Australian WWII - Far North Queensland Metal detecting and recovery

[AT P Sweep]

BTW ~ Being a Fully fledged member of the ACCA ~ I was gifted package yesterday ~



He said " I have a few Lee Enfield SMLE Drill rounds you cab have as I don't want them ~ "



Whooha ~ Just a few and some misc others ~

[AT P Sweep]

FIRST tWO OUT OF THE snake oIL AND A LITTLE tlc

[AT P Sweep]

Fossick #459

Absolutely perfect day ~ clear skies ~ not a could in the sky ~ Dead calm early ~

Up early ~ lazy start and still managed to head of around 07:45 ~

A good run ~ no hassles ~ the only one that obstructed me was a push bike rider on a double white line ~ Had to be one I guess ~



Roberto was already waiting when I arrived at the meet point .

We headed back to check out another area ~ where we figured there evidence to suggest yet another camp site ~

Early indicators suggested that no one has been here as I found a NSW Beer bottle dated 1943 ~ Intact ~

We split up and I headed SE and Rob the opposite armed with the ATP ~ His First day out with a top level MD ~

I soon discovered serious rubbish burial site and called Rob via radio to come back to where I was !


He had barely arrived o the scene and he raucously announced he had dug a Rising Sun ~ He was stoked!! I was ecstatic for him ~

We plugged on and came across even more trash holes ~

I then worked south ward into the Bush ~ but it just got heavier ~ Puppy worked on flushing out any Joe Blakes.. Which is a little concerning for the dog to say the least ~

I managed to locate small suggestions of occupation and buildings including nails and misc small ferrous bits ~

Rob and I eventually agreed to break for Smoko and then hit the place again ~ we decided to back track the bush and find the cut inland to see if we could finds a bush track I located several years ago but since has been over grown ~ This we hoped would put us into the centre of the camp !

I drove through the brush despite the heavy going a scan thin brush gerund areas but found Nothing ~ I pushed on to emerge where we had worked earlier ~

Time was pushing on and I wanted to do a Hunt rather than a recce which had left us wanting some what ~

We spent about an hour doing a Hunt on the now established area.

Some results ~ The Cigarette case was a big disappointment as it was it was complete on two halves but ~ damaged and beyond saving!

Robert struggled with the Advanced MD as he was fighting sensitivity and false signal issues but I explained this is a reality Check with being a novice. ~

But as I explained even I was having similar issues but just remember a good signal will "jump out " at you and no mistakes! ~

I also have found yet another AMF Button with the Split pin intact ~ again I have never seen this ~

The Penny has to be one of the Best I have recovered for a very long time and found under a large fallen tree trunk ~ I struggled to retrieve it in fact ~

What I thought was a very rough Rising Sun which ~ I found very late in the day ~ In fact it turned out to be the best one I have found of recent and has the maker's stamp clearly on the rear "Luke MELB"

It is very rare to find a RS that has been buried for < 75 years> and retain the maker's mark with such clarity .

A great day if not exhausting ~

[AT P Sweep]

Fossick #460

Well the forecast for last Friday was grim ~ 40 Know winds on the coast and variable 25-30 know upstairs here.

The point being that the forecast for the next Ten days is unchanged~ and the same weather pattern with extensive winds.

I got up at 07:30 and all was still ~ but the clock ticked the breeze picked up very slowly ~ So I was away by 08:30! The wind was geeing up considerably ~

.On site around 09:30~ Wanted to check an area I had been looking at via the Arial maps of 1950s ~

But first up I merely came on a Spill of 303 Blanks and misc Ferrous iron~> So went t plan stage two ~ working along the extended area to the Areas that Robert ~ Dwayne and I had worked over the last three hunts.

A fad Frustrated I broke for Smoko @ Midday ~ in the view that when frustrated on a Hunt ~ one is best just go to Smoko and shift the energy!

It worked as soon as I resumed operations I scored a 1942 Sixpence. The first Silver in the site to date ~

I swept the southerly section of the camp and had mixed results..~ But a lot of chatter and mixed signals ~ quality signals had to be shifted thought the Chatter ~ I played with the settings again but little relief.

I did notice that soon as I left the heavy high ground heavier forest areas the chatter ceased! ~ Moister soil!?

I also scratched up three copper coins and all three were looking dodgy ~ but how wrong I was ~ the Penny and one of the 1/2 Pennies are in fact stunning ~

A Primer flash tube ~ Two PDr. gun

A field busted Lithgow Oiler tube (Company stamp on the base!)

A damaged US Fifty Calibre shell case ~

I did find a ID tag but looks to be Aluminium and Digger made ~ but was too far gone to raise ANY DETAILS AT ALL ~

The clean up ! The third copper was way too far gone as well ~

Plus I found a central camp bottle pit ~ in fact quite deep ~ I raked over the pit but only turned out two long necks intact ~ both QLD beer bottles and did not have the year date on the bottle ~

The winds were not backing off so I headed off around 15:30 and same tactics.. And returned to the car.~ calling it a day ~

The cut off of the Fifty calibre ~ compared to a complete intact .50 Cal.

