announcing ‘piece of xyz, souvenir of the great war’.
Another source of metal relics was the copper dome atop the lighthouse at Cape Helles, at the southern tip of Gallipoli. This was destroyed by naval shellfire at the start of the Gallipoli campaign but, once Allied troops had occupied the southern tip of Gallipoli, soldiers were quick to start pilfering sections of copper and manufacturing these simple souvenirs, detailing the history and significance of the metal.