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Paul Bellamy
7/28/2011 6:16:08 PM | M124A1 Fuze, Bomb, Tail, Chemical Delay (36 hours in his instance) with Anti-Withdrawl Device, as fitted to 500lb GP bombs during the last 12 months of WWII.
The sneaky bit...
Any attempt to unscrew this fuze once installed would cause this ball bearing to bind against the inside of the fuze well, after a quarter-turn it would unscrew the gold-coloured section enough to release the firing pin and detonate the bomb.
I'll be adding the missing safety pin, wires and seals in due course along with the warning label.
If anyone has a locking collar to complete it please let me know.
All the best,
Paul
Paul Bellamy
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donaldbyers
7/29/2011 12:56:49 AM | Good photo and find there Paul. Very interesting point you make here.
Don
Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
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Paul Bellamy
7/29/2011 6:12:43 AM | Cheers Don,
Although this particular fuze is dated June 1954 it's identical to the wartime ones and, more importantly, the first one I've ever seen for sale.
The same dealer had an M103 Nose Fuze to compliment it, but after spending well over a hundred dollars on this one I had to decline.
The M103 was in pretty poor condition, and was missing some important parts, so I'll keep looking for a better one.
It seems that the unusual/specialist WW2 USAAF bomb fuzes are readily available in fair numbers these days, but examples of the regular types are few and far between over here.
TTFN,
Paul
Paul Bellamy
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EDanaII
7/29/2011 4:45:25 PM | Hey, I got one of those in my back pocket, right here!
...
No, wait. It's just a spork. Sorry.
(Nice find, Paul. Keep up the good work.)
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Paul Bellamy
9/6/2011 6:22:40 PM | I've recovered a few more choice items for the Mobile Museum over the last couple of weeks, but you'll just have to wait a little bit longer to see them... :twisted:
Fingers crossed I'll have them cleaned up sometime tomorrow.
In the meantime here's a few things that the post-harvest ploughing turned up, the two flat bits of B-17 should be suitable for posting to Jackie for her nephew.
I think the top piece is a ball turret sighting window surround, the radius is correct:
Bomb fin transit crate corner:
Bomb shipping hoop latch:
Paul Bellamy
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Jackie Sharp Sheflin
9/11/2011 3:56:49 PM | Paul,
What wonderful items you keep finding!! Are you sure you are not an archeologist? My nephew would love to be the recipient of any treasures you could share. As a matter of fact....I am trying to get him to visit next year...maybe even this winter. He was so excited when I sent him a WWII grenade 2 years ago. I recently told him I think I have finished my Dad's memoirs.....need someone to read it over and critique it though. He is anxious to read that and I promised to show him the baseballs Dad brought home from Stalig Luft III which was just one of 2 POW camps he was in.
I also hope to have enough money saved soon to have all his medals, dog tags etc...mounted in a case.
Do you go through the fields each time they plow them?
Jackie
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Paul Bellamy
9/11/2011 4:24:51 PM | Cheers Jackie,
I try to cast an eye over the ground from the edge of the fields at this time of year to see what's been turned up.
Here's the promised photos of the latest items for display, albeit ones not collected from Deenethorpe itself but are representative of things used there:
Aircraft antenna insulators, a bottle stopper and other electrical items:
B-17 wingtip formation light fitting:
Aircraft pipework:
Bomb shackle:
Detail:
All the above still need a lot more cleaning and conservation work before they can go on show.
All the best,
Paul
Paul Bellamy
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Jackie Sharp Sheflin
9/11/2011 4:31:05 PM | Paul your collection is really growing and I am so glad you share the pictures here. How do you go about identifying the parts and pieces you find?
Jackie
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Paul Bellamy
9/11/2011 4:33:36 PM | Most of the items I can recognise on sight nowadays, having the relevant manuals and illustrated parts catalogs helps no end if there's a visible part number though. 😉
Paul Bellamy
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Paul Bellamy
10/2/2011 11:17:57 AM | Spotted this M1910 canteen lying against a tree in the hedgebottom leaf litter the other day... 🙂
Made a start on gently cleaning it, in case there are any scratched inscriptions:
Nice ACA (Aluminum Company of America, now better known as Alcoa) manufacturer and date stamps:
All the best,
Paul
Paul Bellamy
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Josie
10/4/2011 2:40:21 AM | Very cool Paul! Always interested in seeing your finds!! Thanks for sharing...
Josie 🙂
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Jackie Sharp Sheflin
10/8/2011 6:23:08 PM | I really enjoy your finds!!!
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Paul Bellamy
2/9/2012 3:04:16 PM | As I mentioned on the Facebook page, I picked up some more exhibits for the mobile museum.
Here are the promised photos of some of them, the heavier stuff is still outside in the snow awaiting filing:
B-17 instrument panel temperature gauge and two boxes of .50 cal ammunition links
A-4 walk-around oxygen bottle with A-13/AN-6022-1 Regulator (3-8 minutes supply), signal cartridges and a pack of flying goggle lenses
Reverse of the oxygen bottle, resting on another I dug up a while back
And on the conservation front, remember this chin turret gun barrel sleeve from a while back?
