Australian WWII - Far North Queensland Metal detecting and recovery

[AT P Sweep]

Well pretty quiet around here ~ Lots of research but slightly incapacitated with a a twisted Hoof ~ so I either take it easy or do I work it ~



The Better half is on the case and suggests I rest the right hoof up~



But I have been finishing off with clean up #2 ~ The ferrous items ~

The base plug for the the 25 Ponder was a cool surprie as it is dated 1938 ~

Now we have a full set ~ Twenty five Pounder Smoke







Rack ~ a work in progress~





I was sorting out some of my relics and I came across this ~ I finally recalled where I had dug it ~ and even failed even notice that in fact it is a shell case ~ a large one at that ~ ( I merely bought it hum as scrap brass value !!)

I suggest a 4 1/2" ~ But IF it can be saved at all I think I will need to be dun professionally as my MAP torch is inadequate and it even is debatable as to whether a crushed brass shell case case can even be retrieved at all~(?)

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[AT P Sweep]

Just had an extended conversation with Mate Rob, just returned from Melbourne.

He will take the shell case and give it to another mate/ contact who works in a serious engineering works in Cairns ~

Rob is confident that the bloke can accurately 'roll' the case out ~ or even cut it into two parts roll the halves, and then re-weld ~ in doing so at the end of the day we will not even see the joins ~

As I said it does not have to be an accurate example of the original casing ~

So another restoration in the works ~

Another Cool find ~

[AT P Sweep]

Well I managed to get a Sunday pass for a few hours on Sunday afternoon as Ms M’s plan of a swim outing was canned due to the very cool SE breeze that has been bearing down on us since the recent rains.

I decided to visit Robert first and give him the flattened shell case I found ~

He opted later to stay home and keep detailing his bullet heads ~

As per norm we inspected his collection this time focusing on shell cases ~

Robert agrees with your comment ‘Mat’ that mine is a 105 mm.

I asked him what he plans to do with his stuff ~ He merely shrugged his shoulders ~ I don’t think he has even thought about it ~ “Take it with you when you go? Mate!”

I headed off having no real plan of anything new or spectacular ~ just getting out was the idea ~ ( As you says, Terry: “ Just Being there !” ) ~

As I headed to old familiar high Grounds I figured if fact right back the very basics ~ where I started years ago ~ and even found my first hand grenade ~ A Very hard worked area!

I generally like to expand the search area beyond what is the norm ~ and recce further out zones !


A lot of large high tone signals but I believe these are high tensile cables and earth moving kit as most were huge targets ~

Eventually switched to the north side of access road ~ also known camp and exercise area to 1945.


Total positive certain camp site area ~

LOTS of detritus and heaps of spent and rotted 303 cases ~


I figured the Wing Nut is far too big for a Battery terminal ~ Robert called this one ~ “Totally ~ A securing nut for a 25 Pounder shell rack ! “

Another Malanda Dairy Farmer’s period Milk bottle Quart.

I thought this was a choke mechanism~ so encrusted and dirty ~ almost chucked it but stuck by my rule ~ “Never EVER throw anything utility has been discounted !”

My partner is on about photoing lesser items and leaving them for others ~ but I realised it is solid brass and retrieved it ! LOL!

On cleaning the mystery device Then noted it had a pin hole in the concave and when looked through forms a perfect image ~

(* The end “button” would have had a rubber grommet as an eye support ~ )


So after much debate I took it to work and My boss was in the RNZ Nay as a seaman ~ He took one look and said ~ completely unprompted ~ “Hmm Gun Sight ! Nice!”



I checked this morning as there was some debate as to whether there is a lens or even remanets of a cross hair in the inner cylinder ~ No!

Did some research ~ Not saying this is the one ~ but looks similar ~ or perhaps typical ~

No 7 Gun Sight

Now the challenge is that I found it in a creek bed ~ and there were several other ‘quality’ signals but they were deep ~ so I did not persevere ~

Since then I revisited the area again yesterday and found even more evidence to support the Gun sight !

