20 school boys and a bomber.

One of the very first crash sites I ever visited was that of a 316 Squadron Mustang III, Serial No. SR411 in the early 1980s and one of our earliest finds was a heavily corroded .50 Browning. However, the gun was a bit of a mystery, being found just below the surface in a shallow gully bordering a footpath some 200 – 300 yards from the impact site – It was on its own with no mounting brackets or even bolts still attached and the breech cover had been removed and was found nearby wrapped in what appeared to be the remains of sacking material.

Several years later the gun (officially declared no longer a firearm after police inspection) was one of a number of artefacts placed on display at a local library. The display proved particularly successful, in that several witnesses to the immediate aftermath of the crash came forward. After a long chat with one individual, he opened up and related how soon after the crash he had returned to the site, with some tools whilst it temporarily unguarded – apparently those detailed to stand guard had retired to a local pub!. Together with a couple of friends, they removed a machine gun from one of the wings, which were laying relatively intact on the surface. Not wanting to risk a meeting with the returning guards on the only access track whilst carrying their booty, they hid the gun in a ditch some distance away, intending to return for it once the authorities had left. However, shortly afterwards the friends apparently had a run-in with the law over some questionable rabbit hunting and they lost their nerve and never returned for it!

My favorite read when I was at school!

A big thank you for posting the Youtube link. My granddaughter would love this. Unfortunately I cannot find it on DVD so I have ordered the paperback on Amazon for her. Seems like a reprint due for release in a few days.

Robert Westall – who wrote a children’s novel about the exact same thing was apparently inspired by a couple of real life happenings – one involving Dutch children who retrieved an entire Lancaster rear turret during the sixties and I’m sure something like a church choir from Humberside finding a gun at a crash site – that could possibly be the same incident.

The Machine Gunners – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258359/

Remember watching it as a kid. Still got the book on the shelf somewhere 🙂

[QUOTE I cannot remember which magazine article it was in though. [/QUOTE]

Robert Westall – who wrote a children’s novel about the exact same thing was apparently inspired by a couple of real life happenings – one involving Dutch children who retrieved an entire Lancaster rear turret during the sixties and I’m sure something like a church choir from Humberside finding a gun at a crash site – that could possibly be the same incident.

I remember the one about some schoolboys that managed to get a machine gun away from an aircraft crash, they then spent ages collecting shells from various crashed aircraft until they had enough to make a belt, one day they spotted a 109 prowling around the valley and having secured the gun to a swing frame? or such like, they let off several rounds in its general direction… panicking at the unexpected noise and in case they were found out, they buried the gun in the garden and slung the remaining ammo… many years later the new owners were surprised when a request was made to dig it up…. I cannot remember which magazine article it was in though. I believe the gun went to a museum

Little tinkers, still boys will be boys 🙂