WWII Aust & USA in Far North Queensland Australia ~

Big day today ~ Return to the WWII Training grounds ~ Round Two ~

Four of us went out today ~ and included Paul from Cairns ~ and Ed ~ RAAF ( retired) ~ plus two GPS way point trackers and four hand set radios ~

I headed out at 05.10 to meet Ed and then onto Atherton to meet Paul and Paul ~

Gearing up ~ MD and ancillaries ~




The region looks like a battle field ~



After stage one .. search for a possible encampment site we headed back to unload and a smoko ~


A intriguing mixed bag as there were some 19 C plus ~ pre WWII finds including a horse shoes ~ an embossed Cigar tin lid, a (sad) but ripper belt buckle ! and misc




Round two ~ ( after a 'smoko' and relax ~ )


Paul considers the embedded shell .. it is stamped 'SMK' on the rear base plate but that did not inspire us to dig it after all there are a lot more exposed !



Then we found we wandered into a full on fire range of shells and mortars ~ most either disarmed or imploded ~ also included embedded 3" Mortar bombs ~ Plotting the artillery positions was a challenge in itself ~



This one we definitely left well enough alone as local residences even for lizards were few and between ~





We scouted another area and found numerous obvious fox holes and trenches ~ very plain to see ~ a defensive position which over looked a distant pass ~ It can be clearly seen that this position would be able to direct artillery fire into the pass in a hypothetical scenario ~ ( I left the camera in the car.. Paul took some photos ad promised to forward them ~ )

This area warrants the Metal detector as it was a big personnel area with camp and dug outs ~ so you never know what the Diggers/ Soldiers dropped here ~


Around 12.30 the heat was rising ~ we headed to the nearest Pub and downed a few before heading home ~

More local scenery



My total tally for the day

( FYI ~ the two rock samples at the bottom are extraordinary samples and would polish up superbly ~ the area has a history of Gold, silver, tin and copper mining ~ plus gems stones ~ )





For the concerned ~

 

I forgot to mention ~ the cannisters ~

I picked up one and tried it for size and guess what it fits perfectly into the body of a 25 pounder shell!



So as 97% of the shells on site are empty ~ it makes sense that they were all loaded with smoke canisters ~

I was offered a small collection of AMF buttons and a "Belgium Service medallion" ~

So Ed and I dropped into "Sandy's place on the way home and showed her our relics for the day and had a quick yarn as she is ex-military herself ~ thus shows a lot of interest in the WWII stuff I MD.

With a promise of more bits to come it was a nice gesture on her part ~

But the "Belgium medallion" actually turned into a Netherlands Service medal for services 1944-1945~


Binnenlandsche strudkrachtens 1944-1945

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Google Translate
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binnenlandse_Strijdkrachten&prev=/search%3Fq%3DBinnenlandsche%2Bstrudkrachtens%2B1944-1945%26client%3Daff-maxthon-newtab%26channel%3Dt2

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So today as I decided to have a rest day I thought I woudl giev the medal a whirl in the Jewellery cleaner ~and a follow up polish ~


Here is the result ~

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Several shots form last weekend

Ugly can still metal detect WWII Sites ~ :shok_yikes:

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Day off work as per Wednesday

Planned to go out early and revisit the regular site as the dam waters have continued to drop quite dramatically ~ and as Spring heads into Summer ~ and the Dry season (hopefully ) heads into the Wet season ~ the temperature climbs ~

So I headed out early for a local recce ~ I was on site by 10 AM which is pretty early for this search area ~

On the way I snapped this little known icon ~ this area was densely populated with Aust divisional camp site region -

"North Base"

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I was quite surprised at just how much the water level has dropped ~ Last time I was on this site it was 73% ` now it is 62%! The lower brick is obviously the current level while the higher I placed three weeks ago !!

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And it is the keen MD that ventures into the water ~ as the water quality is dropping severely with back waters a high health risk ~ and even the more active turbulent waters while clear are hardly appealing ~

But worse still I walked out and left my water scoop standing the garage ~ DESPITE doing a mental inventory check before i left home ~

So I persevered by venturing into the water only to knee height and eiter hand scooping targets or using my hand pick to drag targets up tp the water line. My perseverance paid off with some good small scores ~

Sun bakers

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I persevered and called it a day early afternoon ~

Still some cool smalls once again ~

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Mystery items ~

A friend suggested that these two pieces actually look like they are one in the same, when I showed them to him ~ Logical if one had bought them together or looked carefully ! (?)

