What WW2 hardware would you save?

[kadora]

All innocent victims
Hardware ? Russian sniper rifle.

 

[cliff20]

And interesting thread I never thought I'd see. Quite a return response too.
I collect old books, but mostly in ebooks, simply due to the storage problem. Not bragging, but I have about 9,000 of them on old technology, and probably the largest library outside of NASA on ramjet engine development and design. Also old machining books from back as far as I can find, some dating from the Civil War. Engine design of all types back into the 1870's, and a bunch of other subject matter my curiosity has taken me over the last 75 years.
I offer a few suggestions to those who may be so inclined as I. Save the how to books, the old physics and chemistry books, and those on any subject your interested in, preferably in PDF form. The actual book would be good, but there is the storage problem. Plus the loss of the book through some disaster, or your collection being sold off at the end of your life for penny's on the dollar.
Old books written before the computer age were written in a simpler form, to a broader audience, and at times were works of art in the drawings.
I contacted the Smithsonian Institute several years ago, as I am the last of my line, and what they could use.
I was informed that I might consider making a time capsule that would be opened in say 100 to 150 years.
I was told much to my amazement that paper (acid free), and microfilm are the best archive substances around. Plastic's should never be used, as they turn to powder with time, and then attack other things. Anything like CD disks will be unreadable 25 years in the future. Due to software changes, and decay of the disk, or recording tape. To say nothing of computer advances where the computers no longer can read the previous software language. (Find a computer that can read BASIC.)
Microfilm on the other hand I was told, can be read with a magnifying glass in a pinch, and if properly developed, processed, and stored, will last a projected 10,000 years. Acid free paper, again properly stored, is good for 2,500 years or more.
The thing is, moisture, and various things that we don't notice normally, if isolated from the outside world, will sometimes attack one another over time. Like leather, and the tanning acid it contains, and the solvents in plastics and rubber, etc.
I was also told to consider the following, #1 enclose at least a Chinese and Spanish dictionary for translation from English.
#2 Not to consider necessarily that the future will be better than it is today. Or more advanced. Things may get worse at some future date for one reason or another.
This last one hit a cord with me, and how valuable some of these books on past technology and science could be if that were to happen.
Most time capsules are lost over time. Something on the order of 90%. So there is a place in France that you can now register your time capsule, and where it is at. DO NOT depend on others maintaining, or paying for storage of your time capsule.
So what to do with it ? I considered this for over a year, and finally one day it hit me as I drove by a cemetery. Nobody messes with a cemetery. No roads are built across it, houses, or buildings. To do so requires contacting any possible relatives and getting permission for each plot. In my case, the collection in paper form would be relatively large, so it occurred to me that a burial vault would be perfect.
Strong, water proof, made to last, and relatively cheap. Just some food for thought to get the juices going.
As the conversation was ending I asked if Smithsonian would be interested in my parents letters to each other during WWII. I was told no, that had "tons of them", with little academic interest in them. Then she said, "It is a shame really. During Vietnam the main family communications to each other was by tape recordings. During the Gulf Wars it was cell phones and emails.
Unlike the Civil War, which is highly documented in written personal letters, almost all of our current societies interaction will be on CD's, emails, or written on a word processor without a hardcopy. We look for this present age to become the Modern Dark Ages in the future. A hole in the history of our time, as technology advances into an area that erases itself with advancements, and leaves the past to crumble into dust, or to become unreadable.
So what to do ? If you interested in something, and you feel it is good enough to save, hard copy it on acid free paper. Take a look at some of the free, or not very expensive websites of free ebook downloads. Several items mentioned in this thread, like Allison Engines have extensive ebooks on it and other WWII aircraft and engines, such as SCRIBD. and others. Once you've saved what you feel needs to be saved for your interest, consider that those in the future might also be interested as well. Then you will have to decide what to do with it to pass it on. That takes some serious thought.
Sorry guys, you hit a cord on that one.

 

[don-tucker]

The SLR 7.62 rifle .I used to love shooting for my pay,it was so accurate.
Don

 

[Timehunter]

Make records easy to access online for the Merchant Marines.
My dad was on Tanker ships duringWW2 and died when I was four in 1956.
I have his service records and ships he was on and would like to get certain Merchant Marine Tanker ships logs just to see where he was at certain points during his service and would be nice to see if anything was mentioned about him.
Been a few years since I checked but could not find anything without going to somewhere like Baltimore or...….and I live in Texas.
Guess I need to pull his records again and see if anything has changed online yet.

