Australian WWII - Far North Queensland Metal detecting and recovery

[Torch]

That BC 611 hand held is a great find Stu

[AT P Sweep]

Sean

Sadly the photo only shows the intact side ~ the reverse side is MIA ~ Even Ms M asked why we left it ! I explained and she conceded it would be border line "more junk" but I may just have to retrieve it regardless eh ~

As I said to DM ~ "Amazing~ this was the top of the line Nokia of it's day ~ pinnacle if technology ~ and some Digger has ditched it ! " (~ Maybe it has a SIM card in here ! LOL !)

[AT P Sweep]

I think I may have seen that old walkie-talkie unit in some of the old war movies?

Oz.

Well Oz ~ they did make most of the movie ~ " The Thin Red Line" ~ and "Escape from Absalom" ~ in this area ~ !

( Ionic eh ~ we watched "The Tin Red line " and had to laugh as in the back ground of one early battle scene in the grassed areas ~ when they tried take the ridge with the entrenchments ~ ( and Woody Harellson was killed in the scene ) ~ we could see the cow tracks crossing the face of the hill/ ridge ~ Spose you get that in dairy country ~

[Ubique]

I wonder what they dug up when making the entrenchments?

Oz.

[geelong]

hello AT P swwep like the work you put into this thread. have found it interesting.
I have some question's I would like to ask. if you don't mind.
there was a ordinance base set up by the US army in 1942 not far from where I live about 3km from home.
What go my interest, is that my mates grandparents had a farm not far from the area, and when he was a kid he found a pineapple grenade around that area and a pile of spent rifle shells.
he gave me the grenade a couple of years back and told me the story of were he found it.
I so I looked into the area a bit after finding out that a rd there was called old base rd. and found out that The Americans had established a base there from 42 to the end of the war. I also found a old local news paper article advertising a action there after the war selling all the huts extra.
I went there again today to map the place out a bit and I found a m2 Australian helmet shell in the dirt rusted right out.
the question I would like to ask is that my friend a has a minelab detector what size coil should a use and should I dig up every sound I get.

Important and extensive auction sale of 44 buildings for removal, also water tanks, timber, piping, &c by order of the Commonwealth
US Army ammunition depot known as the Kane Ordnance Depot, which specialised in anti-aircraft ammunition and was established in mid-1942. Kane Ordnance Depot was the US Army’s first important ordnance installation in Australia and was operated by the 25th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company (AA), whose original task was to support the US 41st Infantry Division
cheers mark
there's no top just the bottom half.

[AT P Sweep]

What size coil should a use and should I dig up every sound I get.

Roughly speaking the smaller coils have better penetration and the larger coil cover more ground ~ Of course that is broadly covering the issue ~

The Minelabs are excellent ~ BUT it has taken me some 12 months to master the CTX ~

Best I can suggest is dig all targets but note the characteristics of each and every find ~

CTX and the E-Trac ~ signals are bullets 303 < 26 -30 > ~ and a Florin or large Rising Sun is around 9.30 but take note of the tone~ note the screen placing ~ and the numbers ~ the only way is read the manual~ watch as many vids as you can ingest and practice ~ practice and ~ then practice ~

The signals will vary often wildly ~ not to mention the soil make up~

Good luck ~


94,475

[AT P Sweep]

I wonder what they dug up when making the entrenchments?

Oz.

Be interesting for sure as I know they did make use of some military tracks which serviced the WWII camp sites ~

One story I was told recently was that a local bloke bought up a LOT of the props and equipment used in the 'Absolem' movie at the end of production ~ and what he bought and sold off was quite an amazing array military equipment ~

[AT P Sweep]

Did a mid week hunt and picked up the Radio chassis which we had left last weekend ~

It now resides in the Relic shelf display ~

Had scratch around the area and gave it up after around 45 mins due to extreme and rubbish ~

I have frequently found these (brass) latches before but always associated them with wooden, not steel containers ~ Any suggestion appreciated !)

So I moved to what i thought was sacred other wise undiscovered territory ~ But seems the Interlopers ~ have arrived and turned this site into a battle field as well ~

A field of gouged, and left exposed holes ! B&*^*& Ar&^(*^~es holes



But made several interesting finds ~

This I am perplexed ~ the holes are < 85 mm > ~ about the right size for a 25 lber shell` ??~

Plus an aluminium disc ~ The only reason I kept was the fact a it had a single hole in the outer edge ! After all ID tags were always Stainless steel ~ right!?


Wrong ~ I have never seen a ALuminium ID tag ~ and it took some careful cleaning before I could raise the identity ~ and it is obviously machine engraved ~ not like all others I have found ~ being hand punched and S/steel ~

Again I only bought home quality items ~ the two rounds and the King George VI penny are in amazing condition ~

Any suggestion on the round disc ~ I have seen similar but can't quite 'gel' to the identity or purpose ~

94,888

[inka]

Nice ID tag, the engraving looks ike its made by hand and not by machine, very similar type of engraving as on much of the trenchart items I ve found.

[Ubique]

The engraving is done using something like a small screwdriver or tiny chisel using a rocking motion to achieve the zig-zag effect. I have experimented with this myself.

The round brass ring reminds me of a door knob mount, complete with screw holes.

Oz.