RRPG dig - British Army Dump - 10th September 2011

[cornishboy]

wow these finds are staggering,my short replies dont do them justice

[Steve T]

wow these finds are staggering,my short replies dont do them justice

LOL !

In reply to your earlier question by the way, the dump is spread over an area approximately the size of a football pitch. In all, probably about one quarter of this area has been searched. And that's taken a great many visits. If you spent every day digging for a year you probably still wouldn't clear the site

Steve T

[dangermouse]

If you spent every day digging for a year you probably still wouldn't clear the site

- that worries me a bit though. When are they planning to build the wet thing here?

Yeah, its a NAAFI Spoon also on the bit of knife,, shows a tiny /|\

Does anyone know how to ID the unit numbers on my butt plate and butt disc?

Mouse

[Steve T]

I looked at those DM. Now stop beinf lazy and go find out for yourself !!

Lee Enfield Rifle Markings



And if that don't help, go here......

3 Markings-Reading-Organizations | The Lee Enfield Rifle

......plenty of links to other resources.

Steve T

[dangermouse]

Woo TY Steve,

I found 4 butt discs now all with details of some sort or another... now to work out what they mean...

1st disc reads - 6.96 M SL 333 RGA = well I'm still baffled... SL=The Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) (2nd Battalion) S.L. and RGA=Royal Garrison Artillery pah... I knew this would not be straight forward

2nd disc - 3 1894 1 V M I A 341 = Volunteer Militia Infantry (Canadian)

3rd disc (i got excited about this one) - ? 9 V 2.K T . A 141 = Volunteer in 3rd KTA?, can't see KTA anywhere

4th disc - 53S 24 = PAH! is this a joke!

Also to add to my fun, I have a rifle butt with markings on... 19LD, 331, 4 CAM, 5 7(or Y) 3 each of these lines have been over stamped with lines to strike them out? 19th The Light Dragoons, 331st company - 4th Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 573rd Company?

My head hurts now and I feel I got no-where!

Please help if you know I have completely ballsed this up or if you know what any of this stuff should be.

Mouse x

[davejb]

Ive finally unpacked all of my dig finds today, here are the results of 9 1/2 hours hard digging on Saturday. As you can see everything is in very relic condition and Im sure will be weeded through before Im finished. I found just one drill 303 round which is in there, see if you can spot it .

I took these pictures to record the lot before the serious sorting and cleaning starts.

Attachment 240838

Attachment 240839

There are plenty of butt plates with most being brass.

Attachment 240840

Attachment 240841

Attachment 240842

Attachment 240843

An interesting boot with a leather strap that cant be adjusted. Notice on the underside there are no spark producing metal studs but there are two strange leather dampner type studs on the heal? A strange design?

Attachment 240844

I have cleaned a few of the larger finds.

First up is this fuel type can that was actually used as a water chest for the cooling of Vickers heavy machine guns. It's survived remarkably well and still retains the lighter pre war green paint that I assume was later over painted with the darker green during the war.

Attachment 240845

Attachment 240846

I was pleased to get this flimsy 4 gallon early war fuel can sadly minus its cap. It still retains some of the original paint.

Attachment 240847

The base is embossed 'M.M.O.R.' and below that WD (War Dept) with the arrow. Just below that are the remains of something painted in black but sadly only an H followed by a - remains.

Attachment 240848

I only took this very relic water chest home because I wanted the good base cap but couldn't free it on site. But once home after seeing the original wording CHEST WATER M1 on the front and still having its top cap in position. I decided to keep it, to me the relic look of the piece has an interesting charm that will go well with the better condition ones I have.

Attachment 240849

Attachment 240850

I'll post pictures of the interesting bits as they're cleaned.

LUCKYSTRIKE

Lucky, i think ive just ided that long rod you found, i was trawling through a RSA website and saw the description of the BOYS ATR, there was a system whereby a no/4 rifle was converted to shoot a .22 round whilst being secured to the side of a Boys atr, but also a ,22 round that was placed inside the larger casing for the .55 , there is a full picture of the extractor rod and i believe this matches perfectly to the one you found, also there are some brackets that were used to secure the no/4 to the BOYS, i think these have been seen on site but thought they were for machines and discarded

[davejb]

Correction..... its not an extractor rod but an expellor rod issued by Parker Hale, google Boys ATR, scroll down to 1st "Enfield Boys listing" then scroll through to convertor photos

[Steve T]

Hi all

Well, I was having a root through my many finds from the site, trying to decide what to clean next, when I came across the rubber thing I'd dug up. At first I thought it was the sole of a shoe. However, it's rather an odd shape and too thick to be the sole of a shoe. Looking at it again this morning, I am almost positive I know what it is.

What do you think ?

Rubber shoulder pad for a PIAT ??

It is isn't it. I'm sure of it. One half has been fire damaged and it's missing a corner, but the intact end has the shape of a PIAT shoulder pad. If it is, it's a GREAT find !!

No1 end in the picture for scale.

[dangermouse]

yeah ofc its a PIAT butt plate, shame its a bit burnt, but great find

Mouse

[dangermouse]

A update on my butt discs..

2nd disc - 3 1894 1 V M I A 341 = issued in 1894, to a Volunteer in the Volunteer Militia Infantry (Canadian), 341s company. YAY...

3rd disc (i got excited about this one) - ? 9 V 2.K T . A 141 = Volunteer in 3rd KTA?, can't see KTA anywhere ... I'm working on the assumption that the top row is infact 1894, although all that can be seen clearly is the 9 and part of the 4. but the more interesting part is that upon cleaning the back, I find that at some point it has been tuned over and screwed back on to the rifle the other way around, making a poor quality bevel worn by the screw being tightened. On this side it is stamped 7 5 1 L ? 7 although at this point that means nothing to me!

And those bigger but plates don't seem to come from Martini Henry rifles, but either from the Long Lee Enfields or Lee Metford as they both seem to use the same three screw type long top type. See pics below.



however I have also four butt plates that have no oil bottle door, look pretty much the same as Lee Enfields, but I have no idea what they are off, and one very large thin butt plate with no oil bottle door again. Dave thought about BOYS, but its certainly not that after looking at a BOYS one as its all curved and thick.

Your truly puzzled little Mouse