WWII Aust & USA in Far North Queensland Australia ~

Discussion in 'Australian' started by Stuart SS, Jul 7, 2013.

  1. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    So this past weekend Ed and were the only team members to front up for a “Back to the Start day” when we made an early start to the section where I first started out in January 2013 and found some excellent finds including dog tag/s and my very first live rounds ~

    The air was very heavy, still and very high humidity ~ but very pleasant all the same !

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    Ed decided to head in the opposite direction to my self and I headed to the exact same area I started way back as the dam waters have dropped to 56%! And my persistence soon played out ~

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    I radioed Ed to announce I had found once again the Golden Fleece of Australian Military MD ` A tad sad as Ed and the other three members of our MD team are yet to find their first!

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    The very tidy 1/2 penny is a King George V 1929!~

    The razor head is the best / tidiest I have found to date !

    As I said to Ed ~ “I can give you one ~ but it will never substitute for the first one you find yourself !”

    As we pressed on the over cast skies and cool temps (But high humidity) began to clear and scorching temperatures began to move in!

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    And you think that larger webbing buckle rang loud, that is an understatement ~ thought I had found another RS or a Florin!!


    No idea what the brass ring is, but it is very heavy ~

    We finally called it a day around 12.00/ midday ~ The temperatures raging up ward and a Scorching Sun was in fact heralding what was to come as now Tuesday ~ we are anticipating the arrival a yet to be declared Cyclone ~

    Severe winds and heavy rain !!
     
  2. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Sunday ~ 26th (Last week )

    I decided to do a short recce on a totally new site ~ The 2/ 117th Workshop and ordnance ~

    View attachment 639571

    Collections | Australian War Memorial Video 2 / 117 Brigade Kiari
    [video]http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/F07326[/video]

    Activities of the Australian Red Cross and 2/117 Australian Infantry Brigade Workshops | Australian War Memorial

    The site was a short hike from where I parked of abound 1 Kilometre ~

    Finds were limited till I reached the eastern most point Then it was littered with metal and fragments of steel and the usual detritus ~

    View attachment 639568

    As this is on the Tinaroo shore line I soon worked out that the actual camp site was located in the ' regrowth timber' above the high water mark ~

    View attachment 639569

    I wonder if this fire place was part of the Kitchen in this mess !

    View attachment 639572

    KAIRI, ATHERTON TABLELAND, QUEENSLAND. 1944-12-25. OFFICERS AND SERGEANTS IN THE MEN'S MESS SERVING THE OTHERS RANKS DURING CHRISTMAS DAY. 2/117 BRIGADE WORKSHOP AND ORDNANCE FIELD PARK PERSONNEL ATTENDED THE EVENT.

    So as I planned a short recce rather than I a full sweep ~ I was back home within a 2 1/2 hour visit ~

    I figure it may be a worth while revisit ~ But wil require a full blown Brush rig up with snake protection ~

    The strip has a serial number but I can only "raise" a 6 and an X.

    View attachment 639570

    Photos and Film courtesy of Aust War Memorial ~ Copy right expired ~

    Search | Australian War Memorial
    Search | Australian War Memorial
     
  3. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Another Friday ~ knocked off work at 06.00 hrs and headed for a Nanno Nap befoer rising and soon decided in view a failed (Thankfully) cyclone which headed south of us ~

    But still in fear of the late Wet rains arriving I headed out for a short MD sweep. i decided to work the site I found the latest Rising Sun for a thorough working over ~

    I spent some 2-3 hours working the site and then moved onto the Yacht club site next door ~

    I picked up a nice 1917 3d ~ and some decimal coins ~ and planning a short run I worked around the water line where I picked up a very ornamented wedding ring ~ So nothing flash although the 3d ~ now 97 years old is not to be scoffed at ~

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    I spent the day at home on Saturday ~

    Then today Sunday with more storms building and showers ~ I headed out with a plan ~ I started at my favourite area and with water levels still dropping I set into the waters ~

    As on Friday I decided to resume with the head phones despite the tropical Summer heat and humidity ~

    But I feel the head phones worked much more effectively ~ and despite a serious down pour I persevered ~ with some fantastic results in a two hour period ~

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    Great 'Bed fellows' ~

    But a great short hunt ~

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    I like the matching web buckle set ~ found separately ! ~ very cool set!

