Australian WWII - Far North Queensland Metal detecting and recovery

[AT P Sweep]

Very quiet of late ~ weatehr and conditions prevailing ~ Lots of cleans ups ~ ~ I WILL follow up ~

[AT P Sweep]

Well after many hours sanding fillign painting sanding filling ~

The UK/ Canadian water canteen is ocmplkete and I am well pleased withthe result ~

I almost binned it but I noticed it had a gree paint and as the Australian Canteens were royal Blue i researched and foudn even here in a lot of details on the rnage of Water Canteens ~

(Not sure I am up fro a repair and repo onthe Aust canteen ~ sa I have a mate looking up one he had ~ )





Ms M wanted to leave it this filler yellow `





Can anyone suggest source for original corks and cord etc.?




Another mate offered to trade for a WWI Light Horse ( confirmed) Canteen`

[AT P Sweep]

ossick #569
Finally after some 6-8 weeks of miserable weather it has finally cleared and the winds dropped off ~
So decided to just do an old site and see what comes of it.

A balmy 26 Deg.and a gentle SE breeze.

I headed off for a few hours post 13:30 ~ I got a little lucky and found what I think was a second 25 Pdr. gun position ~ noted by the large wing nuts which are/ were typical of 25 Pdr.. shell racks ~

I spent quite a bit time shifting through signals ~ after some time I decided to move on and picked up a single signal high tone. I dug small unidentified relic ~ At first I thought it may have been a Booby trap trigger which i have found previously in this area.

Came across a pile of what I call Dog Clutches ~ splines shafts ~ unused ~ no wear suspect they were dumped at War's end ~ Mate went bck on my references to claim a few for potential machining material in the future ~ mostly good condition and high tensile steel ~ a Win!

I headed off around 15:45 ~

There was a strong presence of smoke as I got down the main road and I heard several sirens close by ~

There was an incident where in the local fire SES mob had started a burn off and some one came thru the smoke and ran off the left side of the road and was very fortunate not have rolled the car as it varies from < 5-10 M> ~ Police, firies and ambos in attendance ~

Home around 17:00 ~

A query ~ a quandary ~ is the tool a Breech adjusting tool or a Bearing lock ring tool the lower jaw is fixed and the upper Notch is far gone ~

Decided to clean up a tent pole joiner to add to my tent Fixtures ~ after or ever rejecting the many many poles joiners we have found ~

A cast iron plate from a field Kitchen~

I soaked the finds over night in the Snake Oil and cleaned up the Mystery item and it in all tense and purpose appears to be another Gun Sight !

Probably a 17 Pdr. but massive recoil!

I researched the subject for a considerable amount of time this morning and I was stunned to find tat there were an amazing number of Twenty Five Pounder gun sights. Thus far not found any completely related images ~

[MAP]

Must be nice to get back out there again.

[AT P Sweep]

Fossick #570

Decided to check out the Burn off on Friday ~ as the area was a camp site ~ but despite being hammered fro ever ~ I figured I woudl have a look any way~.

I have done quite well over the years ~ and as we know technology has moved forward greatly!

turned out to be a real phizzer ~ and a narrow strip along the side of the road ~ but every where else if you dropped a burning match the only thing to burn would be the match ~ Lots of trash ~ especially being right at the edge of the main road ~ a lot of Alco cans and beers bottles ~ previously hidden by robust grass.

Obviously no one realised the value n this piece ~ it is the business end of a 4.2 inch Mortar shell~ just found lounging on the ground ~ It will clean up nicely for a frag relic ~ pot marks and all ~

Opps out of focus~

Thought ol' mate may like the extremely Mushroomed head block splitter ~

TSIMBA RIDGE, BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND. 1945-02-06. THE 4.2" MORTARS OF THE 101ST BRIGADE SUPPORT COMPANY IN OPERATION DURING THE ATTACK ON ENEMY POSITIONS BY THE 31/51ST INFANTRY BATTALION. IDENTIFIED PERSONNEL ARE:- NX161744 LIEUTENANT E.A. TUCKWELL, SECOND- IN- CHARGE (1).

Spectacular find from mate this weekend ~ a Machine Gun mount bracket ~ possibly Browning Vehicle mounted on a Jeep or motor vehicle ~

[AT P Sweep]

Must be nice to get back out there again.

Hell ~yeah ~

We essentially locked down by weather not CODI ~ in FNQ we are free as the birds ~but being 'locked up" I understand why depression and violence isa serious problem for those that are formally locked at Home.. Drives one crazy ~

Thankfully I have a LOT of projects related to the relics to keep me busy ~ including another spectacular "Gift" from a good friend which is being sorted currently and I WILL report on ~

But that aside ~ I am chaffing at the bit again ~ As Ms M and Good Mate both said ~ it is rare if ever that Stuart comes home empty handed ~ rare vent ~ and usually Unique ~

[AT P Sweep]

Nice surprise ~ clean up found the Brass Shell Rack wing nuts Both have "Talk" ~ always a bonus ~

Dept Defence logo and serial number : /|\ 586 .


And the Optics Gun Sight insert has come nicely as well!

[AT P Sweep]

Been on the cleaning up role this last week with some more excellent results ~

A good friend is leaving town~ moving "Digs"/ Camp` and in cleaning up he decided to donate many of his fabulous relics to SSS as he luves what I di with the relics and felt that too often he gave special items to family and even friends they end up being lost and hidden in a forgotten draw some where ~

The irony is that many of the classic an unusal items he found while on MD hunts with me in attendance.

I cleaned up most ~

Bu tthen my Best of draws are over filled ~ so back to the house keeping and revamping.

But in the process I have decided to clean up some of the previous un-tampered with large Rising Suns ~ the first came up stunningly ~

Amor Sydney ~

Still Lots more to come and lots more clean ups ~

( * Full registered member of Aust. Cartridge collectors Assoc.)

9,653

[AT P Sweep]

The wet weather project is complete~ for now!

The harness arrived ~ and the local home Brew shop gave me a few wine bottle corks ~ which I have sanded down to suit ~

ALL done for now ~ may work on the top washer for the hook~ ( I have several more canteens on the way ~ did the trade with DB ~ Thanks mate ~ I think ~ more renovation work acomin' I feel ~ )


As found ~'

Completed ~

[AT P Sweep]

Currently got Projects coming of the wood work ~

Not enough hours in the day ~

Revamping updating all my US Military relics and reorganising displays ~ Plus long over due projects ~











pre-cleaning here ~ a big trade from mate !



Some clean ups ~ thrid Rising Sun which came up superbly ~



Star Pickets collected form WWII camp site ~ some years ago finally cleaned up and painted with some Licence ~ plus wire ~



Unusual find ~ Compasses ~ pretty well gone AWOL but they are what they are !