Australian WWII - Far North Queensland Metal detecting and recovery

[AT P Sweep]

Thanks for your excellent input Steve ~ Always a great help .

[AT P Sweep]

My Grandfather probably knew Bevan Waldock as he was from Bauple too,which was only a very small community.He signed up a year later and served in the 2/31st.
Great finds

It really is a small World eh, Mick ~

Seems there are few Waldock around too including Gin Gin at Bundeberg, 'he' passed on ~ Will chase them up and see if they are interested in the tag !

Cheers
Stuart

[AT P Sweep]

I have a resolve to the Waldock issue !

I looked them up and there are heaps of them around Rocky , Gympie etc ~ but based on the fact that WC Waldock died in Bundaberg in 2001 ~

I figured the only Waldock would be related living in GIN GIN ~ And sure enough I got hit right ~ his Son ~

“Allan” said that in tracing his family tree he was quite amazed as to the number of same name peeps in the region but not related !

Allan was totally stoked when I announced I had found his Dad’s ID tag ~ amazed in fact ~ and excited when I offered to simply mail it to him !

And my request was that I simply asked as to why he was listed as a POW `

He was serving in Palestine ~ and “they" were hiding behind a stone wall ~ and several Vichy tanks went past and they believed they were safe until Vichy troops leapt over the same wall and caught them out ~ He spent some time in a POW camp under the French ~ “

So they made them tough then as he returned to Australia and Tinaroo before training and serving in almost all the Australian commitment campaigns including Kokoda and right up to Borneo and Balikpapan, Borneo ~ two weeks before the war ended ~

[AT P Sweep]

(Does any one text in my post above.. I have a blank screen but then 'Richard_J' says he likes it ????)

I have a resolve to the Waldock issue !

I looked them up and there are heaps of them around Rocky , Gympie etc ~ but based on the fact that WC Waldock died in Bundaberg in 2001 ~

I figured the Waldock may be the closest relative ~ And sure enough I got it right ~ his Son ~

“Allan” said that in tracing his family tree he was quite amazed as to the number of same name peeps in the region but not related !

Allan was totally stoked when I announced I had found his Dad’s ID tag ~ amazed in fact ~ and excited when I offered to simply mail it to him !

And my request was that I simply asked as to why he was listed as a POW `

He was serving in Palestine ~ and “they" were hiding behind a stone wall ~ and several Vichy tanks went past and they believed they were safe until Vichy troops leapt over the same wall and caught them out ~ He spent some time in a POW camp under the French ~ “

So they made them tough then as he returned to Australia and Tinaroo before training and serving in almost all the Australian commitment campaigns including Kokoda and right up to Borneo and Balikpapan, Borneo ~ two weeks before the war ended ~

[AT P Sweep]

Interesting on the POW side of things, I don't think I have seen a similar case where the person was only a POW for a short time during the war.

The vast majority were POWs until the end of hostilities in whichever side of the world they were captured. The only ones I have seen who returned to Australia early were the ones released under humanitarian grounds by the Germans during prisoner exchanges.


I suppose there would have been a small number of times our blokes became POWs but were then freed again when Allied troops over-ran the area where they were being held. .

Dave

i agree that would have been the scenario and I was perplexed for the same reason `But the Aussies played a substantial role in the victory ov erhte the Vichy presence ~ including the Aust 2/25 Batt, relevant to this discussion (?)

"Prisoners taken by the Vichy French forces were returned as well." Refer below ~ answers that question eh !


