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Is This Ordnance-related?!

L

Loosifer

Member
Hello, i wonder if someone can help me to identify this relic. I found it many years ago whilst metal-detecting in my (then) local woods, near Watford. Because I had no idea what else it could be and because of it's proximity to the impact point of a WW2 German parachute bomb I have always assumed it to be ordnance-related.

I think it's made of lead, as it is heavy and non-ferrous. It has also been distorted out of shape, presumably by a blast.

Can anyone tell me if I'm barking up the wrong tree here and actually just have a piece of gas piping?!? A positive identification will solve a 25 year-old mystery for me!

Many thanks.

Dave
 

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Thanks for the reply, smle2009.
Although I don't know much about iron pyrite, I'm pretty convinced this is man-made, as it just seems a very specific shape. I'm afraid the images aren't as clear as I hoped them to be, so I'll try to describe it:- The basic shape is like the lid off a plastic coke bottle but twice the diameter, with a little nipple at the centre of the top and the gnarled 'grip' around the outside. On the other side, there is a raised circular lip around the edge. The inside has a central lump, with 3 equally spaced ridges radiating from this to the lip, almost like an alloy car wheel.
Many thanks.
 
Defo looks like its been an explosion, had plenty of blown fuzes showing that pattern. I think SMLE has been at the 6X again and his eyes are a bit wonky :wink:if you think its part of a mine you need a parts drawing to help nail it down, might be something in the downloads section? Tig
 
Thanks Tig!! To be honest, when I've been on the sherbets I come up with my best explanations for things!
I'm finding very similar things on the forum & online that I'm trying to visualise as a molten lump and it's convincing me more and more that this is a fuse!
I'll keep looking!!:neutral:
 
Than again if it is lead it could be deformed by regular fire.
With positive ID of the material You could narrow the search somewhat.
Easiest way would be the density, with some help of the old Archimedes measure the volume then the weight and you get the density of the alloy (if it is solid)

Bob
 
I've just done a fairly Heath-Robinson density calculation for it and it falls midway between iron and aluminium, which can't be right as it feels heavier than that! I'm inclined to think it more like iron, although its non-magnetic.
 
Hi Bob.
You definitely wouldn't have studied him in science!!:wink: He came up with some great "unworkable" inventions for Tommy to beat the Hun (and vice versa) during WW1 & WW2 (I particularly like his dastardly laughing gas attacks)!

Looking at other examples of fatigued zinc alloy fuses, it does look like a similar metal - my one doesn't seem to have any corrosion, just a tiny white spot or two, that may be oxidisation. The metal itself is a consistent dark grey.

cheers, Dave
 
As Zinc ages it darkens and also the surface will harden too, this is deliberately done in manufacturing for some applications, it also corrodes giving the white spots you mention. Its commonly used in die casting and was defo used in some German and British fuzes. seems possible it could be from some sort of ordnance, especially showing the damage. Pity you didn't find a few more bits!
 
You could try the geologists trick .
A 'streak' test (no,not the naked kind!) where you streak (scrape) it on a piece of unglazed porclein or white tile. Depending on the colour of the streak you can usually ID the mineral.Iron is red.
 
tigbrand said:
As Zinc ages it darkens and also the surface will harden too, this is deliberately done in manufacturing for some applications, it also corrodes giving the white spots you mention. Its commonly used in die casting and was defo used in some German and British fuzes. seems possible it could be from some sort of ordnance, especially showing the damage. Pity you didn't find a few more bits!
Click to expand...

That's certainly encouraging, Tig! As far as expected ordnance in this area - only 2 bombs were dropped IVO this location during WW2, being described as parachute mines in the local history books; apparently, the remains of the parachute were still in a tree! I'll contact the local history group to see if any other bits were salvaged at the time.

I''ll have to give the 'streak' test a go, as suggested by kahu1 - thanks for that.
 
Will be quite hard if aged zinc, it looks like it could be remains of an AZ41 but not sure if this would be used with a parachute mine, bomb "experts" seem quiet on this? Its good to get an Id on items. Tig
 
The body of AZ41 has 36,5 mm diameter (43,5 on lip) and is made of zinc.
There is a ton of pictures and some serious experts on this topic here on bocn.

Bob
 
The maximum diameter of this piece is 33mm, although that may not represent the original size due to it having been ripped out of its original fixture. Do you know if the AZ41 was in the parachute mine, as the only recorded munitions drop in this area involved something on a parachute? I'm trawling through some interesting threads on those here but haven't found any positive evidence yet.
 
The AZ 41 was one of the fuzes used with SD-2 submunition which was a "butterfly bomb". For its function it needed the spining motion of the breakung surfaces (wings) so a parachute was not the option.

As for german bombs one with a parachute would be an illumitation or target marker bomb. Unless You are bombing from low altitude You do not realy need a parachute on high explosive bomb. There were some naval mines dropped on parachute too but that is not realy my area (we do not get them here :))

Bob
 
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Thanks Bob. I will try to get hold of the contemporary reports to see if this fits in with that. I'm just glad that my original thoughts were correct & that I haven't just been keeping a washing machine part for all these years!
 
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