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Another HUGE day Saturday ~

Only three of us fronted up ~ Ed had family, and the Munitions Guru 'Bill' ( who had decided it was time to join us ) also folded . Pity as he is the one that pointed us to the latest site !

( His credentials in this field and his collection as seen below are quite astounding )

So three of us headed out around 06.00 am ~

As has been of late the dry season produced clean very crisp cool early mornings ~ which steadily climbs to the low 30 deg C.

But the biggest issue is the hard countryside with shale stoney ground, coupled with lots of hills ~ Saturday was perhaps the worst rough country we have seen to date ~

How the soliders of the 1940s survived the country simply relates just how tough those blokes were ~ Hot dry, rugged country ~

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We operated under a different direction today ( from Bill) and headed into a cattle station ~ with permission ~

Again a tad non optimistic we headed out.. and soon yours truly was the first to find three objective targets~ LOL

Two pounder shell.( Actually in nice shape despite the photo!)

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We actually ~ finally ~ found a camp site and a number of gun pits which tells us that the troops and guns were embedded on site ~ The samples we found in fact we believe are ricochets!!

We also agreed these guns were firing at or more to the point OVER a large hill some 150 metres above the area we first explored ~ as we are already familiar with the finds and excursions on the other side ~

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This is really ~ really HARD country and walking it is hard hot work ~

Time out !

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So head to stage 2 for the day ~ This was not really anticipated ! An intact UXO !

Walk away !

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Then as time went on I scored this cracker find ~ very rare score ~ Ripper ~

100 % harmless ~

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We headed off again around 13.00 hrs ~ stopped off for a cold beer and back to town ~

We headed over to Bill’s place and spent several hours with us , checking our stuff and showing us his collection of many years !

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Bill was also glad to show us some imploded examples -

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My cut of the booty today ~ ALL ~ inert ~

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Bill rang me last night to arrange to go out Monday morning to check out several of the UXOs which are a serious concern ~ He feels the 3.5" mortars are in fact Gas shells ~

Good thing I am off work for a short break ~

(This bloke is that security and safety / professional anchor to our entire MD operations ~ Cool!)

 

So a quiet yesterday ~ Wedensday ~ that is if you consider an appointment to do my 2013 Tax, race around and a list of business and home again by 12.30 to pack up and out for a reasonable period of afternoon MD!

Being over cast it was a bit cooler day ~ Arrived on site about 13.45 ~ Straight up the internal speaker on the ATP failed@ Fortunately I had the headphones on board and they worked fine ~

As I am wading I put on the rubber boots and gaiters ~ the less I even touch thsi water the better for me ! It is rank and a Blue Green algae warning is current ~

After about 45 minutes I was getting very frustrated with the lack of results ~ But then the Game was on!

First up ~

1939

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Very tidy just a tad shabby after 60-70 years under mud and slime ~

This quickly followed in very close proximity by a 2003 5 cent ~ no accounting for bed fellows ~ but again in the "Two Up School " region~

Still no Florin/s~

And that was just the start ~

Seemed I could do no wrong ~ ( all amazing considering I left my Poop scope home AGAIN ~ AND even more.. the speaker it he Garrett appears to gone belly up~ I had the headphones on the car so that worked fine ~ But then the shitty putrid mud bottom started giving corrupted signals ~

So I based my targets on read out and ignore the iron signals ~ even the muddy bottom actually physically bogged me a number of times !

(Boy what we do for the love of a relcs and history ~)

This I confirmed when I got home and the MD worked perfectly ! So have to look at the speaker issue !)

The bottom in the water got so back I was actually bogging ~ And when I scrapped the bottom up it was black and putrid.. so iwa s not keen to reach into the water ~ and scrapped only as far as the Garrett Pick would reach ~ and drag the target up the bank ~ A tedious process ~ but it was working..