Syria–Lebanon Campaign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Syria

Aftermath[edit][color=rgb(0,0,0)]
On 10 July, as the Australian 21st Brigade was on the verge of entering Beirut, Dentz sought an armistice. At one minute past midnight on 12 July, a ceasefire came into effect. To all intents and purposes, this ended the campaign and an armistice known as Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre (also known as the "Convention of Acre") was signed on 14 July at the "Sidney Smith Barracks" on the outskirts of the city of Acre.^[30][/color]
[color=rgb(0,0,0)][/color]

[background=rgb(249,249,249)]
[/background]

Australian troops among the ruins of the old Crusader castle at Sidon, Lebanon, July 1941.[color=rgb(0,0,0)]

The Vichy French forces lost approximately 6,000 men. Of these, roughly 1,000 had been killed. This left 37,736 Vichy French prisoners of war. When given the choice of being repatriated to Metropolitan France or joining the Free French, only 5,668 men chose to join the forces of General Charles De Gaulle.^[17] The total number of persons repatriated to Metropolitan France, civilian and military was 37,563. Eight convoys composed of three hospital ships and one "gleaner" ship sailed for France between 7 August and 27 September 1941 and were cleared without any unfortunate incident.

^[31][/color][color=rgb(0,0,0)]

Prisoners taken by the Vichy French forces were returned as well.

It was determined that several British prisoners of war had been sent out of Syria even after the armistice was initialled. The delay in obtaining the return of these prisoners led to the detention in Palestine of Dentz and 29 of his most senior officers. They were released in due course as the British prisoners were returned to Syria.^[32][/color][color=rgb(0,0,0)]

In late July 1941, De Gaulle flew from Brazzaville to personally congratulate the victors.^[33][/color][color=rgb(0,0,0)]

Free French General Georges Catroux was placed in control of Syria and Lebanon. On 26 November, shortly after taking up this post, Catroux recognised the independence of Syria and Lebanon in the name of the Free French movement.^[34][/color]

Again a great education for me as I knew very ~ well nothing of the Australian campaign in the WWII Middle east ~ ironically there is an Aussie and Degaulle connection right there ~

And there must have even been some Aust diggers were familair with the region after the previous stouch with the Turks in WWI (?)

[Jack Kelly]

Nice work Sweeps, I commend you on your "stick to it" nature in tracking down the next of kin. Well done, Jack

[AT P Sweep]

Thanks Jack

Merete, my other half reckons I have found my real Forte in life ~ MD and archeology ~ LOL

Given the time I throughly enjoy researching the related issues ~

I was sent this fantastic link last night ~

All about post WWII photos and related text ! Great link


World War II: After the War - In Focus - The Atlantic

[AT P Sweep]

Headed out in the afternoon to check out the Fun Park ~ and sure enough the water has dropped again ~

Spent several hours paddling with a very mxed result but soem gems for sure ~

Found a target firing range ( under water again) ~ lots of bullet heads ~ so the were firing south ~ and not necessarily north from the spot I found the mortar rounds in March ~ \

The belt buckle is a ripper and I found it right on the water line as I headed home ~ so water wading is no guarantee that all relics will be stripped away !

Another ( excellent) Lee Enfield barrel drop weight

Standard service buttons

Mystery brass tapered bolt ???? Suggestions as it looks a purpose piece ~

1/2 penny 1943

Penny ( excellent ) 1943

Five cent -1976

Tunic AMF button ( excellent)

A Halco ( Vintage ) fish lure ~

One sample impacted bullet head


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URL=http://s176.photobucket.com/user/Brewdag7/media/Fossick664Oct1310Medium_zps3848332d.jpg.html][/URL]

[AT P Sweep]

Well ~ we were supposed to be heading out today, Sunday with a team ~ four of us.

Target uncertain as I have not dealt with a convention !!

First "Ed" decided in wisdom that perhaps his weekend would be best spent wit the family as it is a long weekend with family in presence!

Then we agreed to meet up at Tinaroo Black Gully ~ And it was a mad house ~ weekend warriors and boats , jet skies!

