532SQN Posted 30 March , 2010 Share Posted 30 March , 2010 Rick, They are everywhere. Keep following the thread....Canada will feature heavily in a very personal and special way! Regards TT TT : I shall keep an eye on the thread I hope to see some battlefiled debris while over there no luck the last two times. Cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 31 March , 2010 Share Posted 31 March , 2010 T shirt day! Go on, rub it in! Great photos. Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 Ok...another t shirt moment!!! But not always.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 First image of one of the finds... Egg grenade was in field. Nearby the cleaning rod for a Webly pistol....bit bent but nevertheless an unusual find. TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 German grenade in field and button in mud next to it...standard Prussian crown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem49 Posted 31 March , 2010 Share Posted 31 March , 2010 TT What camera do you use as all the photos are excellant. Steve M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 Lovely view...Factory Corner, Guedecourt, Caribou memorial and Ligny Thilloy....from Abbey Road, west of Flers. What must it have been like Sept to Dec 1916? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 Another stunning view of Mill Road and Tower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 I use a rather obselete Fuji Fine Pix S5600. Had it for three years now.I like it. TT Love this one at Ovillers. Perfect light catching one grave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-ted Posted 31 March , 2010 Share Posted 31 March , 2010 T T. Excellent photos. The field finds are quite good this year. I put it down to the very heavy rain after the fields were ploughed. It washes anything on the surface which may otherwise have blended in with the soil. Were the large shells on the left of the Mametz/Contalmaison road? If so they have been standing proud since mid August. Keep on posting. Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluevanman Posted 31 March , 2010 Share Posted 31 March , 2010 Hi TT,love the look of those fields,especially the one where you found the egg grenade and pistol cleaning rod,obviously been raining before you arrived.So depressed i never made the trip,roll on October.Some fantastic pics!!You've got me on the edge of my chair lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 Wing from a Guard Pickelhaulbe plate. Shame the rest of the eagle was missing...plough or shellfire? TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 20 minutes later this was found by my Bro....... From where it came from we know the battalion and I was saying here was where the German wire stopped the advance and there in the hedge is the parapet of the German line! If you were going to find something chances are it would be here! You could see the parapet and image grenades and rifles being fired not to mention MGs.... T/7/(would have been Notts and Derby) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluevanman Posted 31 March , 2010 Share Posted 31 March , 2010 Fantastic finds TT,and bro does it again,well done.Did you not find a Notts and Derby capbadge a while back?Great pics,nice to see them photographed on the soil,hope you reburied them lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 31 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2010 Rab, Yes re Notts and Derby badge. Similar tale. He has given it to me but had something special in return! John, No the biggies were between Regina Trench and Mouquet Farm.... Most rewarding, interesting and poignient to follow....... TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 1 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 1 April , 2010 Ok.... Whilst walking a ploughed field a strip of metal caught my eye. I retrieved a strip of aluminium with letters and numbers stamped into it. Having rubbed the mud off I could clearly read "4307 PTE C T Tipper". What I had found was a very early grave marker plate for this soldier. These were the types placed on the crosses in the 1920s before the familiar headstones were erected. A quick check of the immediate area led us to recover not one but many identifiable tags. Also numerous boken and partial tags. Research so far has identified 22 soldiers by name, number, rank and regt. All but two are Canadian and two Austrailians including Tipper. Amazingly the other Aussie Pte J W Newson is practically buried next to Tipper. All are at Regina bar Tipper and Newson who are at Courcelette. Now some may say I should not have picked these up but whilst in France we visited the two Austrailians and paid our respects. The others were only identified back here but I shall lay a wreath for all. I shall start a seperate thread re them and if any "bona fide" relative contacts me they are welcome to have the relevant marker. Here are a couple of pictures.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 1 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 1 April , 2010 Newson and Tipper together and remembered.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 1 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 1 April , 2010 Just after recovery and before cleaning.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 1 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 1 April , 2010 Another poignient find...by my Bro at near Trones Wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 1 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 1 April , 2010 And finally....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIRKY Posted 1 April , 2010 Share Posted 1 April , 2010 Great finds! Think what you did with the name tags is spot on, where was the last tag found and have you managed to trace the soldier? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H Posted 1 April , 2010 Share Posted 1 April , 2010 TT Great stuff! Looking forward to you giving some more details. You have to make the next Brummie pals meeting! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 1 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 1 April , 2010 Tony, The last image posted is actually an Austrailian ID disc as opposed to a grave marker and came from near Factory Corner. Not far from the AIF Burial Ground....... TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 1 April , 2010 Share Posted 1 April , 2010 TT, Re: The grave markers. Far better for them to have been recovered and preserved by you, with a view to passing them on to their men's families than leave them and let the plough destroy them. I was under the impression that they were made from zinc rather than aluminium, but happy to be corrected. Not sure that aluminium would have survived quite so well. Anyway, that's all academic. You've done these men a good service by lifting their names from the mud. You've brought them to mind once again. They are not forgotten, and that's what's important. This trip will stay with you for a long, long time, I'm sure. Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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