Radio Stuff Stored in Disused Mine· Page 2

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rodel
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

10 years ago

#21

The British army were supplied with large numbers of Willys/Ford jeeps from 1941 onwards under the Lend-Lease agreement and even though the Land Rover series 1 came on stream in1948 and the Champ a little later, many jeeps were still in service until the late 1950s. I have owned one for many years which the British army obtained in 1944 and didn't release until 1958.

RJV
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

10 years ago

#22

Ultimately I don't really understand why we would be disposing of such valuable products and materials after the war? David Kynaston calls the first of his excellent books about the post-war period 'Austerity Britain' for good reason. I can't fathom why with our lack of resources and a battered economy, infrastructure and manufacturing base we would be so keen to dispose of both the items themselves and the metals contained within.

AR
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

10 years ago

#23

Yes, I thought the only stuff which was definitely dumped after the war was munitions that were too much trouble to decommission, and were dumped at sea - they still keep washing up on the west coast of Scotland, I recall finding a phosphorus bomb up near the Summer Isles many years ago! 😮

Follow the horses, Johnny my laddie, follow the horses canny lad-oh!

rodel
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

10 years ago

#24

At the end of WW2 the British brought pretty much all of their equipment back home with the intention of selling off anything that had a use post war. Vehicle sales took place all over the country as there was a ready market for them but there were also such vast quantities of other things which had a limited resale market so that dumping them was easiest way of disposal. Also the value of scrap metal was poor at that time as again there was so much of it. The people who have gone digging on old airfields in East Anglia haven't found much other than cutlery, canteen equipment and the odd Elsan toilet !

RJV
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

10 years ago

#25

But I think that after the war we were importing scrap from Germany to be used in steel production. Why would we then be simply be burying the unwanted iron & steel we already had ready access to? Equally many components would presumably be made from more 'exotic' metals than steel which would require importing. As a country which was as good as bankrupt, surely we would be looking to access these metals rather than burying them underground?

lozz
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

10 years ago

#26

Rover had to use Aluminium for the Landrover body due to the lack of steel at that time. The Landrover was part of the export drive.

Lozz.

underwhere?
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

10 years ago

#27

In the mid 1950's I visited a quarry on the Lizard peninsular to liberate electronic and engineering stuff. Parts of radar, radios and aircraft. The oscilloscope is still working, though much repaired. Not even buried, just dumped. It's proximity to RNAS Culdrose was not lost on me.

rodel
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

10 years ago

#28

It appears that most of the stuff buried or dumped at the end of the war was pretty lightweight (ammo boxes,radios and the like)whereas what was required by industry was a far greater quantity to feed the furnaces hence the imports. The scrap people in the uk quickly found that cutting up surplus artillery and tanks was not economically viable which is why yards such as Pounds at Portsmouth were still half full of Churchill tanks even in the 1990s. Aluminium was much easier to obtain from the scrapping of aircraft which was carried out at places such as Urlay Nook and in an old Rail cutting West of Consett to name but two.