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[AT P Sweep]

Oh The bottle is a quart Milk bottle ~ as supplied back in the day when the same company I work for now, supplied milk in glass bottles ~

Ironically during a conversation in the Smoko room on Tuesday ~ one of the "yardies" said to me " Oh if you want more of those glass bottles there are wire carry racks of them in the back ware house ~

[AT P Sweep]

Well after finding the Gun Sight I decided to do a return Hunt on ANZAC day ~ Weds.


Fien weather bewt breeze from SE ~

My Offsider attended a ANZAC memorial ~ as he has a modest military back ground ~ I guess to be pedantic so have I ~ But Dwayne carried the banner for us ~

I headed straight back to the wash area where I foudn the sight ~ But not before I immediately picked up on several targets ~ including a large file within a known camp area ~ and hiding/ masked under a standard boot heel, several webbing buckles.

I forged on and the entire area right tot the wash area has signs of activity including terraces. But the sheer lack of detritus suggested to me that the area was more about a training area/s rather than occupation'

I found the spot amongst the grass but found nothing more about relics. So I decided to back track the wash area ~ and sure enough not more than 30 meters slightly back up the rise an doff to the right I noticed a regrowth area of Casuarinas ~

The sort of regrowth is typical in this area as the Casuarinas tend to rehabitate areas much more quickly than rain forest.

I entered the area and soon found what I believe is a Gun pit ~ This was dug into the inverse side off the rise ~ which I believe would offer a natural defensive position with the view that any such gun would be used a bombardment utility as opposed to a direct line of fire attack weapon (?)

And this position would have allowed direct bombardment beyond to a range of hills which are recognised a target area for the guns and even aircraft during the war years to 1945, and still recommended No Go area ~

I returned "base" as DM arrived ~ we discussed events and plans . He decided he would work the (very) large fire pit metres away from where we were parked ~

This fire was a HUGE event and they would~ must have burnt literally tonnes of kit !

The spot is so badly contaminated that even after 75 years the grass has not recovered ~

I returned to the area where I found the 25 pounder wing nut and bottle but found nothing.
As time was getting on, I left for home base.

Dwayne did reasonably well including his first clasp knife ~

My humble collection



Includes the Mortar retaining carry case/s bracket

[/ATTACH]

I also cleaned up the sight and found it is stamped 7 3 ~ I ask ~ does this indicate it is a Type 7 sighting apparatus and a #3 sight insert ?

I suggest it is a #3 ' Direct Line of fire sight ' (?) * Still have no evidence to post as yet.)

[AT P Sweep]

Had a pleasant visit from mate Robert this afternoon ~ for him to inspect my collection ~


He is a very different collector to me ~h I cover all the WWI/ II and colonial bases ~ He focuses on artillery and small calibre plus ancillaries ~


He was impressed with the collection but he once again made several contributions ~ well ~ one and a second for Identifying


I have made no endeavours to Identify the items but the first is pretty obvious But to suit what ? I have been suggested ~ Modern AK47 ~ SKS ~

Attachment 1195645





Plus the Mystery trigger device ~ Suggestions welcome ~

[AT P Sweep]

Well when Ms and I rose at 06.30 it looked grim and sure enough it started to rain by 07:30 ~

The BOM radar said the rain was limited to the south and home gorunds ~

I headed off around 08:45 ~ To the north looked clear ~

Made a steady leisurely trip to the rendezous point at Herberton in the NW.


We timed the meet up in Herberton almost perfectly~ as I rigged up to have a quick solo hunt before Paul and Terry arrived ~ but they pulled up just as I opened the rear hatch.

We decided to have look further on along the banks of the Wild River which has a long history of colonial occupation and even WWII camps !