It's all cleaned up now and ready for public display:
All the best,
Paul
Paul Bellamy
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donaldbyers
2/9/2012 3:10:33 PM | Great additions you have made and the cleaning of the chin turret gun barrel sleeve came out fantastic.
Don
Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
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Paul Bellamy
2/9/2012 3:12:07 PM | Cheers Don,
Now on the lookout for some more folding tables to put all this extra stuff on when "out on the road"... 😉
Paul Bellamy
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Jackie Sharp Sheflin
2/9/2012 3:55:40 PM | Your collection is very , very nice and what a difference when you clean them up! Good job Paul!
Jackie
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Paul Bellamy
2/9/2012 6:58:07 PM | Thanks Jackie,
It's just a shame it's not feasible to bring the display to the reunion. 😞
Paul Bellamy
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Josie
2/10/2012 2:03:32 PM | We'll look forward to seeing a great display of photos of your collection at the reunion!
Josie 🙂
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Paul Bellamy
10/21/2012 4:34:15 PM | Some of this weekend's finds, after cleaning most of the mud off:
Shipping container for an M101A1 500lb bomb tail fuze:
(The M101 Fuze was about the same size as the M124 at the top of the thread.)
Extra-large mouthwash bottle, Zippo lighter for scale:
Chest pack parachute D-ring and radio knob:
Finally for now, what would normally be considered the star find of the decade, most of a "Football" radio-compass antenna casing that was mounted under the nose on a B-17:
More photos to come over the next few days, including something even more rare and spectacular than the "Football" (even if it won't look like it until I've reassembled it.)
All the best,
Paul
Paul Bellamy
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Paul Bellamy
10/26/2012 9:58:18 AM | Here we go...
A genuine wartime 8AF PFF H2X radome, well the burned and bashed end section of one at least.
It looks a lot worse than it actually is, I'm just letting it dry out a bit first before I start cleaning it:
Detail of the composite construction:
This is the clearest image I have that shows one of these early sectional composite H2X radomes clearly enough to be able to see the joint, seen here one one of the first twelve B-17G H2X conversions, delivered to the 482BG at Alconbury, before the radome was repositioned in the ball turret aperture:
(USAAF Photo)
I have a feeling this is going to be a challenging conservation job, both from the condition and the size. It's four feet across...
All the best,
Paul
Paul Bellamy
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Josie
10/26/2012 1:22:27 PM | WOW! Big find! Very cool!
That will keep you busy Paul!
Josie 🙂
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donaldbyers
10/26/2012 1:27:36 PM | Actually what I find interesting is the photo the showes it in the Nose area as all I have seen had replaced the BTG position....
Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
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Paul Bellamy
10/26/2012 1:43:12 PM | Yes, that was one of the very first dozen H2X B-17s, which were effectively converted by hand with pre-production H2X sets from MIT and rushed to the UK.
This was in the early summer of 1943, and at the time they didn't want to sacrifice any armament.
Through combat trials with these first twelve, it was realised that placing the scanner on a retractable cradle in the ball turret position solved a lot more problems than losing the turret created.(The position under the nose was obviously non-retractable, otherwise the Navigator would get one heck of a surprise... ;))
Paul Bellamy
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donaldbyers
10/26/2012 6:02:28 PM | And that makes a lot of sense. There had to be a big problem with that "thing" up front.
Thanks Paul
Don
Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
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Paul Bellamy
8/2/2013 11:57:50 AM | B-17G radio room upper window/hatch frame dropped round by Graham this afternoon.
From the maker's marks, this came from one of the Group's as-yet unidentified Douglas-built B-17Gs:
With its corresponding gun mount:
Fresh from the factory:
Paul Bellamy
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anthony
12/2/2014 11:36:24 AM | hi do you the group still do the mobile museum if so can you give dates and times please thanks anthony
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Paul Bellamy
12/2/2014 1:52:18 PM | Hi Anthony,
I haven't booked the collection into any shows next year yet, but at the present time the bulk of the collection is available to view by appointment at the ARG Archive on Alconbury airfield.
All the best,
PB
Paul Bellamy
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anthony
12/2/2014 3:43:59 PM | thank you paul can you tell some of the items you have there please
anthony
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anthony
12/2/2014 3:44:15 PM | thank you paul can you tell some of the items you have there please
anthony
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Paul Bellamy
12/2/2014 3:54:16 PM | On the artefacts side there are various B-17 components, uniform items, ordnance items, etc.
Documents-wise, the UK copy of the 401BG Digital Archive is on the archive server, and available in the reading room is the Blue Book, a number of back issues of Poop from Group and a good set of related books, plus the 1st Air Division Digital Archive.
Paul Bellamy
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anthony
12/2/2014 4:26:26 PM | thank you paul ill see if i can there in the new year
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