British bomber relics

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Member for

8 years 10 months

Posts: 43

hello everybody, first of all i want to say, that my last english-lesson at school is 30 years ago, so i hope you understand what i mean. the following relics were found in a forest in germany/rheinland-pfalz. i sent the picture of the dial to a friendly person at smith&sons and he told me, the instrument was made in the 1936 and the scale only going to 250 lb/sq suggests a slower aircraft, almost certainly a bomber. this means the propability is an

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

or a

vickers Wellington

or a

Handly Page Hampden

on one of the fotos you can see a fb-number which means, as i read in this forum "bristol"

Perhaps you can help me to find out, to wich aircraft the parts belong.

p.s.: i found some cardrige cases of .303 british

Original post

Member for

11 years 9 months

Posts: 1,354

Mein lieber Herr Erna,

May I congratulate you for paying attention to your English teacher because after 30 years it is still very good !
Welcome and thank you for presenting a fascinating group of relics.

May I add Bristol Blenheim to your list of possible aircraft ?
There are others that will no doubt provide more clues about the various parts but here are some from me :

The FB60857/5 is a Bristol engine part, perhaps Bristol Pegasus engine, FB stands for Fedden-Butler, the engine designers for the Bristol Jupiter, Mercury, Pegasus poppet valve engines and later sleeve valve engines like Hercules. In association with the date of 1936 I think Pegasus is most likely.

The stowage case dataplate makes me think of an underwing mounted stores container, which may have contained propaganda leaflets.
From the book, the "Central Blue : Recollections of Sir John Slessor" 1956 pg 217 he describes the early operations of the RAF in 1939 being concerned with the dropping of propaganda leaflets over Germany, which later continued as part of regular bombing. Certainly Blenheims were used in the early part of the war and I could probably imagine a Hampden being used for a night propaganda run.

The 1936 dated air pressure dial face could have been used for a gas starting system for engines, certainly used on Bristol radial engines, or for pneumatically activated guns.

The fuel selector c0ck face suggests a gas starting system for the engines, with fuel supply direct to engine 'cylinders'

Good luck with unwrapping your mystery!

Member for

15 years 11 months

Posts: 86

The parts are from a Handley Page Hampden, the part with the number 52228B29 is part of the flap spar in the wing, the part with the FB will be from the engines ( made by Bristols ).

Member for

8 years 10 months

Posts: 43

Thank you both!!! So you´re sure, its a handly page hampden? I can hardly believe it. I have several parts with numbers, I will add some more fotos soon, if you need. Wow, englishmen are really faster than germans....

Member for

24 years 3 months

Posts: 2,835

Well done Erna - you have found a Hampden! Now which one is it? The coil stowage dataplate relates to the stowage of the coils for the T1083 wireless set.

Can you tell us the dates on the .303 rounds you have found?

Member for

8 years 10 months

Posts: 43

here´s a foto

Attachments

Member for

11 years 9 months

Posts: 1,354

Thank you both!!! So you´re sure, its a handly page hampden? I can hardly believe it. I have several parts with numbers, I will add some more fotos soon, if you need. Wow, englishmen are really faster than germans....

But Australians are fastest;)
Wow, what a great wreck to find. I would look forward to more photos when you have time. Are there any photos of the site to show what you have started with ? Without giving away the exact location, is it possible to work out which direction the aeroplane was flying and towards/away from the most likely target ? It would be interesting to find the identity of this aircraft, and hopefully confirm that the crew bailed out. I would be fairly apprehensive flying a Hampden over Germany unless it was deepest, darkest, night...

Member for

8 years 10 months

Posts: 43

thanks for everybodys interest and help. i will post some more pictures soon, i also have contact with a german "vermisstenforscher" (missing researcher uwe benkel). actually i give all the information i get around to my friendly helpers. so please wait a little bit, i will go on writing soon.

Member for

8 years 10 months

Posts: 43

hi, here are some new fotos of parts with numbers. perhaps it may help to identify the plane. actually i can´t give further information about the crashsite location, i will tell you news as soon as possible.

Member for

15 years 11 months

Posts: 86

The first two photos in the top row are a piece of the rear fuselage as there is a "C" in the number which is fuselage and it is silver, the front cockpit section is green inside. The circle with "HP" inside is a factory inspection stamp which shows that the aircraft was made by Handley Page at Cricklewood, so this narrows down the identity of the aircraft as all those aircraft made by English Electric, Shorts and the Canadian built aircraft can be eliminated.

Handley Page only made 380 aircraft, serial numbers L4032 to L4211 and P1145 to P1356.

Second row first photo, the ring with the small holes along one edge is part of a type D oxygen mask and should have 6D/117 stamped on the edge.

Bottom row second photo is half of one of the two brackets that hold the nose section of the fuselage to the wing centre section

Member for

8 years 10 months

Posts: 43

wow, very good job! thank you. do you think i can find numbers with "L" or "P" on parts or are these serial numbers only visibel on nameplates? i hope, you can understand me, my englisch lessons are so far away... i mean, which kind of numbers may help to identify the plane?

Member for

18 years 2 months

Posts: 485

Re 303 cartridge made at RL = Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, Kent, UK.

Member for

8 years 10 months

Posts: 43

thanks, so take a look at this:

Attachments

Member for

15 years 11 months

Posts: 86

There will be no parts with the aircraft serial number on them, the only place that serial numbers could be found would be painted on the inside of the engine cowlings.

Member for

15 years 11 months

Posts: 86

Hello Erna

If you can give me a location of the crash site I could look through my records to try and identify the aircraft for you, which town or village is it near ?.

Member for

11 years 2 months

Posts: 173

Is the "Kidde" band in post 13 something to do with a fire extinguisher or fire suppression system?

Member for

8 years 10 months

Posts: 43

Mmhhhh, is Kidde Part of an englisch Word?,you know i am german....

Member for

9 years 6 months

Posts: 8

In post 13 i read 6D/77
6D/77 = Cylinders, gas Carbon dioxide : Mark I
Its probably the band from the gas cylinder.

Member for

8 years 10 months

Posts: 43

incredible, your knowledge is amazing. everybodys knowledge in this forum...

Member for

14 years 2 months

Posts: 78

Re 303 cartridge made at RL = Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, Kent, UK.

.....and the "W 1" stamp indicates that it was an armour-piercing round.