 

[cliff20]

Timehunter:

You didn't say what ship he was on, so this is as far as I got. However, if there is anything there, this should get you started. Good Luck. http://www.usmm.org/contact.html

cliff20

 

[Timehunter]

Cliff20, Thank you for the info but t looks like what I ran into before.
He, Lelldon Perry was a Marine Engineer working in the engine compartments of Merchant Marine Tankers. Not sure but might have become Ensign. He served on the S.S. Mobilight from June 23,1943 to September 15, 1944, then the S.S. Fort Fetterman from April 7, 1945 to July 21, 1945. Then the S.S. A.P.Hill from 9-1-45 to 12-4-45. Then S.S. Fort Frederica from 4-10-47 to 6-3-47.
He later went to work for Shell Oil and him and a few others went to Bagdad, Iraq to help get the Dura Refinery going. We were supposed to move there, Mother and 3 sisters, one brother and I. Dad had us a home ready and everything, also everything was either sold or packed and we were one day from leaving and moving there when we got the telegram that he had died. He was working late one night and on the way driving home he hit a government bus that was stopped in the middle of the road on the other side of an unlit overpass.
Since it was a government buss and he was a foreigner no one wanted to do anything about it but sweep it under the rug.
So Mom didn't get squat.
She was a nurse for Shell Refinery then later became a drug counselor where she was attacked by a patient and disabled. Didn't get anything but a hard time for that also. In the 80's she went in the hospital for an ovarian cyst operation and the doctor messed up and she went into a coma between the operating room and recovery room. She never recovered and why we did not sue him or the hospital,,I don't know.
Dang, I never wrote this down like this and looked at it/ You just play the cards you are dealt and go on the best you can.
Don't know if I should delete this whole posting, but...…
If you or anyone else has any info on those ships and where they were during those time periods, I would be thankful for the information.
GP

 

[cliff20]

Cliff20, Thank you for the info but t looks like what I ran into before.
He, Lelldon Perry was a Marine Engineer working in the engine compartments of Merchant Marine Tankers. Not sure but might have become Ensign. He served on the S.S. Mobilight from June 23,1943 to September 15, 1944, then the S.S. Fort Fetterman from April 7, 1945 to July 21, 1945. Then the S.S. A.P.Hill from 9-1-45 to 12-4-45. Then S.S. Fort Frederica from 4-10-47 to 6-3-

Timehunter:

Okay try this, http://www.usmm.org/men_ships.html#anchor520837

Depending on your seriousness in uncovering his service in WWII, I'd do a search of every ship he was on. The S.S. Mobilight is listed here, was a custom built ship, rather than converted. Little else is mentioned. Also run your Dad's full name, birth date, any serial number he had in the Merchant Marines, and anything else you can think of that could lead to a track to follow, "no matter how mundane". Also hit the Merchant Marine records, and possibly the V.A. records. It's a game, kind of like hunting. Use that mind set. However, it is NOT going to be easy, but bear in mind, "you always leave a track through life".
If you were looking for his records and he was on a ship that was in combat, sunk in action, etc., there is all kinds of information available. Mostly from crew members keeping the history records up. This will be harder, but depending on your determination, not that impossible.
You actually have a very good start with all the ships he was on, and the dates. Look for pictures of the ship(s) during construction, which are always taken. You might also hit Shell Oil with a inquiry of any records on the accident. They'd have that as he was an employee in their personnel records. Problem is getting them to dig them out.
I didn't spend that much time on it, as this isn't the forum for this kind of thing. But I enclose these thoughts as a starting point for you. You actually have quite a lot of rocks to look under, compared to some. Let me know if you have any success.
cliff20

 

[Timehunter]

I am guessing that when he was on the S.S. A.P.Hill and S.S Fort Frederica they were keeping all the ships fueled that were bringing all the troops home so probably the only thing to worry about are underwater mines that had not been cleared yet.

 

[mayhugh1]

Test

 

[goldstar31]

I would like a pair of ear defenders- made out of wood, that I didn't get!

I would like to SEE the RAF medical record book- that I supplied, incidentally, that the War Pensions Agency claims to possess.

Ex Corporal Atkinson, N, RAF Hendon