One point about this black bottom .. it preserved the badges.. again this one has the original Blue still on it after 70 years ~

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Then it got even better as I think I found two “Hanging trees” as the targets just got stronger ~

( I call a rest / shade tree a "Hanging Tree" purely for the want of a suitable name for a tree soldiers in the 1940s might have rested under in the cool of the afternoon, as the goodies always are strongest on the eastern side of the tree.!)

Basically the clock rang out on me ~ and with HEAPS more targets ~ and I pulled up at home at 17.55

But what a fantastic few hours ~ day ~

Five pennies icluding 2 * 1942s and a 1943 ~ found another one missing from the shot in the camera bag!!

Two half pennies 1942 & 1943 – One 1939 shilling – 1* 5 cent ~ 1 1928 Threepnce

Two Rising Suns or as been suggested of recent ~ they are not Rising Suns but "Brandishing rifle barrels and bayonets" ! (??)

One cut out centre of a two shilling coin ~ as M said.. “ And the outer was turned into a ring !??”

(It has also been pointed out that that this was not a Florin but a 19 century UK two shilling coin. This I have yet to confirm ~ based on the coat/ Crest of arms (??)

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Is this as close as I get to a Florin!??

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Plus four 303 barrel cleaning rods ~ again this area despite the putrid under water conditions ~

(Well ~ Sammy reckons they are ALL PRETTY Cool!)

Strange bed fellows!

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(This water world is sure as Hell itself it is a totally contrast to the Heat , the steep hills and rugged stone and shale, the rocks of the outback training ground we, as a archeological team have been researching ~ covering the Artillery training of Australian troop Battalions in WWII ~ )

 

Cheers Stuart - I love these photos, I can only open up this thread when I am at home due to the size of the photos (my steam-driven internet connection for when I am working away from home hates anything with heaps of images).

Looking at the 1939 shilling makes me wonder how much the owner hated losing it - I wonder what the equivilant would be today, losing $40 or $50 dollars??


On a side note I asked what that fuse cap looking thingo was on the defence forum, I eventually got a response after wading through a bunch of fluff. Umpteen people found it necessary to tell me not to play with the UXO - I explained that (a) I was nowhere near the items & (b) that the person who did find it was smart enough not to place it in his underwear and go koala bear wrestling.


Anyhoo, I hope this makes sense:

4.5in Carrier Projectile W/ No 220 Mk III fuze.

Straight Sided projectile indicates a carrier based ordnance so that what ever is carried (.e Smoke Pots / Flare) can be expelled effectively.


Mortar Tail is that of a 3in

2 inch mortar tails were solid construction, this then indicates that the fin is from a 3 inch, if the fin is from a 3 inch Mortar, it would indicate that the projectile is bigger than 85 mm (approx dia of a 25pdr)

 

Hey Dave

I have heard this (precautionary) comment before ~

As previously suggested we have an extremely experienced and qualified member on side with our team and his experience extends to disarming over 3500 Hand Grenades in this region over many years among a cavalcade of other UXOs and he has in fact even seen the fuze/s up close and has given them the all clear ~

While i was confident it always best to have a Guru give his blessing as it were ~

Common sense prevails among our team members ~ be assured ~

 

Well ~ On leave at present and teamed up for a very early start of Saturday and head to the back country, and the AIF WWII training ground leaving home at 04.30 and despite a 40 kmh drive because of heavy fog , arrived at "Ed'd place' at 05.05.

We headed off at first lght to arrive on site at 06.00 ~ rigged up and on the beat by 06.15.

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We worked to a plan and headed over Hill 101 which tops put at 800 plus M from start point of 650 m ~ and heavy going, we followed what is/ was a pioneer mining pack horse track ~ amazingly we found what we believe were artillery pads at the end of the very rough track ( which as been maintained even today ~) The pads were roughly at 750 M ~

And another 50 M plus to the top ~ but what a view! And to think the pioneer miners hacked shafts and tes tpits in this area ~ Then in WWII this entire area was a taining ground for ground troops ~ artillery, mortars and ground support ~ plus dive bombers and air to ground fighter bombers ~

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Mining test digs circa 1870

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We skirted the high ground and slowly worked our way back to base camp ~ a mountain trek of soem 3 hours ! monitoring areas with way points and numerous GPS tags ~

We found a camp site and I retrieved these tabacco tin lids ~ a bit sad but still ~

