Today’s hunting has been interesting. In addition to a very early variant of the Agfa Jsolette (Isolette) camera that I will do some minor servicing and tests with, we found a WWII Japanese Bayonet and a record blank–no longer blank, as someone has cut it….they did not, however, mark what is recorded on it or if it was inside start/outside start or the speed. We will have to test it and see what historically interesting gem may be lurking within the grooves! (yes, we travel with a record player for just such occasions!) Prior to wire recorders of the 40’s and magnetic tape of the 50’s, people would cut their own records if they wished to preserve a sound. Maybe it is verbal instructions to find a buried treasure?…that’d be fun!
I have made it a side hobby to find and copy old recordings into mp3 files…that is how I ended up with so many old radio shows in my collection.
The other interesting find that Elizabeth discovered at one garage sale this morning is a variation of the “Lazy Dog” Bomb. These contain no explosive and were simply a nasty little kinetic energy weapon similar to a Flechette and intended to be dropped from aircraft. The concept dates to WWI and the obvious simplicity and effectiveness made them attractive to military planners up into the 1950’s with some use in the 60’s during the Vietnam War as they are effective in passing through jungle canopy. The usual ones that you find are the WWII/1950’s ones that have 4 stamped stabilizing fins and measure about 1.75″ long. The earlier of these has a forged body–some were even Parkerized to prevent rust in storage. (I still have a few of these Parkerized ones that I found as a kid.) Later ones were lathe turned and unfinished.
In tests, it was found possible to generate up to 8 impacts per square yard and with forces comparable to a .50 caliber round. You obviously did not want to be on the receiving end of this rather indiscriminate weapon.
What is interesting about the one Elizabeth found today is that it has a slightly longer and more slender body at 2.25″ and only has 3 fins.
My initial searches do not turn up any mention of this variant. For now, my theory is this is a very early type or perhaps one from a foreign country–or both. The rear section of the body shows marks that indicate it was cast, with the fins integral to it and the forward portion forged. Likely the whole assembly was cast and then the fins and nose were pressed in a die to harden the nose and flatten the fins. This would be a rather inconvenient method to manufacture with associated higher cost and defect rate of the fins when compared to the common stamped fin attached to the body of the usual WWII and later style that is encountered. Perhaps this really is an early WWI style that was intended to be dropped in the trenches.
WWI is interesting from a technological standpoint….it was the first mechanized war with many weapons that we still see today–tanks, aircraft, machine guns, etc. But the tactics were still of the prior century and the generals had not yet figured out how to employ these new machines. The results of that made for an especially nasty and stagnant conflict. War is no more desirable in the modern era, but it seems in recent years the doctrine has been to be a little less indiscriminate which is an improvement and a reason why the “Lazy Dog” is no longer a frontline item in a modern air force so lucky for us when these projectiles are found today they are in museums, collections, surplus stores, or garage sales and not falling out of the air.