    The .50 cal is immaculate ~

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  4. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Some local shots ~ (Very local as I/ we live on Glen Allyn rd ~ Malanda ~ FNQ) ~ photos taken during a training exercise November 1944 ~

    MALANDA , QLD. Australia

    1944-12-11. SAPPER C W SCHULZ, 2/6 FIELD COMPANY, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ENGINEERS, (1), OPERATING A MINE DETECTOR AHEAD OF A C SQUADRON, 2/9 ARMOURED REGIMENT MATILDA TANK DURING THE ADVANCE ALONG THE GLEN ALLYN ROAD.

    THE TROOPS ARE ENGAGED IN THE FINAL ASSAULT AGAINST Lammins HILL AND THE CONCLUSION OF EXERCISE "RAMPANT".

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    MALANDA AREA, QUEENSLAND. 1944-12-11. 2/4 INFANTRY BATTALION TROOPS USE BLANK AMMUNITION AND A 2 POUNDER TANK ATTACK GUN TO ENGAGE ENEMY FORCES DURING EXERCISE "RAMPANT". IDENTIFIED PERSONNEL ARE:- LIEUTENANT E.J. LONG, (1); SERGEANT M. FYFE, (2).

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    A LOCAL FARMER ON HORSEBACK STOPS TO TALK WITH D COMPANY, 2/14 INFANTRY BATTALION TROOPS USING HIS PROPERTY FOR AN ASSAULT AGAINST LAMOND'S HILL DURING EXERCISE "RAMPANT". IDENTIFIED PERSONNEL ARE:- CORPORAL L. GIBSON, (1); SERGEANT HAROLD ALEXANDER PHEFLEY, (2); PRIVATE C. COATES, (3).

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    Photos courtesy of Australian War Memorial ~ Copy right expired public domain~
     
  5. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Saturday ~

    Getting withdrawals sysmptons ~ not been relic hunting for two weeks so went and had a look at the dam site ~ but as the Wet season has finally bitten down the water levels have risen well over a metre~

    So I worked the high groud where I found my second Rising Sun badge ~

    Heaps of hits ~ heaps ~ but lots of iron signals ~ a few hours before the February Sun wore me down ~

    But some interesting finds.

    A nice 1943 penny ~ but the most intriguing is the safety pull pin ~ Please help on that one ~ I have seen the thing before ~ but cannot place it !

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  6. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    That is a securing pin for British .303 ammo crates.
    These boxes held cloth bandoleers with 50 rounds .303 in it.


    Fairly common finds here in Flanders
     
  7. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    After on going rain resulting from the late wet season , the relic hunting has proven to be few and far between ~ especially after the miserable~ well failure of the Lammins Hill expedition ~ I was chaffing at the bit for sure ~

    I decided to take a week off work ~

    Again the rain persisted ~ but a pattern appeared when the clouds broke in the afternoon ~ So Tuesday I took the initiative very late in the afternoon and headed out ~

    I chose a site which was proven although worked hard and easily accessible ~ And with heavy cloud and sweeping winds I managed to get saturated in one foul swoop when a ten minute shower descended on me ~

    But despite that I put in an hour and half ~ and still managed to pull some inersting goodies including a Mortar projectile safety cover, some very nice rifle webbing buckles and the remains of a mouth organ !


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    But little was I to know this was just a sampler for one of the MOST spectacular days hunt, the next day ~ Wednesday ~
     
  8. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Monday two of us planned a Wednesday outing in the face of a continuing Wet season, although the weather forecast was for decreasing showers

    When I rose around 07.00 hrs it was dismal ~ mist rain and wind ~ So in the anticipation that our immediate area is renowned for being a wet zone I rang "Ed" and asked how it was at his end .. Cloudy but no rain!

