Article about: Hi Guys , i was out on sunday at a ww2 usaaf base memorial when along came an old gentleman who said 2it's nice too see you taking an interest in the memorial stone " so i told him i wa
Hi Guys , i was out on sunday at a ww2 usaaf base memorial when along came an old gentleman who said 2it's nice too see you taking an interest in the memorial stone " so i told him i was very interested in militaria , planes etc. , then he said that he was a retired farmer & all the land around us was owned by him & now run by his son's . Well too cut a very long story short , he said that during the war when his father owned all the land & he was a boy of 14 , the government took over some of his land too allow the americans too build the base , so he was telling me loads of storys about what he saw while the war was on at this base , he even had a special pass that allowed him onto the base . During one of his storys he told me of just one particular incident that happend directly above the memorial where we standing & it was of two b17's colliding with each other & both exploding in a ball of fire & he said it was a terrible sight with debri falling out of the sky all around . Well it turned out that just one airman came down by parachute although he was badly wounded , then he said shortly afterwards some men from the base came too see his father & said if you find anymore bodys lying in the cornfield please let us know ! Well i was very engrosed in what this old boy was telling me & then after he told me this he said too me , i have a small piece of one of those planes laying in the back of my car which was ploughed up a few days ago by one of my sons , it is back at my farm just round the corner if you would like too see it , so i jumped at the chance & said i would love too . so he wondered off & me & the mrs chucked our helmets on & potted off too were he said the farm was & there he was with the boot open , so i jumped off the bike & he gave me this piece & i said wow you can feel the history of it straight away , but i also said it was a shame too think that 19 airman were lost in this terrible accident . He then said you can have it if as , it's nice too see people like yourself taking an interest in this sort of thing , as he said i am now 82 & when i am gone alot of what i have told you will be lost . Well sorry for the long drawn out chatter but thought it would explain my piece of relic better . I would just like too know were if possible would this piece have gone on the plane ? it is a heavy chunk of aluminium & the black item inside the housing seems like an electrical brush , the nuts have wire tabs on them too stop them coming undone & the stainless washer on one of the nusts looks like it was made yesterday , remarkable considering it's been in the ground for 70 years .
Just off the top of my head, this looks like part of one of the hatches or windows, wait for some more comments, see if 381st replies, he collects numerous pieces of relic B17s
Just off the top of my head, this looks like part of one of the hatches or windows, wait for some more comments, see if 381st replies, he collects numerous pieces of relic B17s
Hi,
Thanks for the pm I missed this post.
I would say it's a piece of ball turret casting by the looks of it. Would you say it has a rounded curve to it?
Ian , many thanks , i am a happy bunny now i know which part it is , although it's still a sad story but i suppose that was war . Thanks also Andy & yes it does have a rounded curve too it
B17 help needed to indentify piece
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by davejb
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