[quote]
[quote]
[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63587000/jpg/_63587831_63587830.jpg[/IMG]
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Mr Brown was injured in an explosion in France in 1944
[/quote]
The family of a World War II veteran have found out just how injured he was after about [B]170g (6oz) of shrapnel was found following his cremation.[/B]
Ronald Brown, who died last week aged 94, was injured in an explosion while serving in France in August 1944.
Medics left the shrapnel in his left leg as it was near an artery and thought it was safer.
His family said his only complaint about his injury was when he asked that children did not to sit on his knee.
'Careful with me bullet'
Hull-born Mr Brown served with the East Yorkshire Regiment.
After the war, the Inland Revenue employee later moved to Exeter with his wife.
His daughter, Jane Madden, said the metal fragments showed "how brave he was".
She said: "We were told he just had a bullet in his leg, because he would tell us: 'Careful with me bullet, it hurts'.
Staff at the crematorium in Exeter gave the shrapnel to Mrs Madden after the family requested it - not expecting a bag of metal fragments.
Mrs Madden said: "It sounds macabre, but, after he died, we asked for what we thought was the bullet because my three daughters asked if we could just keep it as memento.
"We then got handed this bag of stuff."
Mrs Madden said the shrapnel did not seem to affect her father's mobility, although she added that it was a "long recovery" from his injures.
She said: "He used to have a stick while he was recovering from his injuries, but it [the shrapnel] only seemed to affect him in cold weather.
"I don't think he knew how much was in his leg. He didn't see it.
"The medics just said it was too close to an artery and stitched him back up again."
The discovery had also reinforced the family's pride in their own war hero, she added.
"At the time, we'd go: 'Oh, no. It's another war story', if he started telling us a story. But there's a lot of pride in the family about his service now," she said.
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Source:
[URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-20001326[/URL]
[/quote]
That's so metal. :rock:
Should really be put in a museum somewhere.
[QUOTE=RosettaStoned;38100409]Should really be put in a museum somewhere.[/QUOTE]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/dYgXu.jpg[/img]
To think the man lived with that his whole life and not have it affect his family.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/DMGlL.jpg[/IMG]
They should put the fragments in a picture frame with that quote. "Careful with me bullet."
[quote]Medics left the shrapnel in his left leg as it was near an artery and thought it was safer.
[/quote]
Dayum.
I found this [B]REALLY FUN[/B] diagram
[IMG]http://www.digitalapoptosis.com/archives/canada/shrapnel.jpg[/IMG]
WAIT HOLY SHIT ADD THIS TO THE OP
[IMG]http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02372/shrapnel_2372989b.jpg[/IMG]
That's his pile of shrapnel, roughly two handfuls....
"When we were very young he used to tell us not to sit on his knee because of the wound."
:((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;38100838]Dayum.[/QUOTE]
happens a lot, same thing applies to nerves sometimes
pretty sure thats not the shrapnel that was in his leg, just a picture of a shoestring and a few screws.
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;38100927]pretty sure thats not the shrapnel that was in his leg, just a picture of a shoestring and a few screws.[/QUOTE]
That's not shoestring, those are pieces of wire.
[editline]20th October 2012[/editline]
Clearer picture:
[img]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/10/18/article-2219472-158F0FAF000005DC-319_634x452.jpg[/img]
That picture also contain the metal pieces of the coffin he was put in.
This wasn't one of his prouder moments but my dad filled a glass vase with alcohol and dropped a match in it because he thought it would just light on fire. The whole vase shattered and a huge piece of glass embedded into his forehead and he hasn't gotten anything done about it. I would say that's why he's so dumb sometimes but being dumb is how that happened so...
[QUOTE=FingerSpazem;38111262]This wasn't one of his prouder moments but my dad filled a glass vase with alcohol and dropped a match in it because he thought it would just light on fire. The whole vase shattered and a huge piece of glass embedded into his forehead and he hasn't gotten anything done about it. I would say that's why he's so dumb sometimes but being dumb is how that happened so...[/QUOTE]
Has he did anything stupid since? maybe the glass fixed his brain.
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;38100927]pretty sure thats not the shrapnel that was in his leg, just a picture of a shoestring and a few screws.[/QUOTE]
Nope, the man actually STEPPED ON A LANDMINE. He told his family that it was a bullet to simplify things and probably to not be so graphic.