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    So I rallied at his place around 08.00 and we headed off , aiming to check out an entirely new area which by Google Earth is all but inaccessible by road ~

    We landed on first target area around 09.00 hrs and the targets started immediately ~ I picked up a 1984 dollar coin metres from our rendezvous point.

    I stuck to the middle of the slight hill side and worked along the slope ~ targets came thick and fast ~ Then a ID tag ~ NX ~ had to be NSW enlistment A mix of coins, including numerous pre-decimals and even a 1940 sixpence. Also an officers epilate medallion and a great coat regimental button!

    Then I laid on a bet as to who out of would score a first Rising Sun at this rate ~ Trouble was neither of us bought the UHF radios which have been an asset ~

    We split up and spent some 2-3 hours at opposite ends of the area. Approx 12.00 we met up for a smoko and a cuppa ~ The weather turned fantastic , and in fact was often overwhelmingly hot, (This lead to issues later as neither of really bought enough water !)

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    We spent another hour on site and checked out some of the historical sites ~ before we moved camp to stage two ~ and it proved to equally as active with targets ~

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    A section of the WWII military road from the Aerodrome and snaking to all the camp sites in the immediate area ~ Wonder who has travelled this path ~ Blamey ~ Macarthur~ and a mired of Generals and lower ranks ~

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    Once we moved camp a short distance I worked into was obviously at one point to have been a rifle range target area ~ as 303 heads were plentiful~

    Then I pulled a Rising Sun ~

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    Then I hit a hot spot filled with buckles and misc bits including a D/I\D Lockwood Aust key and some mystery knurled adjust knobs ~ Any thoughts on those appreciated ??

    I think I dug up half the hill side ~ fortunately it was shallow and easy digging after the rains ~

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    It was not long before Ed appeared and I invited him to join me as the area was echoing like crazy ~

    Ed was pleased with is efforts and included an Australia shoulder badge with both retaining pins ~ He also found what he figured was part of a Bren Gun magazine~ Although the slide base plate looked to be a larger calibre ~

    But then not to be out done I pulled two same ‘Australia badges’ in quick succession

    We spent around 2-3 hours on the second site and never even got to the third target area~ We finally decided that we would return and headed home around 16.30 hrs ~

    I was well pleased with my lot ~ the two fuel drum bungs are the best I have found to date. And one was a sun baker as was the rifle barrel weight

    The first shots are as found ~ Appreciate help on the coat button ~

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    The ID tag ~ Bax B A

    Service Record

    Name
    BAX, BERTRAM JAMES

    Service

    Australian Army

    Service Number
    NX125304 (N190272)

    Date of Birth
    27 Dec 1918

    Place of Birth
    CROYDON, NSW

    Date of Enlistment
    28 Jul 1942

    Locality on Enlistment
    BLACKTOWN, NSW

    Place of Enlistment
    TOOWOOMBA, QLD

    Next of Kin
    BAX, HORACE

    Date of Discharge
    15 Sep 1945

    Rank
    Sapper

    Posting at Discharge
    15 AUST CRE (WORKS)

    WW2 Honours and Gallantry
    None for display

    Prisoner of War
    No
     
  9. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    I was stowing Tuesdays efforts and I found that the two 303 rounds I dug up have painted Black heads

    And the numbers are 1942 MG HA Where as the other rounds ~ MH VII ~


    MG Small Arms Ammunition Factory No2, Footscray, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

    MH Small Arms Ammunition Factory No 3, Hendon, AUSTRALIA

    Bullet Type Colour of Tip Colour of Annulus


    Observing Black Black


    .303 Headstamp Cartridge Identification
    http://enfieldking.tripod.com/enfieldking/id12.html

    The challenge I have is that these two are not black tipped but the entire projectile is black ~ Supposed to be a rare find (?)

