Australian WWII - Far North Queensland Metal detecting and recovery

[AT P Sweep]

I wonder if alcohol was involved?

Well ~ I DID find several (aluminium) top caps from ~ McCallums and White Horse Distilleries ~ bottles.. (Report about to be issued ~ )

I assume Whiskey was a preferred drop for Officer's ~ (?)

Paints an image scenario here for sure ~ LOL

[AT P Sweep]

Fossick # 478

( Ever had a day when you really felt like you should just stay in Bed ~? )

But again early start ` I actually considered getting up at 04:30 ~ but dozed thru till 05:45 ~ But when I did get up was I was really struggling with Mo Jo~ get and Go ~ But still! )

It was 20 Deg ~ which was hard to believe as the breeze was very cool ~ Away ~ 06:40

( As a warning ~ I go the tap on the shoulder by the MD spirits ~ I decided to not to over take a Lorry loaded with Gas Cylinders doing 75 Kmh ~ he would turn off to the left in around 100 M ~ a Highway patrol car came from the opposite direction ~ @ 07:00 in the morning ~ Phew! No quarter up here ~ over 100 and you're out ~)

Geard up and off ~ I was bemused when first started to sweep the open ground ~ when I found a Coin at '15' on the Equinox ` which normally I would not even dig ~ But it turned into a "Modern Florin" ~ with the platypus emblazoned ~ ( Amazing where one can find "modern" Decimal currency ~ well any coin!

I the started to find misc. relics of WWII period ~tent poles ~ pipe fittings ~ bullet shells and beer bottle frags ~ I even ventured into what appeared to be Virgin rainforest ~ which did not gel for a camp site ~

Ignored the beer bottle intact dated 1944~ definitely a tad scared and scratchy after 77 years ~ I think I have enough of them ~ and a octagonal Sauce despite both being well suited for Home brew !

But was then I soon realized that the open ground was hiding a WWII Dump site ~ It had been either dozed over or ploughed over ~ many years before ~ The sheer numbers 303 cases was stunning ~ stunning ~

I spent considerable time shifting through the detritus and only walked away with one item which was revealed later to be the Find of the day ~ two Shell projectile guards ~ shoved together ~

I covered a lot of ground ~including what I thought was end of war period Dump hole covered over ~

( The Army in 1945 copped a lot of criticism for burying perfect good material ~ a site ) ~ but all I achieved was moved a lot of hard stone and gravel with no results ! My hand pick was not cutting the cheese as it were ~

Again I covered a lot of ground and even circumnavigated a (very) large Concrete slab ~ obscured by heavy leaf Litter ~ a lot of misc. Nothingness ~ nothing of importance ~

Broke for Smoko and decided to move on ~ ventured to more bush and hill and slopes ~ "Skull Point" as it ends short of a prominent Hill which Terry and I have always questioned as to a training mound during the war years ~ and this was the closest point to date ~ But I was pretty well knackered and was not up to scaling hills any more today ~

The buckle was a rare item US orientated but not seen a small one like this previously ~

The two alloy tops ~ “White Horse distillers “ (excellent ) and “MacCallum's Whiskey” ~

I spent time and separated the two brass items ~ which I believe are: Shell primer guards ~ ( After all i had nothing much to lose!)

Have to see if I can find that MD Mo Jo~

TRINITY BEACH, Cairns Far North QLD. 1944-10-12. TROOPS OF THE 2/ 5TH FIELD REGIMENT ABOARD THE LANDING SHIP, TANK (LST) 743 DURING THE ALLOCATION OF VEHICLES TO THEIR MARKED POSITIONS ABOARD THE DECK.




1016074307 USS LST-743 closing her bow doors as she retracts off the beach north of Trinity Beach, Queensland, Australia, 2 November 1944.

[AT P Sweep]

I cleaned up the best of the Guard ( Fuze) which I found in the Rubbish dump site last week, It has stamping and SS ~ was dead right ~

Because it only coves the Lower part of the actual fuze of my 113 Shells ~ I assumed (correctly) it was to suit a Time delayed fuze ~ aimed at protecting the Time adjust ring/s !

The stamping says 221 1 AF 1/42

A 221 is a 25 Pdr. Time delay fuze ~

Thanks to G Davenport for his extensive assesment ~

Ordnance - Fuze No 221 with timer for a 25 lb artillery round - Victorian Collections

15th Nov 1943 1 A NORMAL 25-POUNDER GUN OF THE 2_5TH AUSTRALIAN FIELD REGIMENT HITCHED TO A JEEP AND READY FOR THE ROAD.

[lithgow]

25 Pounder is a pretty big order for a Willys to pull-usually seen towing something like a 37mm A/T gun (2 Pounder equivalent) or a 6 Pounder but it would be easier on a decent road!