After several hours we detoured to a local park for Smoko ~ Bewt spot ~

Travelling further on we aimed for a 9 Division camp area ~ But the Second site was a shocker as the Lantana scrub was intense and a real struggle ~ we spent around two hours battling the vegetation ~ with some limited success~

Just to add insult to injury out of the bush the wind was hammering ~

We eventually found small area of trash ~ I found three webbing buckles/ parts of an Officer’s P73 ‘harness” all in the same hole ~ Nice condition too~

The third buckle appeared shortly after this photo ~ I just said to Terry ~ I was annoyed that the opposite side or complete buckles were not to be found ~

The third associated buckle appeared very soon after I took this photo.

( I have to ask ~ When the Officer/s handed in their service revolver~ was the opposite side of the ‘harness’ handed back in along with the revolver and the holster!??

That would make complete sense and explain why we have never found complete sets ~ )

The limited relics were some what of a ‘tease ‘ as there was enough sign of occupation but we simply could not find the Golden square as the Lantana was full on and to Paul’s disgust after his previous visit/s~

Broke for lunch and a cuppa ~ chewed the fat and told tall stories~ and many lies ~ before heading off to Site #3 ~

This site was even more frustrating with random signals as Terry and I agreed ~ ragged and deep holes ~ some targets I simply gave up on!

I dug duck pond for the enamel steel plate ~ great signal but alas ~ hardly worth the effort ~ At least the soils were mostly easy digging all day ~ rocks aside ~

My finds were pretty short after recent hunts ~ but at least there were a few worth whiles~ and mine were the best of the dsy.

A LOT of ferrous and trash pieces including water bungs and even part of a Duffel bag lock but in steel.



I kept the shell case as I figured it might be an old edition being in what I thought was old rubbish pit ~ but turned the head stamp was dated 1944 .




HERBERTON, QLD. 1943-08-18. TANK OF C SQUADRON, 2/9TH AUSTRALIAN ARMOURED REGIMENT, PASSING ALONG THE MAIN STREET OF HERBERTON.

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[AT P Sweep]

Well ~ I have just had a brilliant win over logic and deduction.

I have been arguing for Years that as we have found so many Great Britain Military general Service buttons ( personally <10-15>) locally that there had to have been British service people in residence during WWII ~

But the cynics and Wowsers have continually nodded and said "No ~ no !" ~ " No Stuart ~ any found locally would have been souvenir-ed by Aust. Diggers in North Africa.!"

But I argued at very least if the Australians were proving successful in the Kokoda and subsequent campaigns and the English were struggling in Burma ~ it made complete sense to me that the English would send British units to Australia to observe and train here. Logical ??


Well yesterday while doing AIF research I came across this ~

Description

SHAGGY RIDGE, NEW GUINEA. 1944-01-10. 7308 CAPTAIN H. HOOK, ROYAL DECCAN HORSE (1) AND CAPTAIN A.J.C. STANTON, 14/20TH KINGS HUSSARS (2)

TWO ENGLISH OFFICERS SERVING WITH "C" COMPANY, 2/9TH INFANTRY BATTALION, PICTURED ON THE TOP OF SHAGGY RIDGE,

THEY BELONG TO A PARTY OF 50 BRITISH OFFICERS FROM INDIA WHO ARE ATTACHED TO AUSTRALIAN UNITS IN FORWARD AREAS TO GAIN EXPERIENCE OF JUNGLE FIGHTING IN NEW GUINEA.

Attached to the 2/9th and the 2/9th was encamped locally ~


Ironically the first button I found was in fact an Officer's cap button~ ( Identified here on site if I recall~ )

I think I can call that a Win for my research ~ ( Thus far I have found no further details but still early days! )

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[lithgow]

And Australian troops were involved in the Overlord 'D Day' operation to gain experience for the landings that were playing (and going to play in increasing importance) the core of the offensive in the South West Pacific.

[AT P Sweep]

Australian troops were involved in the Overlord 'D Day' operation

Cheers Mate ~ I always thought that was a fact too ~

I did find the quote some time back from Allied Major General Freddie de Guingand that said on D Day ~

'My God,I wish we had 9th Australian with us this morning'

Major General Freddie de Guingand, Chief of Staff, Allied Land-force Headquaters, D-Day 1944.