THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

MORTAR ON THE WESTERN ESCARPMENT in August 2005

On 28th August 2005 I asked for a clever, knowledgeable guy. I knew some of my surfers had bags of information to share and had helped me in the past.

This wartime relic was discovered on the Western Escarpment of Cissbury Ring. It had been dug up and exposed by some helpful bunnies.

My first reaction was.... "bomb!". Was I correct. I asked if it was, in fact, a mortar bomb. It wasn't long before I found out....

Close-up of inscription...

Rear end

My wartime mystery was soon solved..... I wish everything was as easy as this with your help.... although I do notice that no one in Findon puts their head above the parapet....

29th August 2005

Hello Valerie,

Bomb!

The heading of your request for information is almost enough to put off all but the most conceited! So perhaps I qualify!

Clever? Knowledgeable? Scarcely... A Guy - Yes.

You are quite correct - it is part of a 2 inch mortar bomb - and if that was all you found - probably H.E. But after all these years any remaining casing from other types could undoubtedly have parted company.

"Blind" (unexploded) parachute flare or smoke bombs were much sought after by "Clever and Knowledgeable" lads in those days. They were the source of much pyrotechnic amusement...
Blind H.E. bombs we treated with more respect and we used to drop them down an old dry well at Stump Barn. But never achieved any success...

The fact that I type with only one finger of one hand is due entirely to my lack of Qwerty skills. The other hand is mostly fully occupied in fending off The Generals...

Best wishes, Peter.

Peter Archbold, Ashburton, South Island, New Zealand.

Thanks, Peter.

29th August 2005

Mortars?

Re your pictures of WW2 ordnance.

There used to be hundreds of these lying about on the South Downs.

You can imagine, as boys we were fascinated by them.

We always thought that they were mortars, but never had it confirmed. Because we were absolutely forbidden to touch anything that looked remotely like a bomb, we never took one home to ask.

However, if you went for a walk across the downs you would almost certainly see at least one, and on one occasion my brothers and I spotted 9.
Regards
Roger Moulds

Roger Moulds, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, Wales.

Thanks, Roger for your expertise.

29th August 2005

Dear Valerie,

Mortar

It looks like the tail fin of a two inch mortar bomb. The other end was likely to be smoke or flare since those were predominantly used over Cissbury.

All good wishes from one of your regular attenders! Thanks for keeping the work going, it is much appreciated.

Yours aye ......... Mike.

Mike Cooksey, Bristol.

I keep trying, Mike. I am very trying.

Was this a gun emplacement on the north side of Cissbury Ring during the Second World War? (You can just see Chanctonbury Ring on the top left). November 2005.

Does anyone know?

The same site, looking east. November 2005

Continue if you would like to read A Question of Ammunition.

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.

E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com