Old airfields both active and inactive…..?

I’ve looked into three airfields.

Airfield 1 – RAF Peterhead (aka Longside airfield/heliport). In 1991 spent a couple of weeks searching around a bit. All we found was a few bits of broken crockery, some of which had the RAF emblem. Unfortunately lost the pieces a few years ago.

One of the old machine gun posts still had the ironwork for the heavy machine gun in place. No a/c parts, but hoping to have another search again this summer, this time armed with a better copy of the airfield map from the RAF Museum.

Airfield 2 – Actually found a/c parts. Nothing of use though, all corroded, badly damaged. MoD was notified, who in turn contacted the Fleet Air Arm Museum. Turned out to be remains of Barracudas, but too many obstacles in the way to investigate further.

Airfield 3 – WW1 airship station at Lenabo forrest, just south of Longside village. Nothing found apart from the foundations of the seriously large hangars and some other buildings. Didn’t really expect to find anything anyway, but still an interesting site.

In the late 50’s my late grandfather along with my mother found a wartime bomb label at Raydon.

that was a silly thing to do

I wouldnt think of dismantling old live rounds.

Keeping on topic though some of our guys had a scrounge and a dig round one of the ols bases here and they came up with lots of burnt wood and several electrical junction boxs off of lancs that were in excellent shape.
Just goesto show that the efforts can be worthwhile

Not aircraft related:

Back in the lates 80’s early 90’s a wooden box was wahed up on a beach near Southend it had been damaged and burst open, a large number of stick like thing fell out on to the mud, kids were picking them up and throwing them arround and at EACH other, one thought he would luzz one at the near by sea wall as hard as he could…

…BANG…and a small ball of fire was seen, next thing you hears was BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG…and so on.

These banging sticks turned out to be fosprous sticks that had fallen from the wreck of the Liberty Ship the USS Richard Montgomery munitions ship laying a few miles off Southend.

It did not take long for Police & Military Police to arrive on the scene and give the kids a strong talking too…

Never ceases to amaze me.

Ammunition used to be my business. I’ve often dismantled shotshells using just a sharp knife, but I’d never attempt to dismantle metallics without a proper bullet-puller and some eye protection.

In passing.

Trade price for .50 cal was around £1 per round in 1992. Try watching the newsreel sequences from Memphis Belle with that in the back of your mind.

(Wish I’d been selling ammo in the 1940s) 🙂

Moggy
Cyber-Terrapin

That’s what happens if you play with things you don’t understand

Originally posted by aj_march
My Dad found a live .50 bullet at Rougham, took it apart ….:D

It has to be asked.

WHY?

Moggy
Cyber-Terrapin

I’ve already mentioned Wombleton airfield in the thread on haunted airfields. Visitors to the Windsports Microlight Centre would park on a dispersal loop. In the ploughed soil, just feet in front of their cars, you could always find bits of bomb carriers, dzus fastener brackets and fragments of battery casing etc. Wombleton was a Halifax and Lancaster H.C.U.

Like a very good shell, for example.

Moggy go for it!

Moggs
you should get a metal detector.. if you found a very shell then there must be more interesting bits there?

I frequently wander around Methwold.

Best I’ve turned up so far (No metal detecting for me, it always looks like a very sad pastime from the outside) is a Verey Light cartridge brass from near the threshold of one of the cross runways.

Moggy
Cyber-Terrapin