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After a rehydration ...and a Smoko ~ we headed out again ~ North ~

Ths area proved to be an entrenchment and training area with many indications of individuals with bullet shells ~ dug outs, fox holes.. mess detritus and rubbish, even discarded beer bottles ~

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A redoubt position skirted by pickets to accommodate Garnet wire ~

An accumulation of spent shells ~ ( I suspect our mate Bill ~ who confessed to accumulating stock piles and inert shells and neglecting to return ~ he was focused on UXO and their disposal! )

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I took my MD this time and this revealed some great items including some of the fuzes and one of my favorites ~ a boot heel stop ~ which I feel predates WWII and in fact dates bacto the mining days as it has a manufactures name ~

But by 12.00 the temperature has rised severely and we had enough so pulled the pin and headed home ~ Yet another good day ~

Today Sunday was another day and I decided around 11.30 to head to the local WWII camp site where I have been working ~

The dam level has again dropped as famers drain water from the dam ~

It was not quite as foul as Weds and there were many skiers and swimmers in presence ~ Sorry not for this puppy !

Despite the lower waters ~ the scores were few and far between ~

But I pulled up a section of copper piper and actually discarded ~ but thought secondly about it as I have a theory of .. “Don’t discard anything till you get it home and check it out “ ~

Plus I scored a few copper coins ~ and another Primer Flash tube ~

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It was not until i got home I realsied that I had pulled up a 1906 UK Bald head penny , worn but in nice shape ~ (oldest coin to date !)

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But I also retrieved the "copper" tube as I looked at it with intrigue!

It did not look quite right and had one end sawn off ~ It is Brass~

When I got home I tried the Armour piercing round 2 lber I have ~

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And further more I checked the length specs on a 2 lber ~ < 11.99 " > ~ and guess what ~ even allowing for the sawn off end ~

I also picked up a perfect bottle in the camp site ~ a rare score in Australia these days

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So what was a slow day turned out very cool ~

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Well after missing the recce yesterday to the back country training area ~ and seeing what a great day the boys had I was pumped to get out today ~ Sunday ~






And sure enough the weather was good to me too ~ ( as the Dry season here is over whelmed by the Wet season which means ~ rain and catchemnts being refilled and burnt out country regrowth surging once again ~

I headed to a whole new area which I have been watching for yonks but have not been there since the Dry has taken away the water levels ~



As usual started out slowly ~ I have a theory on this site is listed as a WWII AIF encampment listed ~ but I reckon the listing is wrong ~

A beautiful area ~ the water was clear and the sand varied from coarse to classic beach sand ~ pity the water is rank !

While a few hours sweeping revealed some 2" mortar frags and 303 detritus ~ I was quite surprised by what the day bought forward.. including an even greater surprise than anticipated ~



Nothing quite like variety ~

First 50 cent coin ~ * 2 even !!

Frags * 2

303 bits * 3

14 Sinkers ~ including an unusual one ~ captured the Sinker market ~

1 * unusual bottle cap ~ “Sail and Anchor”

1 * Dollar Goldie ~

3 * 10 cents

1 very sad 5 cents

1 * Group A touring car

Four very different blanks !!!



The challenge is ~ they are all brass ~ I figured 7.62mm blanks from the 60's were plastic bases ~ ????

( Are these a rear event ? Being brass ~ )

So an intriguing find and totally unexpected ~

 

An update from our expert on "team" ~


.223 blank from Colt AR15 rifle.

1 x .303 blank WWII.

TZ on .223 is an Israeli stamp and 67 is year used by 51 Batt training on Tablelands.

Black plastic cases are 7.62 and were used by 51 Batt training during 70s and 80s.

Good finds.
Bill.

 

Another day in the trenches as it were ~

We have been experiencing first of the 2013 / 2014 Wet season ~ So I headed out despite the obvious threat of isolated thunder storms ~

I decided to visit the regular site ~ despite the copious rains we have had the last week I figure that there has not been enough rain to make any significant difference to the water levels ~ In fact I was anticipating that the water levels may have even continued to drop ~

I was right ~ but only in as much as the water level was merely centimetres lower making little difference ~ The only real difference was that the water was notably cleaner and clearer !