[BlackCat1982]

A couple of great hunts ATP! Are you running at high sensitivity, hence the chatter?

[AT P Sweep]

BC

Yes mate ~ I have been playing with settings~ and ironically the High-Ground~ under the heavier timber ground result in chattering ~ but as soon as I exit onto the surrounding cleared or worked ground it is fine.

I have as said played with the setting s and now on a third pattern ~ I am not bothered as the quality signals simply shine on through ~

But thanks for the input anyway ~

[AT P Sweep]

Okay While we are at it ~

The Oiler tube SH&S UK 1914-1918 Made for the SMLE Mk IV

I opened it~

Contained murky water and oil detritus so I cleaned with an added WD40 and a little oil for good measure!!

The damaged remnant is a Lithgow Australian ~

( I find the British Brass is the best quality and then the Australian ~ The US Brass is generally very sad and most US brass does not survive well !)


As I think I mentioned I just Luv the Quirky stuff ~ broken or damaged ~ well some ~

Good Mate ~ Robert also gave me a cluster ( 23) of Drill rounds ~ I have cleaned up a few ~ Many still have the red pain on them and were also zinc coated silver!

The are head stamped ~ MF ( Munitions Fitzroy ) ~ N (Navy) ~ D7 * The Dates were changed from Roman numerals 'VII' to Arabic D7 in 1945-46 )

The Rising Suns are two of the most recent I have found ~ Not including the one with the intact Maker's Mark Luke ~

[AT P Sweep]

Fossick #461

Well been holding back with the weather and some personal issues ~

Today ~ Monday ~ started out heavy over cast but minimum wind ~ I decided to make it a day ~

(Unfortunately DM is back to work and Robert had other commitments ~ So a Solo yet again ~ )

A casual rolling start ~ No rushing here ~ Headed off around 09:30 ~ and under way by 10:00 ~

Cool temps and heavy overcast~

I had a three stage plan ~ First to check out an old site ~ Tank unit site to see if there was any dry season change effects in the area.

But I managed a find several small zones where I recovered a old vintage period Fire extinguisher and the webbing buckles ~

The breeze dropped off even further and temps rose around 24-25 ~ Nice ~

I headed off but checked the time and as i promised to head home around 15:30 as I decided it was to tight to consider Plan #2 let alone #3 ~

Already walked a considerable distance ~

A very unique find indeed ~ carbontetracloride fire extinguisher,~ as most know this is banned now including it's usage in Dry Cleaning ~ used right up to the 1990s ~

[AT P Sweep]

Question ~ Artillery Limber / tractor, Tank or a Bomber extinguisher?

Last week I found a damaged brass fire extinguisher in a MD Hunt ~ on an Aust. Artillery unit campsite. It was partially crushed and looked like it had been run over!

But after some debate and assessment ~ we decided to attempt to restore the original shape ~

Good mate Robert has the tools and the workshop to attempt this ~

He explained today that he found a correct (US) fine thread to fit a nozzle to the fill cap on the top and had to fit a hose clamp to the top section as it was leaking air ~
.

The exit nozzle was not blocked off as the compressor was effective in reaching < 200 PSI> before the thing Popped out the dent with Hell of a bang ~ A daunting task t say the least!


He then removed the top section as it was partially dislodged and the solder being partially corrupted ~

Once the top was removed it exposed the internal fittings had been MELTED ~

As seen in the photos attached,

NOW this is where it gets interesting!

To melt these fittings which are a alloy this must have been in a horrific fire ~ and as it cooled ~or was "hit": by another extinguisher or even water the thing has crushed in on it self!

Robert feels he has seen this extinguisher in a US Bomber ~

( Dare we consider that this relic may have come from the USAAF B17 "Hoomalimali", of the 63rd Squadron of the 43rd Bomb Group crashed during takeoff from Mareeba airfield. ... The B-17 was loaded with bombs when it crashed, killing the crew of ten.)


I do believe/ read there was one which caught fire and was totally destroyed on the ground after a fire broke out ~ while a ground crew man was working on the plane ~

Alternatively, where would a fire of such intensity occur locally and melt teh internal components of a fire extinguisher!

The appears to have been a 'plaque mounted on the front section but probably aluminium and would surely have been destroyed or simply detached ~

Comments welcome please ~

[AT P Sweep]

Stuart

check out the US company American-La France-Foamite.

Your extinguisher is a “Fire-Gun” No. 0.

They made literally thousands of these for military use in all sorts of vehicles. They also built all manner of fire fighting equipment from these little Pyrene extinguishers up to full working fire trucks.

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