    Observation Mark IIE

    In 1941 India adopted another observation round, the "O Mark IIE”. The meaning of the “E” suffix is not shown, but as the bullet was constructed similarly to the British O Mark I with the phosphorus in the tip it has been postulated that the “E” stands for “English”.

    "Cartridge S.A. Observing .303 inch O Mark IIE" was approved to design IA.7 in 1941. The title was later changed to "Cartridge S.A. Observing .303 inch O Mark III"

    The case is a normal Berdan primed case with a black primer annulus. The headstamp initially included the code "OIIE" but later examples are marked "O III"

    The bullet has a rear lead core with a 2.5 grain phosphorus pellet in the nose, replacing the aluminium tip of the Ball mark VII bullet. It is not an exact copy of the Brirish O Mark I as instead of having the hole in the tip filled with fusible metal, the envelope is internally thinned on the ogive to aid break-up. The bullet weighs 174 grains and has a black tip for identification.

    The propellant charge is 36.5 grains of Cordite MDT 5-2 to give a velocity of 2,400 fps.

    Acceptance proof was that at 500 yards 95% of bullets should give a good puff of smoke when striking the target plate.


    Observation O Mark III drawing from Kirkee Ammunition Pamphlet No.1 dated January 1945.

    .303 inch Observation - British Military Small Arms Ammo
    https://sites.google.com/site/britmilammo/-303-inch/-303-inch-observation
     
  10. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    QUIZ time


    What are these ~

    New MD mate ~ Terry found this last weekend ~ in an Australian AMF WWII site ~

    Was there ever such a thing as metal rank chevrons?

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  11. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Here is last weekends ~

    New site ~ WWII

    Very much removed form any site we have done before and paid off ~ others did even better than my collection ~

    Plus we were drenched by the end of the day as the weather man said it was cast in ~ mud ~ for a fine day !!

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    I found a spill of 303 live shells all with black heads ~ head stamps ~ 43 MG VII ~ Plus three .50 cal shells ~
     
  12. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Well ~ the Cyclones have proven to eba complete phizzer for us ~ despite our being locate d squarely between the two ~ Thankfully ~

    In fact only now are we have any dgree of serious rain ~ has been just heavy clouds ~ spectacular Sun sets !

    So on Sunday I wnet back to "grass roots" and site not so far from Atherton where I actually found my first shilling ~ and blow em down a mere metres from where I foudn the shilling 12 months ago ~

    I found these two "aces in the hole" !

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    Rising Sun number 19 and trick piece of trench art ~


    The total was not too bad for a few hours on a Sunday ~ a padlock , several boot grips, a flare cartridge shell, several pices form what I assume is a English made clock - print says "English make".

    Another tracer round ~ note swelling on the bullet head ~

    ( photo does not include 3-4 brass pieces typical of what I have found many times before ~ not sure what they are but think they are simply related to packing cases ~ )

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  13. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Well been pretty quiet of late ~ but last week deviated from usual scenes and ventured into new territory ~

    This included some areas which I reckon would be some of the most heavily fossicked areas in Queensland if not Australia !!

    These included;

    Range View- a WWII training area near Tolga which was a huge encampment and training area ~

    The Rocky Creek Hospital site

    Long lands Jungle training camp

    Irvine-bank

    Wongabel

    We visited these areas purely as a change of pace or when showing visitors around the area.

    Finds varied quite a lot being from scant to impressive

    Long lands Jungle training site

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    The Long lands area is a huge maze of slit trenches, gun pits and dug outs ~ representing attack and defence modes.

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    One excellent relic found ~ actually a Sun Baker ~ if you can call dense jungle as Sun - baker!

    The Rocky Creek Hospital site

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    Range view

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    Found a spill of 303 Bren Gun shells ~ identified by the firing pin foot print ~

    Some of the finds ~

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    Appreciate thoughts on the Webbing buckle top right ~ rectangular with long buckle pin ( ???)