So rather than go to plan B I decided to forge on and give the area run. But it was a very quiet sweep ~

But I did find several intriguing scores ~ (the lure of this site is that it also contains an obvious workshop as seen by many scores previously ~

Twenty/ 22 mm rimless cartridge ~ (Any help appreciated)



The tally was small but there is more ~



The bottom is very insidious with black odious residue/ deposits which IMO warrant rubber boots as the bottom is also very heavy going ~ But the finds are generally in amazing condition preserved for the past <70> years ~



This 303 blank is in amazing condition ~

But then as I was heading back I checked some of the higher dry shore lineand found this intriguing item !

I know what it looks like ~ Assistance / advice required ~

Steel~ again preserved in this black soil ~ Box construction ~

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Any advice appreciated on the items ~

 

Seems the latest mystery item is in fact ~ "Scotch" ~ a chock for a artillery piece !!!

 

So after a great mini fossick on Saturday `~ Ed and I headed bush again, on Sunday ~

With a constant threat of storms and rain, as the Wet season kicks in we headed off around 06.30 hrs, arriving on site around 07.30 ~



Great day ~ with temps hovering around 27-30 degs. it was excessively humid which makes for often hot perspiring conditions ~

Ironically we decided to park on a bush track with no evidence of dwelling or such in view. We rigged up as I was adamant that I am for one am not going to these areas without the Garrett.

It was only a matter of ten minutes and some 5 metres that I pulled a high tone target ~ and to my total amazement I easily found the following item ~





Medal Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee 1887 Maltese Cross (Queen Victoria) at Time Was Antiques
http://www.tias.com/8824/PictPage/3923884525.html

Ironically it was keeping company with a 303 bullet head equally in nice condition~

The area is historically demonstrated with a legacy of pioneer presences ~







We spent the morning sweeping the area with a variety of items retrieved ~

But eventually we considered the clouds and the increasing heat ~ and decided to depart around 13.00 hrs.

As usual when I visit the area I always take home a horse shoe ~

 

Well ~ Saturday 30 November ~

Finally returned to recover the wheel chock on site ~ Headed out the earliest yet for the local sites ~ at 08.30 ~ which put me on site around 09.00 hrs ~

But before I dug it back up again ~ I decided to do a 30 minute sweep of the immediate area ~ as it is a WWII workshop, camp and trash site !

Impressed by just how resilient Mother Nature ~ (How long has this little bugger been, lurking beneath the water, waiting literally for his day in the Sun !




Very quickly the hits came thick and fast ~ but being a high trash area it was down to sifting the better targets ~

But thirty minutes turned into two hours!



But eventually I decided to pull up pegs and move to the originally planned site! BUT of course not before I collected the chock ~

Intriguingly it turns out the chock actually does have Lanyon end mounts ~

SO ~ is this really a aircraft chock removed from the Mareeba air field where the USAF had B17s based, up till end of 1943 ! ??





But by the time I returned to the car it was 11.00 am ~ and as I am heading to the back country tomorrow ~ I figured it was enough for today ~ and as I wanted to close some other issues before Monday ~ I headed for home base ~

But it was an impressive couple of hours ~ and it is really is al about that horrible stinking ~ rotten ground base dam water ~




Left to right

1 Brass radiator Thermostat

1 Brass filler cap cover (??) (Seen before.)

1939 Penny (Nice)

1 * standard brass button.

303 Blanks ~ (heaps of them)

1 * 20 mm AP round head

Sample beer bottle ~ (like to “ariss” and make feature piece )

1* 2” Mortar safety clip

2 * Artillery Flash tube.

Misc mystery brass pieces , terminals, off cuts. Plus brass nut, brass cable ties.

2 * Lead ingots.

2 webbing end buckles.



Well pleased with the few hours ~

Where’s my Beer??!

 

Struth Stuart - you have better stamina than most.

I spent 48 hours or so in TVL last week when my SQN was chased out of Darwin by the Cyclone. Back in Darwin now and if the weather we have had over the last week is similar to what you have been going through then you must be sweating it out by the gallon......

Some nice finds there - the jubilee medal is especially interesting.

