they were all families of military personnel so as i had struggled to think of a fitting memento of their visit i remembered that the one thing that i had a supply of was de-activated anti-tank cannon shells from the stukas and fw190s , so after all the brass cases had been polished to perfection , each member of that ill-fated unit had one of them mounted on a varnished wooden plinth ; and their rank , name , service number and date of birth ( dash ) 20th november 1942 was etched into a brass plate and then attached to it .