8th AF Airfield Dump Dig.

**381st digger** · 08-28-2010, 10:29 AM

by Bird Dog

It's digging season again, our next foray is on a Suffolk B-17/24 base this coming bank holiday weekend. Two large ponds that were first dug in 1984, we got a large trailer load of very rare waist gun cradles, bomb shackles, fuse containers, ammo cans, flak helmets & other very interesting bits & bobs all preserved in the stinking mire. Sadly we broke the 360 machine & had to abandon the dig so it was left alone for 26 years.

I will post the results after the dig.

Simon

Good luck with the dig Simon cant wate to see what you pull out this time!!!

**Steve T** · 08-28-2010, 06:36 PM

Can't wait to see !

Good luck !

Steve T

**Paul B** · 08-30-2010, 02:10 AM

Quick photo for now as a taster (not my photo, hence hosted off-forum at the moment, but I am allowed to use it)

Who's going to be first to guess that this lot is?

All the best,
PB

**gremlin** · 08-30-2010, 08:37 AM

Looks like a whole lot of bomb arming wires ... just a guess ... could be wrong (I often am)

Gremlin

**gremlin** · 08-31-2010, 01:53 PM

By the way Paul,

Any chance of some photos of your bomb arming wire crate (you once mentioned that you had one) .... ? I've recently acquired a rather nice AN-M126A1 nose fuze crate ... but I've never actually seen an arming wire crate ... let alone touched one ... as you once said ... the arming wire crate owner's club is small and very select!

Thanks,
Gremlin

ps. while we are on the subject of ordnance packaging .... do you have any fuze containers ... were they of metal or fibre construction?

**Paul B** · 08-31-2010, 03:42 PM

Arming wire crate as found:

Rough CAD model showing the markings:

I don't have any aerial fuze containers at the moment, but all the ones I did have were metal.

All the best,
PB

**Paul B** · 08-31-2010, 03:50 PM

Two variants of the S2NLA AN/M126A1 fuze crate, dated November and December 1943:

All the best,
PB

**gremlin** · 09-01-2010, 09:08 AM

Paul,

Thanks for the pictures ... particularly like the variant with what appears to be shipping / transportation details on the side ... At the risk of going seriously off-topic ... do you have pics of any other types of crates / packaging?

Gremlin

**gremlin** · 09-08-2010, 02:38 PM

Hi Paul,

And yet another question ... In another post, in another forum, you posted some pictures of some fin locking rings ... Do you have any more information on these? For example, dimensions of locking rings for different caliber bombs .... and some information on how they actually locked the fin to the bomb?

Thanks,
Gremlin

**Paul B** · 09-08-2010, 04:15 PM

Poor-quality scan, but shows the lock nut in use:

The various lock nut sizes for each type of bomb are given in TM9-1980, Table XXVIII.

I'll get the relevant pages posted sometime.

I've come across a number of wartime photos of various bomb packaging and crates, I'll get them tidied up and posted sometime too.

All the best,
PB