We already have a page dedicated to this gun in the Small Arms section, so please click here if you have not yet visited to learn about the history of the FM24/29.
The relic piece presented here is the remains of an FM24/29 that was recovered during dredging operations in a canal along the perimeter defence line around the evacuation zone. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, little further information is available as to the exact location from where it was recovered.
The item consists of a, now, single piece of metal and is in fact the remains of the gas piston and breech block of the gun. Originally, the breech was free to move via the oval connection (see close detail images below) as the gas piston operated the gun's system. Internally there is a high-tension spring (below the the breech block and not shown) which was there, in part, to dampen the effects of the pressure exerted on the mechanism during operation.
There is however an 'alien' item located in the breech block. The piece of metal which protrudes from the front and back of the block is part of the gunner's tool kit. This item appears to have been forced through the breech in order to neutralize the part in order to render it useless. The presence of this tool clearly demonstrates that the gun as a whole had been dismantled (as opposed to merely 'spiked') and dumped in one go, so further parts of this FM24/29 will be somewhere in the vicinity of where this was discovered.