Former 8th AF bases dump site digs...

Fortress Fan · **Posted:** Fri Aug 27, 2010 11:24 am

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

RAMC181 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 27, 2010 11:33 am

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. :lol:

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

See you Sunday mate.

TTFN,
PB

Django · **Posted:** Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:15 pm

Nice!

Happy digging!!

RAMC181 · **Posted:** Sun Aug 29, 2010 11:59 am

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 · **Posted:** Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:57 pm

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

See, I wasn't kidding. :wink:

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 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:05 am

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 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:23 am

Cool stuff!

Django · **Posted:** Mon Aug 30, 2010 1:09 pm

Cool stuff. Think this site was worthwhile?

RAMC181 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 30, 2010 2:03 pm

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 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 31, 2010 2:59 am

Quote:

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 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 31, 2010 4:58 am

Steve Nelson wrote:

Quote:

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 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:39 pm

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

All the best,
PB

RAMC181 · **Posted:** Fri Sep 10, 2010 4:10 pm

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 · **Posted:** Fri Sep 10, 2010 4:16 pm

Wow, those are cleaning up rather nicely.

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Fri Sep 10, 2010 5:51 pm

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

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Former 8th AF bases dump site digs...

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