Hi guys,, I'm new to the forums & hope you can help me. I was out metal detecting on land owned by my place of work which is situated on an old ww2 raf airfield. I came across this. I believe it is a front fuse of a bomb, can anyone enlighten me? It is conical,with a threaded base & very heavy, must be close to 1kg Many Thanks It does resemble this german fuse minus the actual explosive charge at the base, which appears to have been broken or cut away but i cannot find much else similar http://www.millsgrenades.co.uk/images/Bomb%20Fuses/AZ10%20Hut.JPG
It is indeed a fuse from some type of ordnance, most likely German by the state of it (they used poor quality non-ferrous metals which degrade like this). However, the item protruding at the base is part of the 'gain' and there is always the chance that it still contains explosive. Even that small amount would be enough to take your hand off, and it could react to being in a centrally heated home. I would remove it to your garden immediately.
Hello does this have 2 flat sections on the side of the cone as per the attatched rough drawing ?? also the bottom possibly threaded part does it have any holes in it ,as going by your photos it appears to be solid ?
Thanks folks for the replys, Yeah im keeping it in the garden, kinda scary. Spotter it does have the cutouts either side as per your drawing. looks as though you would slot a spanner around it to tighten. Its rather corroded ans hard to see in the pictures.
can you just have a quick look at this picture,,just ignore all the writing and other bits just look at the bit thats been boxed in red.... I have to say for anyone reading this topic ,please do not bring pieces home that you do not recognise or that may be suspected items of ordnance or components of.This stuff is designed to kill and is still capable of doing so, no matter how old it is. If you do find something do not disturb it any more,take note of the location and call the police ,give them as much information as you can. YOU WILL NOT GET INTO TROUBLE EVEN IF IT TURNS OUT TO BE HARMLESS.
Your being a great help Spotter many thanks. Maybe i shouldnt have bought it home. The red outlined box is exactly what it looks like. Is it from some specific bomb as that drawing is spot on. german?
I would have to say I'm 99% sure, it looks as tho the tubular TNT part below the thread was either cut or broken off. The plate at the base of the cone and above the threaded part appears to be made of a non corrosive metal.
Extremalee, Hello and welcome to the forum. Very, very sound advice from Spotter. You just cannot be too careful with old munition parts. Regards Tom
Righty ok ,the picture,i showed was of a british nose plug from an RAF bomb but because you cannot 100% be sure it is the same item,,i would recomend calling the police,tell them what you can about it that it was from a disused raf base and why your concerned,They will then arrange for an Eod team to come and have a look at the item and deal with it accordingly.Like i said in the earlier post you will not get into trouble for reporting it,and if your lucky and the item does turn out to be safe the eod team MAY let you keep it. anyone reading this.... just because it looks very similar to the nose plug in the photos ,in mint condition it would be easy to distinguish wether it is or isnt ,but due to the heavy corrosion and encruted rust ,there can be no guarantee this item is a plug,some british bomb fuzes look very similar
Big thanks to Spotter for having a look at this, and other pieces that have cropped up over time. It's obvious that this can be a pretty serious kind of business and we could perhaps do with some sort of policy/warning regarding it. I've spoken to 'Spotter' today and can only reiterate that: If you're not sure what something is, or working for the relevant authorities - Leave it alone. It's hard to pick up any more interesting rusty stuff when one sleeping nasty has led to your arms stopping at the elbows... Any suggestions/identifications received on the basis of an Internet description are unlikely to be 100%, no matter how knowledgeable the advisor. When dealing with possible ordnance that 100% certainty can be considered essential, and the site can't accept any responsibility for what's said or advised. I'll be putting a sticky thread at the top of the technology section soonish, hopefully containing correct/current advice concerning rusty old lumps and their potential dangers, along with a disclaimer regarding any suggestions anyone might post. (And don't worry Extremalee, this isn't aimed in any way personally at you mate, just something we could do with addressing a smidge more seriously as this site grows. ) Cheers, Adam. Edit: cross-posted with Spotter above... basically - 'what he said'.
Hi , I'm new on the forum just a question if somebody can help me to find out if this I found 20 " deep in London is a german aerial bomb fuse or something else?.the only readable letters i found on it where in sequence...cy11/39 09 388 91 n. 209- II - T.G. c. 13 I attached the pictures of it. Not worries sadly this one did is job and exploded many years ago ..I hope sincerely nobody was injured . Thank you
Often detonators are very powerful. Having spent time using all sorts of bang making gear I have a very healthy respect for the unknown.
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of shops, cafe's etc along the old Western Front have shell fuses for sale.
