It’s cleaned up quite a bit since I saw it in January!

The Missus and I walked up to the outline in the car park and were both thinking “I thought it’d be bigger than this” – then we stood at opposite wingtips and both went “Blimey – that’s one flipping great wing!”. It’s a real slab.

Adrian

I vaguely recall that the Lancaster had a problem at one point with wing skins coming off due to rivets popping and the problem was traced to “tolerance build-up”. Hopefully someone more au-fait with that than me can explain it – I can’t bring it to mind at the mo.

Thanks for that remark about the Hoover building, alertken – assuming England has not sunk by then, I’ll be passing it on the bus on Friday, will have to try to impress the missus with that fact.

Adrian

The medals are the British war Medal and Victory Medal from WW1 (and don’t lose the ribbons – the modern replacement for the watered silk Victory Medal one is horrid!), and they should have the recipients name and (if he was in the ranks) number engraved around the rim. I assume you have two people’s there. Unless they are someone else’s, that suggests enlistment was rather earlier. I believe a few conflicts, such as White Russia and Waziristan, entitled one to the BWM after 1918, but I wouldn’t want to be quoted on that!

For the ranks, Medal Issue Cards (MICs) survive which would dates of entry into theatre. I have to say that I don’t know what the situation would be if he joined as an officer. I have to say that if the hand-coloured photo is accurate then they don’t look like his – that doesn’t look like WW1 medal ribbons on his uniform.

I think that’s the limit of the help I can offer – good luck with the rest!

Adrian

Another one here who’d corresponded with him, and found him to be a genuinely nice chap.

RIP, Roy. You used the years granted you well.

Adrian

Time to get out the treacle bath and clean it up!

Having found a couple of things that go “BANG!” on beaches in my time, I tend to be slightly nervous of anything I don’t recognise these days. I do wonder, with the lead in the fat end, whether it might be a “Priest” for dispatching fish? Given the accuracy of my last guess here, on balance this one should be way off, so treat with caution!

Adrian

What an interesting list! The D.B.7. Night Fighter and the D.B. 7a. must be the Havoc and Boston, and presumably the Glenn Martin is what we’d know as the Maryland. Grumman in 1941… F4F?

Adrian

After the conversation I was witness to between a coastguard and Naval EOD one Sunday afternoon, Alan might well have it!

Andy, Livens projectors certainly were used for gas, but also for pretty much anything you could fit in one – oil, explosives, even bad smells to make the Germans think there was gas, you name it. You’ll notice I said “If it’s an explosive device”, because I’m no expert! Will be very interesting to see if anyone comes up with what it really was.

Adrian

You know, if you had one of those going spare, you could make the perfect mobile fish and chip van for airshows from it!

Surely I’m not the only person who looks at those bomb cells and sees a row of old-fashioned coal-fired deep fat fryers?*

Adrian

*Actually, I probably am, but I don’t care.