Recent content by Ian

I only checked one, to make sure. It's a 1937 Versailles round.

It's a crash site. You can contact me privately to discuss if you like

OK, got it, thanks.

Thanks, then it can only be the lead ?

There is a lot of scattered live ammunition on this site, and not much else, so for safety reasons I can't reveal its location

I think that you've hit the nail on the head there. That sounds very plausible when compared to what I saw on site. So heat, either from the crash, or just from the hot sun over the years has just done it's work on them. Thanks for that.

Thanks for that, interesting.

While searching the Dewoitine site I came across this patch of bare earth. On closer inspection I could see fragments of bakelite and lead battery elements. It's quite amazing that 80 years on, the battery acid is still preventing the vegetation from growing ...

I'm currently researching the crash of a French fighter in 1942. On site, we've found quite a bit of machine gun ammunition. I've found lots in the past, complete rounds, in more or lass good condition but also cases that have exploded in fires and sometimes, quite a distance away, the bullets...

The untold and partly unexplained loss of a French Potez 63-11 reconnaissance aircraft and its crew of three during an anti-aircraft gunnery training exercise in central France in October 1941. Just a few words heard in a conversation led to a year's research and a lot of discovery to be able to...

Hi there, I have unearthed more Lancaster parts, several of which I've been able to identify but a couple that are giving me problems. First, this one. A large brass, bronze or copper ring. There are the remains of 8 fixed nuts on the underside, riveted to the ring, so something was fixed to the...

Looks like you won ! Perhaps a slightly different assembly method but there seems little doubt. Thanks for that and to all for the suggestions. An ideas about the panel location or the fan spinner ?

Thanks, have a look at some of the other fragments found on the same day.

Thanks for the input. I'm pretty sure that it isn't a control lever of any kind. It's heavy and very basic in design. I presume that a heavy steel ball would only be incorporated in an aircraft for a specific reason. The shaft is made up of two thicknesses of alloy riveted together, I think that...

Thanks Steve, that seems a much more logical use for it !