Former 8th AF bases dump site digs...

[Fortress Fan]

See you there but not until Sunday, have to bloody work Saturday

[RAMC181]

I've had an attack of common sense so am having one last night in a comfy bed and heading out at stupid o'clock in the morning.
I really don't want to face a 2 and a half hour drive in the Bank Holiday seaside-bound friday night traffic.

This does mean I had time to finish marking up my hard hat:



See you Sunday mate.

TTFN,
PB

[Django]

Nice!

Happy digging!!

[RAMC181]

That's one 'ole that won't need investigating ever again.
Pretty disappointing for those who only did today, as the majority of the relatively few finds came out yesterday.

I've only unloaded a couple of bits from the car so here are the first photos:

Drem MkII Airfield Lighting A3 (pole mounted) Outer Circle and Approach Funnel lamps.
Other than the missing glass, I hope to be able to make one good one from these two units:





Teeny-weeny arming wires:



Bigger arming wires:



Some more:



Even more:



Anyone would think that about the only thing we found was bundles and bundles of arming wire...



Don't worry, a couple of other things turned up too.
Photos to follow eventually.

All the best,
PB

[RAMC181]

A quick snap of one of the piles of arming wire that came out:



See, I wasn't kidding.

I've been cleaning up a "lump" and it turns out to be a fired/burned black plastic signal flare base.
An AN/M31 Signal, Aircraft, Double Star (Red-Yellow) to be precise, dated December 1942.
I'd only ever seen a reference to these plastic flare cartridges in the 1945 TM9-1900 manual, they aren't in the next edition (1956) so to find one for real is great.

All the best,
PB

[RAMC181]

More bits.

A couple of .50 cases and a plastic 1.5" signal cartridge base:


Detail of the markings on the flare, AN/M31 Signal, Aircraft, Double Star (Red and Yellow in this case), dated December 1942.


Some kind of worm driveshaft. No markings on it that I can find.


All the best,
PB

[Pat Carry]

Cool stuff!

[Django]

Cool stuff. Think this site was worthwhile?

[RAMC181]

This particular one, not really.
But at least we now know there's nothing left there to find so can concentrate on the others.

[Steve Nelson]

a fired/burned black plastic signal flare base.
An AN/M31 Signal, Aircraft, Double Star (Red-Yellow) to be precise, dated December 1942.

Weren't red flares usually fired from landing aircraft to indicate wounded on board? That's a pretty sobering discovery...

SN

[tom d. friedman]

a fired/burned black plastic signal flare base.
An AN/M31 Signal, Aircraft, Double Star (Red-Yellow) to be precise, dated December 1942.

Weren't red flares usually fired from landing aircraft to indicate wounded on board? That's a pretty sobering discovery...

SN

correct..... but flares were also launched to inform crash crews of severe battle damage that would possibly hamper a safe landing.

[RAMC181]

Progress so far on cleaning up the Funnel/Outer Circle Lights:







All the best,
PB

[RAMC181]

A couple of the very small arming wire assemblies I saved from the heap, partway through cleaning:





I'm working through the bundles of regular-sized ones, cleaning and straightening, but I could do with finding a source for new end swivels as being steel they haven't lasted as well as the brass wires and clips.

All the best,
PB

[Django]

Wow, those are cleaning up rather nicely.

[Pat Carry]

This is a great thread. Keep the updates and of course photos coming.