Doug, I would suspect that the shells refered to in the manifest were probably just that; the sea type that is, as I would expect them to have been recorded as cartridges having set sail from Britain.

Shotgunjones, interesting point you raised about guns and the Great War as it probably preserved a good many. Guns ordered and never collected or else guns sent to the makers for storeage and never collected. The death toll among junior officers was enormous. Lagopus.....