    The stone ~ top left ~ is in fact a hand seed grinding stone ~ it stuck out like Dog's ball on the site as the only rocks on the area were white quartz~ it was either bought there by a WWII digger from perhaps north Africa or is a indigenous discarded tool ~ A very unusual find `


    First thought I had found Italian rounds but research has all but confirmed they are the Japanese rounds

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    Also another team member found what we believe are Stripper clips from a Boys Anti-tank rifle !

    I thought perhaps the .50 cal round next the Japanese rounds may have been a .55 Boys but it measured as a .50
     
  14. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    I was cleaning up the excess of relics and bits kicking around this morning ~ and reconfirmed that cliche~

    "NEVER throw out anything till you can confirm it is simply detritus or even worthless rubbish!"

    I found a small rectangle of brass with a single hole ~ it was so badly encrusted it simply looked yet another piece of innocuous nothingness brass !

    I scraped it with my nail and I could make out a single number ~ So I flamed the item and immediately more numbers appeared ~

    So I persisted ~ So I flamed it and scrubbed it and then as the numbers started to appear ~ I polished with wet and dry~

    And Bingo ~

    72613


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    And I simply started with NSW ~ NX ~ being the biggest populous ~

    NX 2613

    And first try ~ NSW

    Name LENNON, ARTHUR JAMES

    Service Australian Army

    Service Number NX72613

    Date of Birth 3 Mar 1915

    Place of Birth SYDNEY, NSW

    Date of Enlistment 2 Apr 1941

    Locality on Enlistment INVERELL, NSW

    Place of Enlistment PADDINGTON, NSW

    Next of Kin LENNON, DULCIE

    Date of Discharge 5 Oct 1944

    Rank Private

    Posting at Discharge 2/3 Battalion

    WW2 Honours and Gallantry None for display

    Prisoner of War No

    (No further records found on the Net ~ )


    2/3rd Battalion

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    The 2/3rd Battalion was raised at Victoria Barracks, Sydney on 24 October 1939 as part of the 16th Brigade of the 6th Australian Division.

    It relocated to the newly-opened Ingleburn Camp on 2 November where it conducted its basic training. On 10 January 1940, it sailed from Sydney and disembarked in Egypt on 14 February.

    After further training in Palestine and Egypt, the 2/3rd took part in its first campaign - the advance against the Italians in eastern Libya - in January 1941.

    It was involved in the successful attacks at Bardia (3-5 January) and Tobruk (21-22 January), and remained as part of the Tobruk garrison when the advance continued. One company of the 2/3rd was also employed to garrison Derna after its capture by the 19th Brigade on 30 January.

    The 2/3rd left Tobruk on 7 March, ultimately bound, with the rest of the 6th Division, for Greece.

    Arriving in Greece on 19 March, the 2/3rd was soon deployed north to resist the anticipated German invasion.

    It occupied positions at Veria on 7 April, but a succession of withdrawals by the Allies in Greece meant that the battalion did not meet the enemy in battle until 18 April - at Tempe (Pinios) Gorge.

    There, the 2/3rd supported the 2/2nd Battalion and blocked German movement through the gorge, allowing the unhindered withdrawal of Allied forces further south.

    The 2/3rd itself was forced to withdraw again by nightfall. Its activities in Greece ended with evacuation by sea from Kalamata on 27 April.

    The bulk of the battalion returned to Palestine, via Egypt, but one group of 141 troops subsequently fought with the 16th Brigade Composite Battalion on Crete, after the transport carrying them away from Greece was sunk.

    In June and July 1941, the 2/3rd took part in the campaign in Syria and Lebanon and fought around Damascus (20-22 June), in an unsuccessful effort to secure Jebel Mazar (24-28 June), and in the climactic battle of Damour (6-10 July).

    The battalion was destined to remain in Syria as part of the garrison there until January 1942. It left the Middle East, heading for the war against Japan, on 10 March 1942. The 16th and 17th Brigades, however, were diverted on the voyage home.

    Between 27 March and 13 July they defended Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) from possible Japanese attack. The 2/3rd finally disembarked in Australia, at Melbourne, on 8 August 1942.

