Australian WWII - Far North Queensland Metal detecting and recovery

[AT P Sweep]

Yes ~ They were brave young men ~

There were many positive stories.

A good friend of my Mum's ~ was a tail gunner in a Lancaster and sserved in bombing runs over Europe ~ the only thing that happened to him was that he was burnt ( moderately) by a burst hydraulic hose!

[Carolyn Raine]

Hi there, my name is Carolyn, looking to contact “AP T Sweep” re ID Tag of Arthur James Lennon which he found in 2014. Looking forward to hearing from him.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Carolyn, if you click on his name you should be able to send him a private message.

Cheers, Ade.

[AT P Sweep]

Hey Blokes ~ I have exchanged details with Carolyn ~

Unfortunately have already returned the ID tag in question to th extended family several years ago ~

I have offered send her a package of items with which her friend could engrave as substitute relic/s, including original Black personal tags and 'Australia' flash.

[AT P Sweep]

Most have recovered the Classic Brass Military Buttons.

And some may well have seen these brass buttons damaged or even crushed !(?) No one has come up with a definitive answer to why ~

Well Mate Robert dropped a clanger last week when he suggested that the Laundries used the Old Wringers and in the "right" circumstance ~ the wringers damaged the buttons ~

But in doing some research I find that the Mobile Laundry and sanitation units were quite well developed even in WWII.

ROCKY CREEK, QLD. 1943-08-10. SX17281 PRIVATE R. F. CLIFFORD OF THE 6TH DIVISION MOBILE LAUNDRY AND FORWARD DECONTAMINATION UNIT, STOKES THE LAUNDRY BOILER.



ROCKY CREEK, QLD. 1943-08-10. SX17799 CORPORAL J. CADDY, OF 6TH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION MOBILE LAUNDRY AND FORWARD DECONTAMINATION UNIT, PLACING CLOTHES IN A WASHING MACHINE.



ROCKY CREEK, QLD. 1943-08-10. SX17352 PRIVATE M. J. TURNER, OF 6TH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION MOBILE LAUNDRY AND FORWARD DECONTAMINATION UNIT, PLACING CLOTHES IN A HYDRO EXTRACTOR.


So much for the Clothes wringer theory !

As the second photo showed the digger loading a Hydration extractor ~ Guess most likely if any damage was possibly inflicted here it will be the Drier!?


WWII Canadian ~

Canadian Army Newsreel No. 3 - YouTube



TOLGA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA. 1944-02-24. A TANK TRANSPORTER WITH A "MALCOLM MOORE" MOBILE CRANE ABOARD AT THE 7TH DIVISION ORDNANCE VEHICLE PARK.

Research suggests this isa "diamond T" truck .

2,635

[AT P Sweep]

Another late start as never expected to see the weather was when we got up so after some procrastination ~ I packed up and headed out ~

Windy ~ 23 Deg. very isolated showers ~ Setting off again ~ Plodding on, no shortage of trash and ferrous iron ~ I found a large trash area ~ and more bloody water Bungs. Drive me crazy same high tone as a Florin or a large Rising Sun ~

Covered a lot of ground ~ The Bracken is mostly waist high again ~ Setting of I Plodding on, no shortage of trash and ferrous iron ~ I found a large trash area ~ and more bloody water Bungs. Drive me crazy sesame high tone as a Florin or a large Rising Sun ~

I dare say the trash area was post war years bulldozed ~typically skimming the top off any residual heap/s ~

Roo Penny deep nice signal !

The rod 1/4” threaded at both ends Brass ~

I reckon it is shaft from a Foot/ hand Air Pump ~ I actually found he twin foot grip ramp that is/ was attached to the bottom ~ same site.

1933 Three pence ~ MAN what a merry chase they give some days ~ bloody little elusive sods ! )
1943 Roo Penny ~ in reasonable condition ~

Lead piece (bottom) Tent ring for the scrap Bin ! ~ Which BTW I am currently sorting out for the scrappers ~

M1 1943 MH

Seen some unusual cases on this site including UK ~ But not so this time

MH
Small Arms Ammunition Factory No 3, Hendon, Australia. Known to have produced .303 cartridges in... Ball, Cordite Mk 7
Blank, Cordite L Mk 5 ‘

Tracer G Mk 2 {Australian Pattern}
Incendiary B Mk 7

Mini Ball 11.5 mm Dia. 21.4 visual only (battery Flat again~)

