Hey guys
Well...despite it being damn cold and the ground being frozen, I deceided to go back to the airfield once more this year.
And i have to say it was as good as, if not BETTER than the last visit !!!
Here we go with the pictures.......
Firstly, some of the digging in action
Ok...here is the majority of the stuff i found BEFORE any cleaning took place....
...and here is most of the stack AFTER cleaning (see further down for bits not shown in this pic).
Ok....let's start off with MORE Merlin Engine exhaust stubs. Three more all found in the same area as the previous three. One is badly damaged and one is very strange INDEED !
Ok...so here is the strange one. This stub has been damaged and a new sheet of metal welded over the top of the existing stub. The workmanship is rather poor so it must have been fixed in the field.
When you look inside the stub you can clearly see what the fitters were repairing.......a rather large hole in the stub itself. The romantic in me tells me that it is the hole left by a large calibre bullet.....the realist tells me it is something far more mundain. All the same, an intersting hole and repair !
Ok here are some pics not shown on the group photo above as it was too big ! Once more I find myself torn between the optimist and the realist. Optimist says it's the wheel hub off a WW2 aircraft, pessimist says it is some old bit of farm machinery. What do you guys think it could be ?
Another item a bit diffcult to see in the 'pre-cleaned' shot is this number plate. I have discovered that it is dated somewhere between 1936 and 1945....all i have to do now is track down the vehicle it was attached to. Given where i found it, surely it must be a vehicle used on the base ?
Now for what appears to be pieces of buckle, buttons and press studs AND a spark plug ! WW2 Era ? There are no markings on the plug so no help there
Certainly the single press stud looks very similar to those found on the canvas cover to an American issue water bottle. Do you guys recognise any of the other items ?
I also found another one of those 'Lucas' lids along with 2 more odd items. Can anyone help with identifying them ? Is the circular item a 'cup' off a water flask ?
Another unidentified item here. Same alloy as previous examples attributed to P-51's but this one, most annoyingly, has no visible markings on it. Can anyone identify it ?
And lastly, the items most often found at this base. The cartridge cases. Firstly a whole bunch of .50 cal cartridge cases. The vast majority headstamped DM 4. In this group is also a spent 45 calibre casing. Thomson ?
Then a couple of 20mm cases along with ANOTHER cut through case ! I am depserate to discover what the guys on the base were doing when they cut up cartridge cases as this is the 5th one i have found !!!
Anyway guys...that's it for this year. I am not going back until the Spring as it is damn cold and the ground is frozen into rock !
Look forward to your comments.
ww2digger
Well...despite it being damn cold and the ground being frozen, I deceided to go back to the airfield once more this year.
And i have to say it was as good as, if not BETTER than the last visit !!!
Here we go with the pictures.......
Firstly, some of the digging in action
Ok...here is the majority of the stuff i found BEFORE any cleaning took place....
...and here is most of the stack AFTER cleaning (see further down for bits not shown in this pic).
Ok....let's start off with MORE Merlin Engine exhaust stubs. Three more all found in the same area as the previous three. One is badly damaged and one is very strange INDEED !
Ok...so here is the strange one. This stub has been damaged and a new sheet of metal welded over the top of the existing stub. The workmanship is rather poor so it must have been fixed in the field.
When you look inside the stub you can clearly see what the fitters were repairing.......a rather large hole in the stub itself. The romantic in me tells me that it is the hole left by a large calibre bullet.....the realist tells me it is something far more mundain. All the same, an intersting hole and repair !
Ok here are some pics not shown on the group photo above as it was too big ! Once more I find myself torn between the optimist and the realist. Optimist says it's the wheel hub off a WW2 aircraft, pessimist says it is some old bit of farm machinery. What do you guys think it could be ?
Another item a bit diffcult to see in the 'pre-cleaned' shot is this number plate. I have discovered that it is dated somewhere between 1936 and 1945....all i have to do now is track down the vehicle it was attached to. Given where i found it, surely it must be a vehicle used on the base ?
Now for what appears to be pieces of buckle, buttons and press studs AND a spark plug ! WW2 Era ? There are no markings on the plug so no help there
Certainly the single press stud looks very similar to those found on the canvas cover to an American issue water bottle. Do you guys recognise any of the other items ?
I also found another one of those 'Lucas' lids along with 2 more odd items. Can anyone help with identifying them ? Is the circular item a 'cup' off a water flask ?
Another unidentified item here. Same alloy as previous examples attributed to P-51's but this one, most annoyingly, has no visible markings on it. Can anyone identify it ?
And lastly, the items most often found at this base. The cartridge cases. Firstly a whole bunch of .50 cal cartridge cases. The vast majority headstamped DM 4. In this group is also a spent 45 calibre casing. Thomson ?
Then a couple of 20mm cases along with ANOTHER cut through case ! I am depserate to discover what the guys on the base were doing when they cut up cartridge cases as this is the 5th one i have found !!!
Anyway guys...that's it for this year. I am not going back until the Spring as it is damn cold and the ground is frozen into rock !
Look forward to your comments.
ww2digger