[reneblacky]

25 pdr certainly will over heat my Jeep Willy's engine!

[AT P Sweep]

Yes Blokes ~ I thought much the same thing ~

That poor little 40 HP Donk ~ and drive train~ surely would have struggled not to mention the first Hill the came across ~

There are a lot period photos showing the Aust adaptation of the short barrel 25Pdr. towed by the Willeys ~ And including towing the Gun and struggling in boggy ground ~ No wonderr here are are stories of Buried Willeys Jeeps in these parts ~

I do recall they removed some 400 lbs in creating the Aust Short barelled 25Pdr. (?)

Not to mention a Ammo limber as well ~

[AT P Sweep]

Something a little Different ~ restoring WWII relics ~ with a Practical Use ~


Making use of WWII period beer and sauce bottles ~

( I find sort of Poignant that the last time these beer bottles were full was at very least 77 years ago and consumed by an Australian Digger ~)



( I usually do a few Period NSW Beer bottles in each batch I do ~ They are certainly far more robust and heavier than modern bottle ~ )

Currently Batching time ~ Cooper’s Lager with Mexican Cevarza yeast ~

Five WWII period NSW Bottles ~ dated on base ~ from 1942 to 1945

PMU Octagonal War period Sauce bottles ~ nice size @ 365 mils

Plus stocks of Grolesch.

The temp in the Bin which I sit in the Sun for 2-3 days ~ free sterilisation from the Sun ! Actually Peaked 80 Deg. today at Midday ~ includes two jars of Pennies in Motor Oil to clean them effectively ~

! Lay down average four to six weeks ~ usually around eguiv of 55* 375

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Members of the Maori Battalion. well pleased with their generous Beer ration ~ North Africa .1940

Australian Troops celebrate VE Day 1945 (Wow ration was four bottles in one issue !)

VE Day beer issue to troops, Morotai | The Australian War Memorial

[AT P Sweep]

I have missed several reports ~ but I am skipping to today's effort ~ ( I will back report the MIA reports ~ But today was spectacular!)

Fossick #481

Down in the Dumps ~

Tuesday ~ wide spread ~ late start up 06:00 ~ forecast for 35 Deg ~


I had no plan for the day ~ and I was decided pessimistic after recent rains and lack of sites with the grass rebounding


So I decided to start at the recent Rubbish dump ~ Last trip thought only revealed a very sad teaspoon~ But figured ~ give it a go ~ and four "beer bottles"



the buckles started very quickly ~ it was maze of signals ~ A real Wow Moment ~ ( I date this pocket at August 1945 ~ VJ day ~ all over ~ and the Diggers dumping kit and uniforms ~)

So I simply worked through the plot and back and forth repeatedly ~ I even managed several water Bungs ~ Pfft!!!!!!



Rejects including included several separate but same size ~ large Generator filed coil windings' ~ Larger than any I recall as a Sparky ~ I assume they were either Truck ~ Perhaps artillery gun and limber hauler ~ Morris Ford Humber Trucks ~ or even a tank engine generator~ But this camp site did have a lot of Artillery.

By 10:00 there was no breeze and it was getting very warm ~ I broke for Smoko ~ At that moment the first cool breeze sprang up~ A saviour ~



By 11:00 I had pretty well cleaned the current site out ~ and I made a final sweep to claim a (Hat) Rising Sun ~ in it's original black Enamel ~

I then decided to move camp ~ but I had been checking out an area again north of another site ~ So I cruised over there to check out the area ~



It had been definitely cleared and in fact showed signs of very old sawn tree stumps ~ but no signals ~ Being next door to the Primary site I suggest that they may have even cleared tis area but never actually incorporated the slop into the camp site.



At this point I decided I had a Great Morning and rather than press on to detect more areas ~ I should give thanks and call it a day ~leave any other areas for Later On ~



Home around 12:30 ~ shower a cupper ~ Perfect day ~ home with the Goods and far from exhausted ~

[

A 105 mm Shell case cut down and squashed ~!!









Atherton tablelands QLD ~A CHEVROLET CAB 12 FIELD ARTILLERY TRACTOR AND 25 POUNDER GUN OF THE 2 7TH FIELD REGIMENT MOVING ALONG THE NEWLY BUILT CORDUROY SECTION OF THE ROAD NEAR THE CAMP.


Ford Australia CMP Blitz Field Artillery Tractor (FAT)

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[BlackCat1982]

Another great report AT P Sweep. You've got my vote for getting out in those big temperatures, and all the bad news I hear about bush fires too. Keep safe and good hunting, currently rain is the issue in these parts!

[AT P Sweep]

BC

Yes Our Wet season is slowly building and it rained all night last night ~ So much for aclimate CHange Hysteria at least here ~

That will bring the dreaded heavy grass back ~