Article about: by Steve T A big buckle off something and a piece of metal that reminds me of a metal MG belt feeder. The stainless steel item is indeed part of a USAAF .50 cal flexible feed chute. by Steve
Hi Steve
Good work Mate, you got some nice finds there, Ive been wondering how you were getting on all day
Looking forward to seeing them cleaned. The stirrup pump is intriguing perhaps its part of a personal (airfield) fire fighting kit for incendiaries. I agree with WH the blue poison is a nice find is it ribbed and does it say Not to be Taken? usually this colour and style date from 1900 to 1920. The large item above it looks like a mask frame/stretcher perhaps for a gas mask?
The Sten Mags are interesting I assume they originally came from the airfield defence force, perhaps they were bent so they couldn't be used again.
All the best.
LUCKYSTRIKE
Group shot first of the bottles/jars I took home.....
The blues are very nice. Far left has 'Optrex' embossed on the underside and I really love the hexagonal one
Far left looks like after shave or may be hair tonic. Then three medicinal ones, the middle one being another Owbridges Lung Tonic and the last one Galloways Chemist. The Galloways cough mixture is still available today
Some nice Marmite and Bovril jars giving me 1oz, 2oz and 4oz in both brands now Far left is a big pot of something made by Max Factor.
Lastly, the ladies items. Small cream pots and a nail varnish pot.
Now onto stuff that wasn't glassware, of which I had bucketfuls ! Some really interesting stuff on this visit and items that pose yet more questions.
Group shot first.
No 42 bomb pistols. All found on the surface.
No 28/30 bomb pistols. Again found on the surface.
A strange cover plate off an electrical item. Can't find any coding on it unfortunately but it obviously housed valves and other items.
Merlin engine exhaust stub lock washers. No idea what the little items are beneath them but I found quite a few.
Electrical connectors.
First one tells you what it is itself which is very handy 5D is code for aircraft armament.
Next one is obviously a connector of some sort but not sure off what.
This one is easy. 10H is code for radio connectors and I believe it is the jack that the crew plugged in to connect their individual kit into the aircraft system.
A ha'penny and a couple of buttons.
Flare gun cartridges of two different types.
Lots of 303s, all found (except one) in one particular location along with the next items. Far left has had the bottom removed or maybe break in the breach. Far right still has the link in place but the top half of the cart is missing.
Headstamps from some of the 303s. Interesting to find 'W1' carts which are AP carts. Mix of 2 and 4 digit date codes as well.
Now I found lots and lots of these but most were badly corroded. However, every now and again I'd find one with virtually no oxidization at all and, after a quick scrub, they came up as good as new ! Strange that some were barely recognisable, others were like this.
However, what is more intriguing is what they are. I believe they are the firing pin and spindle from a bomb pistol, probably a No. 30. Why on earth were they removing the firing pins from bomb pistols ????
Diagram of a No. 28 showing the spindle and firing pin in location. The improved No. 30 pistol had a pointed 'nipple' firing pin as you can see in the ones I found.
Lastly I need help with a bit of identification as these little things got me worried........not sure why........they just did ! I found HUNDREDS of them and just took a few home. When I started to wash one the black 'hard' inner started dissolving and going everywhere. This concerned me as I have no idea what the substance is so I stopped cleaning them until I could get them ID'd. Anyone any idea what they could be? I found them in an area where a lot of electrical type items have been found.
More to come as I get it cleaned !!!
Also putting together a video, this time with clips of the digging in action. I'll post when it's complete.
Hi Steve,
Lovely finds and well cleaned I like the firing pins they'll look good displayed next to complete examples of the type 28 BPs. The 303 are nice and interesting some are AP? Dont worry about the sweet shaped objects at the end they're quite a common find on 1920's onwards rubbish tips. They're the cells from batteries.
LUCKYSTRIKE
Lastly I need help with a bit of identification as these little things got me worried........not sure why........they just did ! I found HUNDREDS of them and just took a few home. When I started to wash one the black 'hard' inner started dissolving and going everywhere. This concerned me as I have no idea what the substance is so I stopped cleaning them until I could get them ID'd. Anyone any idea what they could be? I found them in an area where a lot of electrical type items have been found.
More to come as I get it cleaned !!!
Also putting together a video, this time with clips of the digging in action. I'll post when it's complete.
Cheers
Steve T
Man...
Please, I'd like help in identifying those same objects! I found one with a set of unidentified human remains from the Korean war. I first assumed the remains were of an American since I found numerous U.S. Army star burst buttons, belt buckle and leather and buckle for a U.S. Army boot. I also found one of those objects mixed with the artifacts and remains. At first I assumed he's American, then I later learned Chinese (CCF) would wear U.S. uniforms for disguise and warmth. Still, I don't know who he is.
The remains are slated to be excavated by JPAC but every little bit would help in identification.
I included pics of the one I found as well as the boot buckle, belt buckle and button for good messure.
No matter who he is or where he's from, I'd just like to see the remains repatriated. Thanks!
Lastly I need help with a bit of identification as these little things got me worried........not sure why........they just did !
I think my findings may explain why you were worried Steve and yes, they are very fragile and
have me equally worried. Good find mate!
Last edited by Unforgottenwar; 01-11-2011 at 12:53 PM.
Those things look like cells of anode battery of tube radio. In old days most of radios worked on battery because electricity was not in every home. And so in old ruins from those times you always found also those cells. And I must say they are very annoying because they give good signal.
Prolific at almost all military dumps, these are cells from zinc carbon accumulators/batteries for portable RT equipment & I'm sure were used for a variety of other purposes to power other appliances too.
Thanks Nemps and Bird dog. Glad I know what they are now !
Nemps - Not annoying at this site as we don't use detectors as they just go off constantly.......just dig a hole !
Onto my latest cleaned up item.
I have to say I am totally amazed at how this has come out. Not only has the pump itself cleaned up very nicely, it also STILL WORKS !!!! As I was cleaning it I felt the inside part 'give' a little. A quick squirt with WD40 and 10 minutes later the internal portion came up (and down) quite freely I've had a go with it in the back garden and it still pumps water quite merrily
I've uploaded two pictures so you can see the pump at its full extent and when 'closed'. No WD or AM markings unfortunately, but the makers name is on the base. Sigmund Pumps.
An interesting find. I like to think one was issued to each hut to deal with incendiaries
I recall my Father having one & would recount his stories of wartime Norwich, he said they were ineffective as it took too long to set up & instead they used buckets of sand or sandbags for IB's especially after the Germans had a rethink on IB design then upgraded to IBEN (identified by green & yellow bands), consequently the pump was of little use as now the IB would explode & scatter burning Thermite far & wide before there was any chance of extinguishing, thus creating a much bigger problem for the lightly armed amateur firefighter, the trick he said was to smother the IBEN with sand before it exploded.
He & school mates would regularly be out on the streets after a raid collecting examples which got hung up in trees or landed on soft ground, then would casually sit on the kerbside of Walton Road dismantling a heap of them for the fuse mechanism & then selling the rest as a mantle ornament for Half a Crown, quite a reckless & dangerous enterprise but commonplace in 1942. Naturally this soon ceased when his friend 'Minso' was disassembling the new flavoured one where it exploded in his hands next to my Father; 'Minso' was extensively burned resulting in six months of treatment at the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital, he subsequently being bandaged up like the 'invisible man' until the burns had sufficiently healed & could return back to school.
Re: WW2 RAF Lancaster base - Dump discovered - Finds keep coming
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by Steve T
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