War Throphies

[Gil Boyd]

My late Dad's RAF silk map of Europe dated 1944 as new as the day he had it.

[Flying10uk]

During an air raid over Clacton-On-Sea Essex England, late 1943 or early 1944 one of the attacking bombers was picked up by a searchlight beam and the anti-aircraft gunners started firing, hitting the aircraft, and causing it to crash on Clacton Recreation Ground. The fate of the crew is not known and I do not know if the crew survived. A sentry was quickly placed on what was left of the machine and the following day, on hearing of the bomber having been shot down during the night, my late father cycled over to the recreation ground as fast as possible.

My father's solution for the presence of the sentry was to go and ask him "Can I have a few bits of the German bomber, please?" and the sentry replied "Let's see what we can find." The sentry wouldn't allow anything to be taken from inside the aircraft in case there was any new equipment that needed to be inspected etc but would allow some of the debris to be picked up from outside of the bomber.

My late father's small haul is in the display case which I have only recently rediscovered and this is the first time that it has been shown on the "net". I removed the exploded shell cases that were in the case because they appear to be .303 ammunition which unless the Luftwaffe were using captured British MG's can't of come from the bomber. According to my late father on V.E. Day there was a "Victory Bonfire" and my father said "We had to move away, a bit, from the bonfire because soldiers kept throwing live ammunition on it." It is possible that the exploded .303 rounds came from this incident and then got mixed up with the German bomber fragments post war.

Look how beautifully the parachute chord has been made.

To anyone who thinks that these items shouldn't be shown please remember that the German bomber had been bombing or trying to bomb my family members as well as the people of Clacton; we didn't invite it over here.

[Gargoyle]

Case of M67 frags

[browningautorifle]

M67 frags

I had one for a few years but as kids started to grow up a bit I decided it was best to make it gone. Friend of mine and I took it squirrel hunting up in the local hills and chose an isolated spot to throw it...

[erich51]

My dad brought my Mom home to Michigan

We share the same story bud.

[Surpmil]

....

Look how beautifully the parachute chord has been made.

To anyone who thinks that these items shouldn't be shown please remember that the German bomber had been bombing or trying to bomb my family members as well as the people of Clacton; we didn't invite it over here.

Rope, cord and cable making is an interesting subject. If those cords are not silk, and I assume they're not, this must have been quite soon after the introduction of synthetic fibres. IIRC the patents and rights for a number of British-engineered fibres (including Nylon?) were among the items demanded and handed over in exchange for Lend Lease. That was after the reserves of gold, silver, stocks etc. had been exhausted!

Do we really have people around who think such things should not be shown for some reason?

[Flying10uk]

Do we really have people around who think such things should not be shown for some reason?

Because someone may have died in the aeroplane when it was shot down. I don't know if they were or were not because my father didn't ask the sentry guarding the aircraft when asked if he could have some bits. I do know that the aircraft had been over here to drop bombs when it was shot down.

As far as I know the parachute remains were all from the German bomber and I don't believe that the ropes are nylon. They could be silk ropes or whatever material the Germans used for parachute chord/rope before the introduction of nylon cord.