Source:
[URL]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9618342/Weighty-memento-war-veterans-secret-revealed-after-his-death.html[/URL]
[quote]Ronald Brown stepped on a land mine while on a mission in France in August 1944.
The blast peppered his left leg with red-hot fragments and he was forced to crawl two miles to safety.
But because of medical conditions of the day it was thought safer to leave shrapnel in his body.
He survived the war but only ever told his family the basic story and said the accident had left him with a 'bad knee'.
Mr Brown told loved ones he still had a 'bullet' in his leg and asked his grandchildren not to sit on his knee because of the pain it caused.[/quote]
Poor fellow.
[QUOTE=FingerSpazem;38111262]This wasn't one of his prouder moments but my dad filled a glass vase with alcohol and dropped a match in it because he thought it would just light on fire. The whole vase shattered and a huge piece of glass embedded into his forehead and he hasn't gotten anything done about it. I would say that's why he's so dumb sometimes but being dumb is how that happened so...[/QUOTE]
At least he didn't do this lmao
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hy3-janlEPM/TsFILfziS4I/AAAAAAAAGXY/EGC9lt0yfyU/s1600/occupy%2Bportland%2Bmortars%2Bin%2Bglass%2Bfor%2Bmax%2Bshrapnel.jpg[/img]
For those of you unaware that's a big fireworks artillery shell. The consumer version of the professional-sized ones that light up the sky.
My grandpa still has a piece shrapnel in his leg, over here in Germany where many kids were used as soldiers(Hitlers last reserve) it's not that uncommon.
[editline]20th October 2012[/editline]
T'was a grenade
[QUOTE=CottonTM;38112604]Nope, the man actually STEPPED ON A LANDMINE. He told his family that it was a bullet to simplify things and probably to not be so graphic.
Source:
[URL]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9618342/Weighty-memento-war-veterans-secret-revealed-after-his-death.html[/URL]
Poor fellow.
At least he didn't do this lmao
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hy3-janlEPM/TsFILfziS4I/AAAAAAAAGXY/EGC9lt0yfyU/s1600/occupy%2Bportland%2Bmortars%2Bin%2Bglass%2Bfor%2Bmax%2Bshrapnel.jpg[/img]
For those of you unaware that's a big fireworks artillery shell. The consumer version of the professional-sized ones that light up the sky.[/QUOTE]
Close to a white phosphorous bomb encased in hard glass.. what could POSSIBLY go wrong?
How didn't he feel that in his leg for years? That's what I wanna know
[QUOTE=FreyasFighter;38137125]How didn't he feel that in his leg for years? That's what I wanna know[/QUOTE]
You don't really feel these things
(I've got a small stone inside my right hand)
[QUOTE=Darkimmortal;38137481]You don't really feel these things
(I've got a small stone inside my right hand)[/QUOTE]
How did you end up with a stone in your hand and not remove it?
Also a small stone is something totally different than a bunch of shrapnel, I'd think.
I shattered part of my left kneecap in a skateboard accident 4 years ago. The chunks of bone are just floating around in there, my doc told me to opt out of surgery as it wasn't necessary. I guess some things you just don't really feel, it doesn't bother me at all.
[QUOTE=Aetna;38139637]I shattered part of my left kneecap in a skateboard accident 4 years ago. The chunks of bone are just floating around in there, my doc told me to opt out of surgery as it wasn't necessary. I guess some things you just don't really feel, it doesn't bother me at all.[/QUOTE]
I'd be worried about the splintered bones/shrapnel with sharp fractured edges on them. I can't even imagine how it would feel for it to be slicing the tissue up underneath the skin with movement.
[QUOTE=Tea Guy;38140627]I'd be worried about the splintered bones/shrapnel with sharp fractured edges on them. I can't even imagine how it would feel for it to be slicing the tissue up underneath the skin with movement.[/QUOTE]
I don't feel anything, it's never caused me any pain or discomfort. Sometimes it'll be a little uncomfortable if I put a considerable amount of weight on it (like when I lean down to tie my shoe), but never painful. Who knows, maybe a few years down the road it'll start to hurt and I'll have to go in for the surgery.
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