Maybe ~ Whitworth Rifle ~

Whitworth rifle - Wikipedia

Calibre 0.451 in (11.5 mm)

The Whitworth rifle was an English-made percussion rifle used in the latter half of the 19th century. A single-shot muzzleloader with excellent long-range accuracy for its era, especially when used with a telescopic sight, the Whitworth rifle was widely regarded as the world's first sniper rifle.[1]

The Whitworth rifle saw extensive use with the Confederate sharpshooters in the American Civil War, claiming the lives of several Union generals, including John Sedgwick, one of the highest-ranking Union officers killed during the Civil War, shot on 9 May 1864, at Spotsylvania. On October 2017, a surviving example of a Confederate Whitworth rifle was auctioned with a hammer price of $161,000.[2]

Finschhafen, New Guinea. In a forward post near Scarlet Beach, Corporal R. J. Tongue of Hay, NSW, fills magazines of his Owen gun from the bullets lying on the groundsheet.

2618

[AT P Sweep]

An intriguing assessment of Australian Diggers in WWII by Rommel and the German Soldiers who confronted the Australians i North Africa ~


What Did Rommel and the Germans Think About Australian Soldiers in WWII? - YouTube

Photos courtesy of the Aust War memorial archives.

The australian ( 14000 ) occupied Torbruk and were asked ot hold the port for 8 Weeks ~this turned out to be 5 Mionths there about. Despite oncerted efforts Rommel's forces were unable to rout the Australians.

Australian Lt. Gen. Leslie Morshead in charge ~ emphatically stated that it was not goign to be a Defensive role and but also an offensive role to harangue the Germans, shaking their morale.




Australian Diggers shelter in a dig out courtesy of the Italains who were routed at Tobruk.




2nd New Zealand Division infantry of the British 8th Army accept the surrender of the German Afrika Korps 15th Panzer Division tank crew, driving a previously captured Matilda tank, December 1941.



Aussie Hmour at work!



Australian soldier carrying an armful of 75 mm shells captured from the Italians during the siege of Tobruk.

While British and Indian soldiers fought in Tobruk, the Australian forces numbered around 14,000.

It was these troops who most readily seized their new nickname, the “Rats of Tobruk,” as part of their wartime legacy.



The unusual nickname stemmed from reports that Lord Haw Haw (real name William Joyce), who broadcasted propaganda from Germany to the United Kingdom, described the troops in Tobruk as being caught “like rats in a trap.”


Despite the resounding success of the Australian forces in holding Tobruk, the Axis forces ultimately retook the port in June 1942, but not before the withdrawal of the Australians.

The Australian Diggers were replaced by British, Indian and South African forces MUCH to the absolute horror and disgust of the withdrawn Australians, who were mostly in rest in the Middle east.

They felt their efforts and loss of comrades had been a lost cause!

However, the British did recapture the port a few months later, in November 1942, after the Battle of El-Alamein.


Rommel, who wrote,

“The Australian troops are fighting magnificently and their training is far superior to ours.”

He also reported that the Australians fought “with remarkable tenacity. Even their wounded went on defending themselves and stayed in the fight to their last breath.”

The siege had been a victory for the Allies. Not only did the Australian-led forces hold Tobruk, they were also the first to successfully stop German Panzer units.

[toot]

the soldier carrying the 75 M/M shells, seams to not be missing CHOW CALL? he is kinder a little bit PUGGY, NO?

[AT P Sweep]

Tool

Reckon not too many missed that point !

I for one got myself into strife with some folks when I criticised Military re-enactors who were on the corpulent side and was not appropriate ~'

This bloke certainly shot my theory to Hell!

[AT P Sweep]

As suggested been a bit quiet in FNQ ~ and now we have had on going rian~ evem as i speak it is raining with extreme forecast ~

But managed a couple of Hunts. The "first" was a litmus test for me and for the CoilTek.

As i have gotten the staggers on a number hunts over Summer I was worried about my fitness levels V age. But this first hunt was a cool day with a a brisk SE breeze , quite hot out of the
Breeze ~ and I was pleased to see I managed a four hour hunt and no issues.

Plus the CoilTek 14*9" i am luvin' it now ~

It produces deeper targets consistency than the Stock Nox coil ~ I now run 17 on descrim as it does tend to pick up a LOT of chatter otherwise.~

I got drenched thru only the once ~

I generally dig anything in these sites 12 and over ~ UNLESS it chatters ~





Mystery item lower right?





Sydney 1945 ~ Australian troops return home,