Thanet coast - the deterioration of the B17 flying fortress on the Sandwich flats

 In the coming weeks as the weather becomes more winter like there will be further evidence ashore of the B17 flying fortress on the Sandwich flats breaking up. As it stands to remove anything from the crash site is illegal unless you hold a MOD licence to do so. But as items break away the items are classed as surface wreckage and a licence is not required. However the MOD department that deals with military remains still need to be notified of any finds.
The most common and easily identifiable item to find ashore along the coast from Deal to Sandwich and Pegwell bay is pieces of corrugated inner wing panel. This gave the B17 its wing strength but after 73 years underwater, time is taking its toll. In the first photograph is an example of the starboard wing breaking up as the inner wing deteriorates exposing rubber fuel tanks.
This past year I have found pieces of inner wing panel the full length of Sandwich bay, in turn I have collected it and given it all to the RAF Manston History Museum for them to conserve and deal with.

Inner wing panel and fuel tank on site.

Inner wing panel as found .

Some pieces are very badly corroded

An example of a inner wing panel before the cleaning method I have adopted.

Example of most of the corrosion removed and ready for the next stage for the RAF Manston history museum to deal with.

Thanet coast - collecting items from the life and death cycle of marine life.

The Thanet and Sandwich coast like any other coastal region has a natural life and death cycle of marine life. Evidence is not to far away and can be found mostly on the strandlines of over 22 miles of coastline. Dead carcasses ashore are not a uncommon find but from a natural history collectors point of view I would think the bones  would more collectible.

Building a collection is easy but it is very time consuming walking miles of coastline. I have built up a small collection which to be honest I have come across by accident as I comb the beaches looking for shipwreck remains and evidence of.

This year (2016) the deaths of porpoises top the finds list followed by Gannets. I have also been lucky to come across common seal bones where the origins are from the local seal colony in the River Stour Estuary.

I have posted a few photographs of some of the finds I have in my collection.

Razorbill beak, I have donated it to the Monkton nature reserve collection.

Razorbill skull

Remains of a Gannet ashore recently in November

Part of a beak from a Gannet part of the remains after a scavenger had attacked the carcase.

In no particular order common seal bones including a nice Scapula

Another common seal bone (Ischium)

Vertebrae of a harbour porpoise

Samples taken from vertebrae in the previous photograph all clean and presentable.

Sandwich Bay shipwreck timbers ashore.

Towards the end of November 2016 , the wind stayed onshore for many days often reaching gale force. Over this period the shingle beach changed from a series of stepped terraces of shingle to a steady slope. In these conditions the most diverse pieces of driftwood do come ashore.
Many of these timber remains are of a shipwreck origin and some are easily identifiable as such. On the 26th November two larger items came ashore. It is hard to link them to a specific shipwreck as there are many offshore wreck sites with the Goodwin Sands on the doorstep. Both items were oak and of a large construction.

Thanet cetacean strandings 2016

This year to date Sandwich and Thanet strandings and sea mammal remains ashore have been uneventful with no whales ashore. In May this year a dead dolphin was ashore at Sandwich Bay this was recovered by the IZL , ref SW20 215. The largest casualty again are Harbour Porpoise deaths with five recorded or should I say parts of as predators like grey seals have been active in the area. These finds were recorded through the North East Kent Marine Protection Area project. I am the posting images I hold  of the finds.

5th May 2016 Sandwich Bay

Close up of injuries

Other injuries.

Ramsgate main sands 24th April 2016

Westbrook Margate 27th April 2016

Sandwich Bay September 2016

Sandwich Bay 16th October 2016

River Stour Estuary 3rd November 2016 , I was able to take a few bone examples.

An update on the B17 flying fortress on the Sandwich flats B17 G 42 - 31243 303 rd Bomb group.

Since the last posting there has been a steady stream of items coming ashore in Sandwich Bay Kent. Parts are found over a wide area as the wings of the B17 break up. I have informed the MOD that parts are coming ashore. As the pieces are classed as surface wreckage I do not need a licence to collect them from the beach. However it does not mean I can keep them to build a private collection. With agreement with the MOD as I find the parts I take them to the RAF Manston History Museum. Given the fact that there are more than one crashed aircraft in the bay there is a possibility that some parts could be from another aircraft so they do need to authenticated by the Museum. The Museum are conserving the parts and will eventually have them on display.
I have set up a facebook group called Sandwich B17 G group that gives regular update on the finds and latest photographs feel free to join. In October this year the crash site took a battering in a storm and I have posted the latest photographs of the site. One again there were more pieces ashore and I even found  some ammunition. In 1999 the engines were taken and in nacelle two a tyre can be seen and it is in very good condition.

October 2016

A marking on the port wing

Rubber pipe work is still intact

Part of the tail section underwater

A maker plate still intact

Wiring in the fuselage area

The outer skin of part of the port wing is peeling away

Two rubber  fuel tanks

.5 live round

The maker of the .5 Lincoln city ordnance

Rubber pipe ashore

The numbering on the rubber pipe

Piece from the tail section ashore that is breaking up

This piece of aircraft is still attached to some wood.

A number part

Stainless steel nacelle panel

Numbering on the nacelle panel

Another numbered part

This part was found well over a mile away

The are only a few examples more info on https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568122450174108/

The hidden history of Sandwich Bay - Hearts of Oak

This winter I set out a new direction looking for new discoveries away from the mire that has engulfed anything to do with heritage in Thanet heritage . For one I am tired of the plagiarism of recycled history and secondly I am fed up finding myself being shoved out on the margins of everything I get involved in. The straw that broke the camels back was trying to unravel the dire situation of Ramsgate art and artefacts in local government collections and Ramsgate overall.

So it is time to do my own thing and starting my own projects from blank discovering new finds and generating something new and interesting. The first step was to pick a new area of coastline.
My choice was Sandwich bay given its location to the Goodwins and Brake sands. As I do nothing in half measures I kitted my car out with all new equipment and treated myself to a GPS finder. I also created a list of new contacts so there is nothing I cannot handle.
My primary target is maritime history and to find anything from the 1600's to end of the Napoleonic wars, a difficult task but achievable.
During wintry weather it is not uncommon to find pieces of wooden shipwreck ashore that in most cases are like random pieces of a jig saw puzzle made of English Oak. To establish provenance is an impossibility but as artefacts of a particular era they are worth recording and if possible worth conserving.
A few weeks ago I came across this amazing piece of wreckage from a wooden sailing ship, it is unique in the fact that the bark of the tree is still intact making it a very old form of ship construction.
I have be given a date that its origin is from the 1600's, but I am no expert and I am still learning.
Attached are photographs of the find and I do welcome any opinion.