 

Dave ~ cheers ~ thanks for the feed back ~

Always good to get some sort of feed back ~

And yes ~ I was saturated on Sunday ! Very high humidity ~ Mate had enough prepeartion to bring along a spare shirt ~ My camo was wringing wet purely from the humidity ~

I always take along litres of water and sparkling' mineral water ~ Fortunately this trip the ground/ topogragphy was not quite as brutal but a huge day as always in this bush country ~

 

Update on my Shell restorations ~

The Molasses gives a STUNNING result ~




The shell collection to date ~ stage two.. more to follow with brass polishing to be completed ~

ALL deemed safe by authorized local ~

Two Pounder case plus “Squash head” anti –tank round –Solid shot – Plus AP solid shot two pounder / 40 mm

HE shell case ( rare find. Intact and disarmed = 25 lber

Smoke round 4.5”

Unusual impacted flattened body ~ Smoke shell ~ 4.5”

2 * Smoke shells 25 lber

Base plate from 25 lber case = inscribed with specifications

All but 2 lbers immersed in Molasses for < 2- 3 weeks> . (Still ~ well~ never going to catch up on Bill’s collection !)

Merete, better half Luvs them ~ She reckons they are the BIG WOWW Factor ~

 

Wednesday ~

Another day off ~ I was going to have a day in but at midday did a rush pack and headed off ~ decided to work another 'camp site' which I have endeavoured to MD previously with very mixed results ~

Weather clear .. and hot ` ~ but while a gentle breeze kept up it was fine... but that was not always the deal !

But what started out as a search for a WWII camp sit e turned into ~

Contemporary/ modern

1967

1954

1942

Amazing considering that all ~ 90 % were found in a 20 sq m area !



One Mills grenade base plug ~



My FIRST professionally made ring.. ( disregarding WWI ITrench art ring. )



The 303 shells read as ~ 54 CAC 7

 

After some 4-5 days debate we decided to do another team recce to the Bush pioneering/ mining site and Aust WWII Military training grounds.

As we have yet to find the actual targeting site for the two pounders ~ ( and we believe more larger calibre guns ) we figured at least another search and find operation was in order.

As the temperatures have been pretty mild considering that this is Summer now in Australia, the temperatures have been well down on the average at around 25 deg C , ( which is a total contrast to our Stalingrad compatriots!)

This is particularly relevant to the area north of home ground where temperatures are significantly higher normally, despite only being some 80 kilometres from home base.

As a result we rendezvoused at 07.00 AM, where as we would normally be on site by such time, geared up and ready to rock and roll ~ !

So the team was made up of three regulars and a Cairns “newbie”, Terry who is a long time MD / fossicker and a relative novice to WWII sites . Although Terry is keen to now join our group as a team member in WWII searches.

So on arriving we parked the Land cruiser strategically in the central area of the site and geared up ~

Primary target was to final nail down where the “rail trench” was for the two pounder guns which targeted a moving steel impression of a “Japanese tank” . Three of us set out with that objective. Terry being the methodical old hand worked carefully around the parked 4*4 in the old township site ~

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The entire area was originally a Pioneer village based on mining of Copper, Tin, silver and lead. After the First World War and subsequent World depression of the 1930s finally sounded the death Nell for the town.
During WWII and the Pacific war the entire area was used for training ~ including the town site, as a target area for light to heavy artillery.

The town site involved the digging of trenches which accommodated semi- mobile target’s for the anti-tank guns primarily which fired solid shot anti-tank shells directly at the moving target~


As we set off on our planned course we detected a lot of brass rifling frags associated with shells ~ After some 70 years since the guns were in place there is little obvious evidence of the Army or for that matter of a pioneer township apart from misc. rubbish and detritus.


Some of the shrapnel in the town site suggested larger calibre than just 2 pounders. Even today solid practice heads can be found!

But after approx. 30 minutes walking we found the first evidence in the shape of a very battered steel picket ~ This we believe was an anchor for one of the trench target operations. Obviously it has taken quite a few solid shot hits from the guns.


Shortly after we found what was left of the first trench, facing to the south East. This correlated with the 2 pounder gun positions which we know to have been some 250 m to the SE . We located some 4 separate trench lines !


