Gun fired after 70 years buried in peat

[Colt]

Another credit to the designs of John Moses Browning.

BBC News - Spitfire redux: The WWII guns firing after 70 years buried in peat

 

[cobber]

Very cool indeed!

 

[Steve B]

I can't wait to see the show next year. Very good story. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Nightwalker65]

Sweet! Now I wonder if they'll try to resurrect that Rolls-Royce Merlin?

 

[schafe]

Those Spitfires were beautiful war birds!
Just thinking about firing that 70 year old machine gun sends chills up my spine.There's something very special about all the hardware our heroes,.... parents, and grandparents used during the war. I get the same feeling touching and firing the old WWll military firearms I own.

 

[ghostpoint]

That's pretty damn amazing!

 

[Stubz]

The machine guns will now be made safe and join the rest of the aircraft on permanent display in Derry...

Hey you survived a plane crash and 70 years buried in the dirt but now we're going to cut you into pieces in the name of "public safety".
Stupid Brits

 

[crispy]

Hey you survived a plane crash and 70 years buried in the dirt but now we're going to cut you into pieces in the name of "public safety".
Stupid Brits

I was just ready to quote that line.

They could have said "The guns will now be rendered inoperable...".

What does making them safe mean? The guns were making Britains safe were they not?

 

[j706]

Pretty wild stuff there. I bet the recovered ammo would have fired also.

 

[snorko]

Rumor has it that a half dozen or so completed P-47 Thunderbolts were buried somewhere near the Evansville plant when the contract was cancelled at the end of WWII.

 

[UncleMike]

Hey you survived a plane crash and 70 years buried in the dirt but now we're going to cut you into pieces in the name of "public safety".
Stupid Brits

I was just ready to quote that line.

They could have said "The guns will now be rendered inoperable...".

What does making them safe mean? The guns were making Britains safe were they not?

Putting those historic relics in a museum would seem to be a logical move.
Of course the British completely lack logic when it comes to the subject of firearms.
And the British wonder why we "divorced" them in the 1700's

 

[drgnrobo]

Road trip to Evansville,Ill bring a shovel

 

[RoyalTenenbaum]

My list of people to thank when I get to heaven for without whom I would have met a premature death.

Willis Carrier -Air conditioning
Alexander Flemming - Penicillin
Nicola Tesla - Alternating Current
John Moses Browning - 1911

 

[Drail]

Sadly, "stupid Brits" is about right. If that country were to face another Adolf Hitler today they would lose. And not one day passes in the summertime when I don't get down on my knees and thank Willis Carrier.

 

[GunSlinger]

Just like the generation that used them. Battle tested, extremely reliable, and you could confidently trust your life to them.

 

[Birds Away]

Sadly, "stupid Brits" is about right. If that country were to face another Adolf Hitler today they would lose.

Wouldn't we? Five minutes after the first shot was fired the media would be showing dead Americans and talking about an "unjust war of aggression" and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would be whining about bringing the troops home...

 

[schafe]

Wouldn't we? Five minutes after the first shot was fired the media would be showing dead Americans and talking about an "unjust war of aggression" and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would be whining about bringing the troops home...

Oh, I'm sure Nancy and Harry would be right in the thick of it all right. But I'll bet I could find a forum full of folks who would be ignoring them. Just my guess.

 

[Titanium_Frost]

Rumor has it that a half dozen or so completed P-47 Thunderbolts were buried somewhere near the Evansville plant when the contract was cancelled at the end of WWII.

I've got a shovel if you've got a map...


Anyway, I saw a show about a squadron that landed in Greenland and was buried in ice. They finially found them (I think they were P-51 and B-17s) and brought one of the Mustangs up through the ice. They fired one of its .50bmgs as soon as it came up, still covered in ice and never hiccuped. Original ammo too

 

[Taylorz71]

Those Spitfires were beautiful war birds!
Just thinking about firing that 70 year old machine gun sends chills up my spine.There's something very special about all the hardware our heroes,.... parents, and grandparents used during the war. I get the same feeling touching and firing the old WWll military firearms I own.

Can't agree more. I wasn't born until the vietnam confilct, but that is the reason i will never sell my WWII m1 carbine.

Thanks for the post.

 

[Titanium_Frost]

Here it is... Glacier Girl and the Lost Squadron.


I was close, P-38 and a 20mm cannon though