    The 2/3rd’s first campaign against the Japanese was the advance along the Kokoda Trail to the Japanese beachheads between September and December 1942.

    It fought major engagements at Eora Creek (22-28 October), Oivi (5-12 November), and on the Sanananda Track (21 November-19 December).

    1943 and 1944 were spent training in northern Queensland, and the 2/3rd’s last campaign of the war was the operation to clear the Japanese from the Aitape-Wewak region of New Guinea between December 1944 and August 1945.

    The 2/3rd Battalion disbanded on 8 February 1946.

    2/3rd Battalion | Australian War Memorial
     
  15. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Oh BTW ~

    Fixed the photos in the previous post ~ and the excellent sun baker score at Long lands ~

    Anyone Help out with this puppy ~ It measures 50 mm across . diameter ~ Ithink it is a 5.5 BL or even a 155 mm USA Long Tom ~

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    I have a fuze which I believe is a 17 pounder which is 50 mm dia but it is too short on the thread depth ??
     
  16. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Well Friday despite serious wind and rain Ed and I agreed to head out and check out even more new sites ~

    And even as I headed to Ed's place at 10.30 it was raining but again this is not a true indication of the rest of the World as it can and is often raining at Malanda and once I descend from "Malanda Heights" it is fine !

    And this day was no different as soon as I hit the 60 km sign the Sun was shining!

    So after leaving Ed's around we arrived at the first site which was/ is even further afield than we are used to as good sites are increasingly harder to find ~

    The first was a Fail@ ~ as was the second ~

    The only thing/s that appeared on the first site ~

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    So after three bowl outs ~ we hit a regular fourth ~ with much improved results

    Looked like some one else had faired better for the day ~ with what could hardly be described a “fresh lunch ~ “RANK carrion” comes more to mind ! Even A Henty Regimental badge would nto have convinced me to dig on that spot ~ Foul!!

    LOL

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    But once again Ed was the prize winner with a definite 1 in a 10,000 ~ if ever find in a WWII site ~ I was stunned ~

    I even exclaimed that "What is going on here, mate! I am working just as hard as you ~ ??"

    ( At days end and post thought is that IF this trend of late continues~ I will updating to a the Minelab CTX 3000 !! LOL)

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    After removing the trash he ended with this total package ~

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    My takings for the day ~

    The spray of 9 mm (Stamped 1943 MF; Footscray) are in nice shape ~ and I actually thought I was onto a Owen magazine very close by but it was not to be ~

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    The crank handle is I believe from a field radio set and discarded as it bent ~

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  17. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Managed two hunts in the last week ~
    First I finally returned to "my " little known USA camp and training site which I have ignored for some 52 weeks after a nasty experience with a stinging tree ~

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_excelsa

    But this time several of us have considered that the farm next to the forest area would be an ideal site for a military camp ~ So I approached the owner and eventually talked him and he was agreeable for us to sweep the area in search of evidence of such a camp.

    I actually met him and his wife for the first time as I was heading up his driveway to access the area for the first. Nice people ~

    While suggested that if we found anything of substance they could have first choice of the relics as a memento, she was quick to reply that they were more interested in the Rural Myth that came with the property in that a now deceased member of the original family had lost his Gold implanted teeth in the area!

    So I headed into the paddocks/ fields of interest ~ the weather was heavily peppered with showers and the grass extremely dense ~ so it was hard work right up front. I was also warned that the previous family used the fringes as a rubbish dump as far back as the 1920s.

    So I headed essentially for the fence line bordering the forest area where I know the trenches and dugouts are!

    I instantly had heaps of targets ! But sadly these eventually proved to be part of the detritus dumped by the original owners ~ Although much of was of interest and kept the enthusiasm up ~



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    But eventually the increasing rain sent me home ~ I did a short zigzag of the closest field but only managed to get saturated from the thighs down ~

    But the site is ear marked for a definite return even if only to search for the Gold teeth ~

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    As I said, the US forces may not have even camped there ~ It is not a matter of whether they were there ~ it is a matter of WHO was there and did they camp as well as train !
     
