WW2 USAAF airfield - December 2009

[Steve T]

Hi all

Well.......I have been back to 'my' airfield and had another good day. Even after over 20 visits, it is still yielding finds galore !

This time around, not only did I find lots of stuff from WW2, but also two things from MUCH earlier !

My visit turned into one of those 'cartridge' visits where everything I detected appeared to be a cartridge of some description. However, when I got home and cleaned stuff up, I found far more than just cartridges

See what you think.

Firstly, everything I found prior to cleaning....



And then everything after cleaning and disposal of bits of crap or stuff I could never identify.....



Ok.,.......firstly the things from a LONG time prior to WW2. This photo shows a weird bit of jewelry, (the era from which it is from I just don't know), and also a Roamn coin from around 300AD The inscription on the front reads IMP CONSTANTIUS PP AVG. I knew nothing about Roman coins until I found this (which looks very worn and that it has been used as a pendant in the past) but now I know what the inscriptions mean !



Now some odds and sods. A lever from a padlock, a lever from a mortice lock, the detonator core from a British grenade (why they actually PRACTICED with these on an airfield I'll never know), two .45cal bullets and a .30cal M1 carbine bullet, and the last bit (the strange pipe) I have no idea about.



I keep finding these bits of pipe on this airfield....they must be something to do with plane engines as they are very light wieght.



I think this next item is a light fitting,although I could be wrong.



Some nice buttons...........



And a few clips etc from webbing and parachute harnesses, although I do not know what the top item is from.



The major finds of the day were cartridges...

...Firstly some .30cal cartridges and the bullets to go with them, all dated 1944.



Now a few .303's, dated 1940 to 1942. Two blanks on far left.



Quite a few .50cals on this trip.....



....including some that had been cut through by the ground crew for reasons we shall probably never know !



A load of 20mm cartridges, a lot of which have been cut through and one, (far left), has been cut through and then had the top of a 20mm jammed into it !



And lastly a piece of airframe from a P-51. I know this because of the prefix on the stamp....109.....but what the drilled 50725 refers to I am not sure. I don't think it is an aircraft serial number so what the hell is it ? Any ideas or suggestions would be gratefully received



This site keeps coming up with the goods for me......I feel like I am going to be digging it for years to come !!!

Hope you like the finds

Cheers

Steve T

[Johnny-D]

As ever mate... absolutely brilliant finds!! That roman coin is a weird one though! I like the buttons, and the .30 and .50 cals!

[jimpy]

[QUOTE=Steve T;98645]Hi all

Some nice buttons...........



And a few clips etc from webbing and parachute harnesses, although I do not know what the top item is from.





Hi Steve

I can identify a couple of the items for you.
The buttons appear to be British BD buttons.
The buckles etc are:
Top: Is the end tab off a 37ptn web belt.
Bottom Right: Is the actual buckle parts from a 37ptn web belt
The smaller of the two square buckles is, I believe one of the back buckles off a 37ptn web belt and the larger one appears to be off the shoulder straps of a 37ptn web strap, but it could be from any sort of webbing strap as it was a common size buckle in regular use on lots of different straps.

Hope this is of some help.

All the best

Ian
AKA Jimpy

[Steve T]

Woody

Thanks mate The Roman coin was an odd find, especially as it was very 'high' in the ground and could have been dropped yesterday, not 1700 years ago !

Jimpy

Thanks mate Nice bit of info there Very useful

Steve T

[Johnny-D]

Woody

Thanks mate The Roman coin was an odd find, especially as it was very 'high' in the ground and could have been dropped yesterday, not 1700 years ago !

I wonder if it was found by an American airman, who then wore it (say on his dog tags)

Interesting ain't it!

Lee

[Steve T]

Could well have been Woody......I was thinking along the same lines

Steve T

[Johnny-D]

Suppose we'll never know eh! That's what make it all the more intruiging!

Gonna get down to that PoW camp before Christmas if you fancy it mate?

[Steve T]

Good plan ! Lemme have a butchers on Google earth

Send me a PM remind me where it is

Steve T

[Blackpowder44]

Your finda are allways interesting and I keep thinking that I ought to get out and detect on a very promising sit near me. I had a look at the piece you say is a part of a grinade, I looked at my cutaway version of a mills bomb and couldnt see anything like it. On looking at your piece I would have said that it is a pipe union, either a union for flexable pipe or metal one. John.

[Johnny-D]

I had a look at the piece you say is a part of a grinade, I looked at my cutaway version of a mills bomb and couldnt see anything like it. On looking at your piece I would have said that it is a pipe union, either a union for flexable pipe or metal one. John.

Hi John,

The piece your referring to is the result of an exploding Grenade! The spirelled compression on the metal only happens when the grenade explodes.

Lee