Paul ( Atherton ) was up for heading to the back of Tinaroo and a WWII camp site which was a Artillery unit ~ but after soem discussion it was decided that that site was a bigger challenge than a few hours on a Sunday afternoon ~

So it was down to two metal Detectors ~ and Black Gully and the 2/7th Cavalry in view of water levels still dropping ~

I headed into the water not far from the boat ramp as I know this was a work shop area for the armoured vehicles ~

I was accosted by a tall attractive lady who kept me talking for ages ~ and she was totally bemused by the tales of the WWII camps despite her being a local ~

Paul and Paul Corp gave me grief for chatting up the "Yummy Mummy" instead of getting on with the hunt !

Paul (A) then announced that they had found a ripper glass piece in the first trash heap some 20 metres form me, along the water line ~ It was clear bottle that had the top 1/3 cut off and had been perfectly smoothed to form a piece of art work in the shape of a glass funnel ~

I decided to cut to the chase and headed for "my mortar round site" ~

Shadowed by P&P Co armed with a single Garret 250

The finds were few and far between..

I scored a nice fuel drum bung.. probably the best I have to date. several buttons including an Officer's cap AMF button ~ smallest I have seen but Paul (Cairns) put me straight on that one.

A couple of mystery items including the brass ring with the triangular mahining.. looks purpose made to me ~

[AT P Sweep]

Well after last weekend's rather disappointing sweep of the 2/7th Cavalry site last Sunday ~ ( but eh enlightening converation with the sexy lady in the swimmers) I decided on a fresh plan for Wednesday last ~

( Well I canot complain as the site ha been pretty good to me with the 2" Mortar rounds , name tags and a vast misc WWII relics really ! )

So I decided I would work the same site but aim for the southern section where numerous (long Weekenders were enjoying their water sports over the previous (public holiday ) long weekend !

So a total change from Archaeology and relic hunting to a searching water lost spoils of holiday makers ~ But alas ~ No watches, jewellery , rings or even modern coins ~ Just a lowly lonely 1974 two cent coin !

But ironically the boat ramp and happy happy holiday area was in the water areas riddles with WWII camp detritus.. Everything from Spent 303 shells ~ what I believe a tent line picket marker~ mixed in with modern bits and pieces ~ but NO treasures what so ever!

After some 2 hours combing the bottom up to 3 metres off shore I called it a day ~

But not completely ~ I decided I had an hour two left so I packed up and headed for another of my known WWII camp areas ~

And as the water is still dropping ~ the new ground below started to reveal numerous echoes and targets ~ But I might add not before I was crouched down digging a target right on the way line ~ and I suddenly looked up to see a HUGE bloody ~ German Sheppard just about to lunge on top of me!!

Luckily for me he was a Happy Happy chappie ~ and more about "I uv you total stranger !! Be my friend !! "

He startled the be-jeez oot of me ~ ( Obviously thought for a split secodn he was on the War path ! )

(BTW the relics turned otu to be a very rusty and denegrated door hinge ~ And it goes to prove that water sweeping is not always effective as this spot I have swept many times ! )

After several minutes he was torn between the call of his mater and a new found desire to go metal detecting! The prior ~ master won over and he moved on !!

But as suggested the targets were many and varied. But I realised that time was against me so I started to ignore low tone targets and aim for the single highs with some small rewards in coins and relics including yet another 'Australia' shoulder badge ~

I will post some pictures shortly as I am at work and don’t have said photos here ~

The quandary I now have is that 'P&P Co." are endeavouring to organise a day trip into the nearby ranges where extensive firing, strafing and artillery exercises were conducted ~

A local munitions collector and retailer has highly recommended a trip and even suggests that a metal detector is hardly required as there are extensive relics and bits simply "sun baking" and a recent brush fire has cleared the brush ~


But having said that I tend to suggest that it will be worthwhile to take a MD as the Army blokes suggested that every range no matter what the purpose of the site contained a camp and this will be no exception ~

So the mountain excursion would seem the better option and then return to the latest water sweep site on perhaps Sunday ~

( Lucky I have a very tolerant partner who appreciates my MD archaeology ventures as an escape from what seems an insane work place environment at times !)