some airfield finds

**gibba1008** · 05-18-2009, 05:50 PM

many years ago we had a museum group come out and dig a crash site, they took all the larger items and left what they didnt want, then again in the early ninetys it was dug and more parts were found and taken away, this was before my passion started

however we did get to keep a few bits and bobs and i went back again a few years ago and found a few parts that i have kept

.... locals now no my interest in the former base and stuff occasionally turns up, in the first pic is an escape hatch that was found on the base after the war and used as a chicken shed window until the finders son handed it to me

a few pics...
some dug parts amongst many metal detected parts

**gibba1008** · 05-18-2009, 06:29 PM

keep us posted with your finds gremlin, and luckystrike you have a pretty good collection yourself, i always enjoy looking at the airfield finds you guys keep finding and im sure there will be plenty more, but like you say, we all need a bit of luck!

**LUCKYSTRIKE** · 05-18-2009, 10:58 PM

Wow now thats a collection... something to aim for, very impressed museum quality. Have you managed to identify it all? I often find it harder to identify the peices than it is sometimes to find them and then there's the times I've left peices behind thinking they were junk only to discover later they were worth keeping. Still thats whats great about this hobby always learning.
Thanks for posting if you get any more do show, I'll be putting my next batch on soon, I've also been digging through my shed today looking for a couple of previous finds to photograph and will put on shortly.
All the Best.
LUCKYSTRIKE

**gibba1008** · 05-18-2009, 11:18 PM

yeah i no exactly what you mean, i picked up a long thin strip of alloy looked at it and put it in a spoil heap only to find out later this was an incredible one off find....... il post a pick of it tomorrow!
i look forward to your pics...... how did the mg 15 mag clean up?, terrific find that

**gibba1008** · 05-20-2009, 08:03 PM

the piece of alloy that nearly got away, found it, dumped it, found it again, straightened it out and cleaned it.... turned out to be a straight edge with the owners name on !.... researched the name, found his details, he was still alive, phoned him up in the states and had a lovely chat, turned out he was part of the ground crew who patched and repaired damaged aircraft, he had a gift with the paint brush and painted many signs around the base. he remembered his straight edge!!!

other pic is a bomb fin cradle, a couple of exploded gp bombs one sandblasted and primed the other as found last year.

**LUCKYSTRIKE** · 05-20-2009, 10:50 PM

What a great unique find the Straight Edge is and then to take it further and actually talk to the vet, I don't think anything could beat that. Thats a real peice of history you've saved for eternity. I like the bomb fin cradle it's great condition, I guess it found a use after the war perhaps as a work bench? that maybe helped preserve it. I like to see large peices of shrapnel, you don't normally find such big bomb fragments and yet you've got two. So hats off to you and good photo's also.
LUCKYSTRIKE

**gibba1008** · 05-20-2009, 11:20 PM

hi luckystrike, your right about the cradle!! its one of about 30 that size, they were all welded togeather and used as shelves at the garage where i live, the owner is in his eightys and a good friend of mine so let me cut one of them off! one day he says when he "retires", i can go down and get the rest!! he served in the raf as ground crew and spent time in egypt amoungst other places, he has given me a few bits an bobs over the years including a german pow made cigerette case and a set of german pilots wings...

**whittiejp** · 06-08-2009, 05:06 AM

Any idea what the escape hatch is from? Do you have pics of the other side of it?

**gibba1008** · 06-08-2009, 07:34 PM

hi,
its from a b24 liberator

**gremlin** · 06-10-2009, 08:03 AM

Your finds always impress! The large bomb fragments are particularly nice ... are they 100 pounders? Did these originate from a crash site? Does your farm encompass the area once occupied by the airfield's living sites and ... if so, have you ever found anything on these sites? Have you got any other ordnance related items ... ? I've always wanted to find a circular metal fuze container ... and I've been searching since the early 1980s ... but have only ever found very rusty examples that were not worth saving.
Gremlin