USAAF B17 base - January 2012

[Steve T]

Hi all

First dig of the year, and what a cracker ! My finds bag was sooooooo heavy by the end of the day

I was searching on an old B17 base that I first searched more than 2 years ago now. On that first, (and only visit up until now), search I didn't find a huge quantity of stuff, but did bring home a couple of nice No. 30 bomb pistols. My aim on this visit was to research a little more, hit prime sites, and return to where I found the bomb pistols to see if there were any more.

I wasn't disappointed

Pictures on their way.................

Firstly before any cleaning.



First set of, as yet, unidentified bits. Know what they are ? Let me know ! The bigger item has the letters AD embossed on it.



A couple of big brass washers, a 20mm cart and a large buckle. Anyone recognise the washers or buckle ? The buckle was quite deep so it may be much older than WW2 and is possibly an old shoe buckle.



Close up of 20mm headstamp.



A really nice condition sixpence, dated 1942. It was this shiney when it came out the ground !



It's a USAAF base, so 50 cals are more or less a definite find. Some nice ones here.....



....and an example of the headstamps. Note the one on the far left. An unusual headstamp reading 'Cal 50 WRA 42'.



Some of the above were found around the MG butts on the airfield, one of the biggest I've seen. The earth bank of the butts were a good 50 feet high ! The whole area was littered with spent casings and spent bullets, (unsurprisingly).



We then searched around a storage bay I'd spotted on an aerial photo, soon discovering it was obviously used for flare storage. Not only did I get this lot, but also......



....this little beauty !!! I thought it was a 2 pounder casing when it came up, but a quick look at the headstamp........



..............soon showed what it actually was. A lovely condition distress flare cartridge, dated March 1942.



No. 30 bomb pistol, found in the same area as the other two on my previous visit. Like the previous finds, it still had the cardboard cap in place and had obviously never been used.



Dated 1944 as well......AWESOME !



Last find was this little bugger. I nearly chucked it when I found it but remembered how many times I've yelled at people in the past for leaving behind great finds because they thought they were bits of crap. On cleaning it I found a mark that made me swear. Boeing stamp !!!



I then got even luckier because the part number brought back a result from Google. It is indeed off a B17 and is an Engine cowling hinge.




A great day and some superb finds !

I did video a lot of it so will put a film up in the next week or so.

Hope you like the finds.

Cheers

Steve T

[Woolgar]

Nice finds Steve, love the 1942 'tanner'

Nick

[LUCKYSTRIKE]

Very nice Steve a good selection, it looks like you should have a return visit in the near future.
Cheers for posting.
LUCKYSTRIKE

[Whitehunter]

I've just remembered one of my .50's i had last week has 'WRA 43'

[Steve T]

but did it also have 'cal 50' ?

[Whitehunter]

No i didn't, What does WRA stand for?

[cornishboy]

really cool finds steve i just love the headstamps and ,well, rather than list them all theres nothing there that i dont like!! well worth the trip,do you plan on going again?

[Steve T]

WH - Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

CB - Maybe, but not for a while. It's a long way from me !

Steve T

[381st digger]

Steve, have you found out what the disk with the holes is in photo 2? It's ww2 related for sure because iv found loads of them but never bothered to find out there real use.

Andy

[Steve T]

No I haven't as yet. I thought it maybe from the nozzle of a fire house to create a water spray, but I am leaning away from that idea now. Saying that, I don't really have any other thoughts on the item. Maybe PB can help ?

Steve T

PS Have you got a picture of the cowling hinge in situ on a cowl ?