  18. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Sunday last over Easter I went for a short hunt at the old park site I frequented 12 months ago ~

    The site is a recovered park for the benefit of the locals ~

    I believe it was either a post WWI farm allotment and or a camp site as I have found numerous relics and a single beer bottle base dated 1944.

    plus in the 1960s it was a site for Scout camps.

    Sunday all I found was this intriguing cap~ It is brass and has the remains of a clear glass screw top bottle still in situ ~ Plus a chain fitting on the inside of the cap ~


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    We have Goggled and researched extensively ~ Spirits, Perfume and even Ink bottles ~ Only sensible expalnation thsu far is that it is/ was an Iodine bottle ~


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​


    Also interesting post as my cousin , also a keen MD fossicker, sent me photos of his indeed rare collection of Rising Suns and a NZ expeditionary Forces badge. While I may have the numbers up , he indeed has the quality ~

    The Copper Rising Sun the found along with the more recent Brass but the NZ service badge was given to him as a kid by his Grandmother ~


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    An interesting post as my cousin , sent me photos of his indeed rare collection of Rising Suns and a NZ expeditionary Forces badge.

    While I may have the (real deal on site) numbers up , he indeed has the quality ~

    The Copper Rising Sun the found in the field along with the more recent Brass but the NZ service badge was given to him as a kid by his Grandmother ~ ( she was a lovely lady , passed away in 1986.)



    My collection of Rising sun badges. I actually found the copper one years ago, whilst detecting in the back yard of an old house, that was being
    demolished here in Bundaberg. The Brass one Grandma S gave me when I was a little lad. The other ones, I have collected over the years.

    The New Zealand badge, is a World War I collar badge, Grandma also gave me this one. I think it belonged to her brother who was killed in the War.

    I took it to a military fare here at Bundy a few years ago, and they all wanted to buy it. No one had seen one before. It took me ages to find one on the net. It still has the brass pin with it.
     
  19. Stuart SS

    Stuart SS Well-Known Member

    Finally a ( two man ) team MD recce ~

    A work place lady has been "at " Ed and I to come over and work over their back yard which supposedly has WWII history ~

    Weather was showery and windy ~ but we made a lazy arrival and enjoyed yet another morning 'cuppa' before gearing up.

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    Ed focused on the area in question ad I screened the yard. Long story short Ed's efforts were disappointing ~

    Mean while I pulled a standard WWII Colgate military issue shave cream tube in good condition , a steel wood block splitter, at the end of the morning a heavy '5 lber' axe and head~

    And my first fire arm ~

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    So as the showers continued we decided to make a Plan B and visit a WWII camp site we have never visited previously.

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    While it is no secret we made a plan and after quick lunch we decided the first choice was too close to the currently active rifle range and the cemetery! which both sort vied for a warning of sorts !~

    So we did a short drive around before sticking the tail on the donkey and took a stab at a random site and headed off again, this time armed with the UHF radios as we always split up!

    The hits came reasonably quickly but nothing outstanding. The heavy grass made it hard work ~ but there were some areas which were rewarding and much easier to work.

    [​IMG]


    The trap was that the area was rife with drainage trenches much to my fall late in the day . Fortunately I was able to "walk off " a sprained ankle over night, after falling foul of one of the drains! I was concerned last night as I have five days off and want to make the best of the time ~

    Fortunately I was wearing my hiking boots ~ as I always do!~ which would have surely minimised any damage !

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Mere centimeters a away was a 2" mortar fin in verynice shape ~ coincidence!???

    [​IMG]


    So we spent some 3 hours working the area ~ I was well pleased with the day overall ~ and plan a return visit or fifteen ~
     
  20. DaveB

    DaveB Very Senior Member

    Cheers Stuart - some good finds there. Interesting about the stinging tree, I first heard about it when I did a rainforest tour up near Cairns - listening to the description of the pain it induced brought tears to my eyes thinking about it.....

    I really like the NZEF badge - I don't think I've ever seen one of them before.
     

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