With some evidence of the impacts inflicted by the guns there was very little else to be found. So the three of us did a loose sweep west back through the township ( town by name only as there are no buildings remaining) site toward the vehicle.

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The photos do NOT give justice to the degree of the trenches ~ they are far more obvious than these ~

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Again there was heavy trash areas and even shrapnel ~ which created a blend of the township and military presence.

One stage I received a call on the (UHF) radio which went like this ~ "Oh Stuart - guess what we found a coin!"

"REALLY ~ fantastic! Nineteenth century or 1940s? "

" Well it was a surprise as we had to dig same 6-8 inches down for it ! ~ " Pauses ~ "It's a TWO CENT COIN!!"

"WHAT THE ~ in this area and so deep ! Bizarre!! LOL ( Post 1967!)

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We spent further time exploring another potential fire range at the rive rside on the opposite shore but found no positive evidence of firing, in either shrapnel or typical rements of practice rounds.

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This was prove not to be my day ~ ( The MD Gods had decided that one 1887 Maltese Queen Victoria cross was enough on this site for this lil puppy! )

The only thing I found, apart from the standard horse shoe which I always take home on this area, as the brass wick adjuster & fixture from an old lantern. One of the other blokes found six 2 pounder flat head rounds! But overall apart from a great day out there.

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Donated to my collection by Paul (Atherton) , the big winner on the day by far !

http://s176.photobucket.com/user/Brewdag7/media/Fossick87relicsscore23Medium_zps56755fb3.jpg.html][ ​

 

Well what a difference a few days make ~

I figured I would check the dam levels and turns out the water has dropped about 4% , so that might juts be a good chance to visit my preferred hunting ground/s ~

Sure enough the water levels has dropped noticeably ~

The problem if considered is that the Christmas break creates a Mecca for the holiday makers and boat numbers increase significantly and that will remain the same for the next 7-10 days over the New Year, despite the water being in my opinion far less than appealing ~ In fact the local water authority rates the Blue Green algae levels as “Moderate”!

Anyway I took along the wading gear ~ again bathers and boaters must chuckle when they see me armed with gum boots. But if they watch carefully they will see me churning over the bottom and that is not real “flash” ~ BTW I am no where near the bathers and offer no threat to their water integrity ~

This time the MD echoes were off and running the instant I entered the water ! Straight up I pulled a Brass 303 barrel cleaning weight. Nice start I figure ~ And the echoes kept coming ~

But then sadly the majority were ~or echoed typically of the hordes of 303 Blanks which frequent the area in mass! I eventually ignore the echo ~ as in typical fashion the rounds are in fact rolling around the stony bottom sections and are a real pain to be chasing blindly across the bottom ~

A standard brass uniform button and then a section of (modern) watch band section~ (WHERE is the rest of the watch! Typically water skiers and Jet skiers tend to lose their ornaments ` and even the yachties lose watches etc!)

So pressing on I scored a small but mixed bag in the 2/32 Batt camp site ~

I also scooped up the remains of a cigarette lighter ~

An intriguing bottle head protruded from the first of the mud sections ~ (which should have been a warning of what was about to come!) But what I thought was a modern twist top beer bottle turned into a classic “PMU” Sauce bottle with raised embossed print! (The company is still in business but now all their bottles are clear glass and have been for many many decades ~)

So an excellent WWII period bottle yet again!

Plus a razor top and several lead sinkers ~

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Additionally I picked a half piece and a full Australia shoulder badge ~

Then Disaster!!

I was wading approximately 1- 1.5 M from the water edge when I struck “quick sand” bottom! The bottom threatened to ‘devour’ me totally and I escaped by lunging to the water edge but still found myself sinking to the top of the gum boots and to the left knee ~ Scary moment!

So I pressed on along the water edge and when it appeared secure I edged in again only to sink again !! So that was enough ~ I continued along the water line for several tens of metres before I saw several swimmers in a pool area ahead. So I called it a day and turned about until I returned ot the solid stony bottom area ~ Again I returned t the water ~

But this effectively halves the area I have been sweeping to date! Sure I can return as the water drops but wading obviously gives me a potential advantage !

So a review of plans is in order based on water levels once again ~ and another area ~ plus the team members are keen to go Bush yet again ~

So no shortage of targets, It is all about weather and temperatures.