discussion Friend of mine had an interesting day…..

[Tim Marlow]

Hi all
A friend of mine is a metal detectorist. He’s had a few interesting finds, some old coins and a First World War medal, but the other day he had a really interesting find…..
He found these, all in a small area.

Originally he didn’t know what they were. When he researched them they turned out to be US cluster bomb fuzes from 1944.
As they were an unusual WW2 find he reported it to the local coordinator. Usually they are only interested in things over a hundred years old, but unusual items are always of interest. Anyway, the next day he was contacted……..and these guys turned up to take them away.

They turned up in this…..

The bomb squad apparently thought they were dead, but took them away just in case….not sure why they were in a field Wiltshire that wasn’t used for Army training though….and makes a change from the large amount of scrap and tractor parts he usually pulls out.

Thought you might find it interesting….I did!

 

[Valeron]

Very interesting story Tim

 

[Tim Marlow]

Lucky he didn’t get to see a controlled explosion in his garage really….

 

[Guest]

Very Tim, a similar thing happened near Grantham when some council workmen were repairing a culvert ,they came across some phosphorus bombs . Unfortunately they broke one open and the area was covered in a white gas. Luckily no one was hurt,the bomb disposal team took them away and disposed of them .There were a lot of army and Home Guard units stationed near all the local airfields around here .

How on earth did those fuses end up in that field , stolen at the end of the war maybe and just hidden or dumped . There is talk around here of the Americans dumping large quantities of ammo, small vehicles etc in several lakes belonging to country houses . Surprisingly no one has ever found any !

 

[johnm93]

Hi all
A friend of mine is a metal detectorist. He’s had a few interesting finds, some old coins and a First World War medal, but the other day he had a really interesting find…..
He found these, all in a small area.

Originally he didn’t know what they were. When he researched them they turned out to be US cluster bomb fuzes from 1944.
As they were an unusual WW2 find he reported it to the local coordinator. Usually they are only interested in things over a hundred years old, but unusual items are always of interest. Anyway, the next day he was contacted……..and these guys turned up to take them away.

They turned up in this…..

The bomb squad apparently thought they were dead, but took them away just in case….not sure why they were in a field Wiltshire that wasn’t used for Army training though….and makes a change from the large amount of scrap and tractor parts he usually pulls out.

Thought you might find it interesting….I did!

That truck would make an interesting model...

 

[rtfoe]

That truck would make an interesting model...

Spoken like a true modeler. :tears-of-joy:

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[Ian M]

We have a lake/pond not to far from us. Some guy was magnet fishing a while ago and started to catch small bombs hidden by the resistance during WWII. It was the SECOND time in 6 months!
They where blown up on site! We wondered what the bang was.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Very Tim, a similar thing happened near Grantham when some council workmen were repairing a culvert ,they came across some phosphorus bombs . Unfortunately they broke one open and the area was covered in a white gas. Luckily no one was hurt,the bomb disposal team took them away and disposed of them .There were a lot of army and Home Guard units stationed near all the local airfields around here .

How on earth did those fuses end up in that field , stolen at the end of the war maybe and just hidden or dumped . There is talk around here of the Americans dumping large quantities of ammo, small vehicles etc in several lakes belonging to country houses . Surprisingly no one has ever found any !

The local home guard did use the area, he has found a few spent cartridge cases from rifle practice. However, these were from quite specialised munitions and were relatively new at the time, so not a commonplace bit of equipment. They are also nowhere near a testing range, being in South Wiltshire away from the large military camps on the plains. Could be an accidental drop from an aircraft I suppose?

 

[Jim R]

Very interesting Tim. Perhaps you're friend will never know for certain how they got there but it will be a great story to entertain friends and relatives.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Very interesting Tim. Perhaps you're friend will never know for certain how they got there but it will be a great story to entertain friends and relatives.

Yep, not often your hobby brings out the bomb squad

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Was it all completely destroyed Tim... Or was there anything left that could be cleaned up and kept?

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Yep, not often your hobby brings out the bomb squad

....... oh I don't know about that Tim..
..... Quite often Rach walks into my "War office",takes a look at the bench/surrounding areas,and comments.....
"It looks like a bomb's gone off in here"!!

 

[Guest]

I enjoy watching those shows on TV where they follow police, paramedics, etc. with a camera. A few weeks ago, I was watching a Belgian show where police officers were called out to a few magnet fishers at a pond in a park in Ostend who were supposed to have found some grenades. They turn up, and on a bench in a gazebo-type structure, the magnet fishers had (IIRC) about a dozen complete and partial British No. 36 hand grenades (Mills bombs) that they had pulled from the pond. As I recall, some were complete with fuse while others were unfused.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Was it all completely destroyed Tim... Or was there anything left that could be cleaned up and kept?

It was all taken away to be destroyed somewhere else (probably Porton down) so all he has now are the pictures. That’s what the guys are carrying in the red box Andy.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Bit more info on these here..
https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/battlefield-history-relics/ground-dug-m104-nose-impact-fuse-147494/
Looks like the packaging was less than clever….

 

[Lee W]

The only things I've found of interest whilst out detecting was an old penny dated 18**, a sixpence dated 1955(i think?!) and no end of nails, bottle tops, ring pulls and a few tent pegs... buggered if I'm detecting on Weymouth beach again! :rolling: