Dug up at Deopham Green ?

MZ305 was 466 Squadron from RAF Driffield on a test flight after maintenance, 4 RAAF Crew and 3 RAF, Report says aircraft stalled and the engines failed to respond immediately to the throttles due to congealed oil in the CSU’s. I am in contact with several relatives of the crew members – we don’t have precise location of the crash site but it was in outer circuit for landing and crash landed in fields where there was a large height difference (10-15ft) either side of a hedge approx 1 mile S.S.E. of Deopham Green airfield at 14:43hrs.

Hi Lucky_Larry, sorry only just found your question ! I’m afraid I can’t help you ! I only had fleeting contact with the farmer who showed me these parts at the time, and I think I have heard that he has since passed away, at the time I got the idea it was a collection from several local farmers ??

Keith.

Yes with an Australian pilot / crew I believe. Do you know where that crash site is and where the Halifax was stationed? Thanks for the A/C serial, been meaning to research that one for a while….
These pieces aren’t from that though. Fake spark plugs and and neatly hack-sawed components aren’t usually found fitted to serviceable aircraft! :S

Halifax III MZ305 from 466 Squadron did crash just outside Deopham Green airfield on 14th June 1944.

I have been to another meeting with the visiting veterans at Deopham Green today, There was a small display of all things to do with 452nd BG on display including a selection of parts ploughed up, or otherwise collected from the airfield area by local farmers etc … there are no positive id’s to any of the parts, so armed with camera … will feed the photos slowly to save confusion !

Firstly, this was said to be from a Halifax which crashed just outside the airfield ????
Part 1a

Part 1b

Part 1c

Part 1d

Hi Kieth,
Looking at those pieces, it would seem they are not from an air crash. Do you know what area of the airfield they came from?
When the Americans left after the war, they dug a big pit at every 8th airforce airfield and filled it with stuff that they didnt want to take or was too costly to transport back to the states. There are stories of bikes, Ammuntition, aircraft Instruments (Filled with radium and other harmful chemicals) and other stuff. This may be where these parts came from. The tubes that are poking out from that first component (Quoted) are sawn off and the bottom rivets neatly removed. Im thinking possibly a part cut out due to a field repair or something cut up for scrap.

Except that’s a valve cover & not a rocker.

Well I never…..is it really?
Thank you you for clearing this up for me.

The question is have I actually learnt something today, (other than that pedants :dev2: can’t help themselves), and leave it there, or do I respond to a pedants posting.

Well hold on, wait a minute, I’ve now done some further research and have determined that it’s actually more coloquially known and referred to as a rocker cover and not a valve cover.
Taking it pedantically further, upon opening my Wight Cyclone 1820 & 2600 and P&W 2800 & 4360 engine overhaul manuals, all actually call them rocker box covers………….not valve covers.;)

So now I know what the manufacturers call them, i’ll stick with that thanks rather than the say so of…………….someone else :diablo:

I hope that was pedantically responsive enough for you???

The wright 1820 rocker is an inlet rocker.

Except that’s a valve cover & not a rocker.

Thanks for those answers ! metal link ? that’s what joins the shells together in a machine gun supply chain ! ?? :confused:

A few more of the artifacts dredged up from the Norfolk soil ……
Actualy the first part, possibly from the exhaust / supercharger area, has been used by my friend the farmer for many many years as part of the downpipe system on one of his buildings ?????

Part 3a

Part 3b

This piece of cyclone 1820 exhaust looks like it is from the lower right hand side of the No1, 2 or No.4 engine or from a No.2 position it could be further round towards the bottom area.

Small alloy casting / cover with ‘T’ section protrusion ??

Part 5b

The wright 1820 rocker is an inlet rocker.

I’ve found this thread most interesting. I have a ‘box of bits’ from B-17G 42-38145 of the 452nd which collided with a 388th machine on 19th May 1944. The crash scene looks very peaceful today….

Martin,

Amazing to see this post! Patty Jo was my Grandfather’s plane (388th Waist Gunner Victor Ruiz). He and his crew were on leave in London for a few days. He told me Patty Jo had been flown by another crew (Salles crew I believe) the day of this mid-air collision. I have the story on my home computer I was able to track down a few years back. I don’t suppose you found any pieces from that aircraft? (B-17 42-31242)

Craig

The ‘story’ of a 452nd crew in a 388th aircraft you mean?

Possibly just an example of ‘maximum effort’; apparently it was fairly common practice for units with spare aircraft to lend them (even for a single mission) to units with a spare crew. I imagine in late May 1944 most units were pretty busy!

…. collided with a 388th machine on 19th May 1944.

That was 42-31242 “Patty Jo” but being flown by a crew from the 452nd. I wonder what the story was there?

Moggy

I’ve found this thread most interesting. I have a ‘box of bits’ from B-17G 42-38145 of the 452nd which collided with a 388th machine on 19th May 1944. The crash scene looks very peaceful today….

Spent shells in an aircraft that crashed on take-off sounds a bit dubious.

Blown cases perhaps, from a post-crash fire?

Moggy

Quite correct Moggy, that’s exactly what I was meaning 🙂

Exhaust section i/d

The section of radial engine exhaust is from a B17 Wright Cyclone engine – the same engine as the rocker cover was from correctly i/d’d by Nick Wotherspoon.

The spark plug “transit cases” were fitted to engines which were new or overhauled. They were filled with dessicant which absorbed any trace of moisture remaining in the air in the cylinder to which it was fitted and were discarded when the engine was unpacked and fitted with proper spark plugs.

In any active station, where engine changes were a regular occurrence, there must have been many hundreds of these things thrown out with the rubbish as I think they were a “one-shot” fitment, i.e. not rechargeable for further use. Even if they were it is typically the American way to discard stuff like this wholesale.

I came across loads of them whilst digging at the old Burtonwood airbase years ago.

Anon.

Spent shells in an aircraft that crashed on take-off sounds a bit dubious.

Blown cases perhaps, from a post-crash fire?

Moggy

B-17 42-39977

Hi everyone,

Many years ago I was part of the Norwich Aviation Society (now sadly defunct), and we recovered a few parts of a Deopham Green B-17 (42-39977 iirc). It was rather unlucky on the day it was lost, as it crashed shortly after take-off next to the A11. Sadly, all the crew perished. Somewhere I have copies of the official reports.

The landowner at the time kindly let us go and dig. Sadly I have no photographs of the relics, which amounted to a few box fulls… mostly spent cartridges from the surface and heavily melted/corroded parts from underground.

Many years later I was able to return to the field, as by some miracle the land was sold to the father of a friend I was at school with. Unfortunately, I was not able to locate any more relics.

Maybe if I had had a better metal detector, I could have found more. I am pretty certain there is more to be had. If he still owns the land I am pretty sure I could arrange a return trip 🙂

Steve

Actually a Wright R-1820 makes much more sense…..I don’t know why I thought it was from a Pratt & Whitney R-2800; only that ‘looks’ bigger than a Pratt & Whitney R-1830, which I’m fairly sure it isn’t from, as I said US engines aren’t really my thing! 😮

I’ve got a Wright R-3350 piston that looks similar (which would make sense as the R-3350 was based on a double-row R-1820). I’ll see if I can post a photograph later.

Looks like that piston took some serious work with a heavy duty engineer’s knocking stick to get it out! seized engine? The rocker cover looks identical to parts we found at a B-17 crash site, so R 1820 Cyclone?

Thanks for posting those! I’m not very good with US pistons but my guess would be Pratt & Whitney R-2800.

Creaking Door. Yes i have these photos of the piston, And to help with scale they are all placed upon an A4 sheet of paper !!

Keith.