WW2 Airbase - The aircrew barracks

[Steve T]

Hi all

Well, despite the weather and me having a bad arm ( ) I decided to pay a visit to my favorite search area. This time however I searched an area I hadn't yet been to, the remains of the service personnel quarters.

I have to say I wasn't expecting to find much, nor spend long there. However, within 10 minutes I had already dug up 6 finds and they just kept coming (although admittedly not at the same frequency). 4 hours later and following a panic'd call from the wife because I told her I'd be back before lunch ( ) I had quite a haul ! The USAAF personnel based there kindly left plenty for me to find.

So...here we go with my usual breakdown of the finds and YES ! I need your help once again ! Ade......get your brain in gear.

Before cleaning....



After cleaning...........



Now for some close ups. This tube was completely rolled up and took some very careful unwinding to avoid damaging it too much.



Americas favorite toothpaste aparently.......With 'Bucky Beaver' as a mascot Here's some info about it Ipana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Next America's favorite shaving cream (and curiously enough also an insect repellent !!!) Again....care was needed when unrolling this but I got there in the end. A bit of info about the stuff. --> VINTAGE 1937 BARBASOL SHAVING CREAM MAGAZINE AD





Now a small item that appears to be a bracelet without the chain. It reads 'Lucky Carter' and then what appears to be 'DJXE' (although it could be 'DFXE' or even 'DJX5') and under these two lines the number '218-1'. Any thoughts ? Lucky charm perhaps ? The engraving is very amateurish and appears to have been done by hand with a hammer and a centre punch



A belt buckle ? Very elegant for USAAF personnel i must say.....perhaps it was one of their lady friends ?



Various clips and as yet unidentified chunks.



The top bit to a safety razor. American made.





Lots of coins. Two Shillings ! That was about 10 pints of beer ! (that's about right isn't it Ade ? )



A whole stack of blank 303 rounds....all dated 1942.



Two 303 spent casings and 2 bullets (neither have rifle markings so must've been knocked out at some point). Both dated 1941



A 9mm round....Very curious. The bullet is deformed and the cartridge has been fired. Someone reformed it ? A misfire ? Most odd.





A nice 50 cal case. Dated 42



A couple of, what i think are, radiator caps. Anyone confirm ?





And lastly the most curious and frankly very strange find I have made. Not because of what it is....but because of where it was found. Remember this item was found in England on an old WW2 USAAF base. Is it what i think it is ? Half of a half of a German dog tag ?????




Anyway guys...any help you can give would be much appreciated.

relichunter

[Cobra den Bien Phieu]

"the radiator caps" look like thermostats that control the coolant flow from the radiator to the intake manifold... the one on the left looks similar to the one in my chevy small block..... pretty neat!

[Adrian Stevenson]

Nice finds!

My forum friend is correct, they are indeed thermostats.

The dog tag find is really interesting!

Cheers, Ade.

[Steve T]

Cool !

relichunter

ps Apologies for the inadvertent pun

[ironcross1]

Great finds , the piece of dog tag is very interesting , is it german is the question , and if so whats it doing there , maybe a souvenired piece bought back by a vet thats been lost or thrown out , the joys of relic hunting , cheers Raymond

[whittiejp]

Some interesting finds! Have you come across any aircraft relics??

[Steve T]

Erm.....search for posts by me whittie...especially the one called ww2 airfield the best visit yet (or something like that )

relichunter

[Steve T]

Well....

...I was hoping someone could confirm that the last photo is a piece of a German dog tag !

Come on guys......I've never found one before so need help. Can someone tell me what the markings mean and is it German ?

Thanks

Relichunter

[Gary J]

Nice finds !!!
I would urge a little caution though ...
If the site is the airfield I suspect it is, ..... A friend of mine approx. 20 years ago, blew off two fingers and was peppered with shrapnel from one of those 20mm's that had lay dormant for the 30 years up until he tried digging them up.

.......... They turned out to be HE tipped !!

Gary J.

[LUCKYSTRIKE]

Thanks again for yet another very interesting post.
I can confirm, Yes it's definately part of a German dog tag and an interesting find. I'm sorry but I can't give any detail about it's stamping.
Following the invasion 06/06/44 many Squadrons based in the UK moved base onto mainland Europe to be closer to the front. This obviously meant that plenty of UK airbases if not completely empty had only a skeleton crews and aircraft based there. Obviously with the advance and the slow disintergration of the German fighting forces, many thousands of German prisoners were taken being shipped back to the UK. The empty Airfields always secure with high barbed fencing needed very little work to turn them into prisoner of war camps, even if only as a short term measure. So its very likely that your dog tag relic was actually dropped by its owner held as a POW.
Remember if this is the case then there's a very good chance they'll be more to find there.
Happy Hunting.
LUCKYSTRIKE