US flyer´s microphone from 1944 found in the woods

seesul · 03-17-2008, 10:41 AM

hello

friend of mine found a US microphone in the woods this weekend. it belonged to some of the crew members of B-17, ser. * 42-38096, shot down on August 29,1944.
got 2 questions:
- did all the crew members /of 1 crew/ use the same microhone?
- which kind of microphone is it?

many thanks

FLYBOYJ · 03-17-2008, 11:02 AM

Hi Roman!

That's a throat mike. As its name implies it was strapped to the throat. I actualy have one. It was worn by all crewmen until later in the war when O2 masks had mikes built into them from what I understand. It was also used for inter plane communication through the intercom system.

seesul · 03-17-2008, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLYBOYJ

Hi Roman!

That's a throat mike. As its name implies it was strapped to the throat. I actualy have one. It was worn by all crewmen until later in the war when O2 masks had mikes built into them from what I understand. It was also used for inter plane communication through the intercom system.

Thank you Joe!
Yes, throat microphone is the correct english name, I couldn´t recall it. I used the same mike when I was in the army as I was a tank driver.
O.K. All the crewmen had the same mike. Just thought we could identify the former owner

seesul · 03-18-2008, 03:31 AM

nothing is 100% sure, but I was told that on the spot, where my friend found the microphone, there was a wreckage of the tail of this bomber back in 1944.
So the microphone could belong to the tail gunner, Dudley Standridge, KIA on that day. I´ll check it out yet.
I´m in touch with his nephew...

A4K · 03-18-2008, 04:22 AM

Interesting thread Roman! Thanks for posting.

Heinz · 03-18-2008, 06:04 AM

Thanks!

seesul · 03-18-2008, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A4K

Interesting thread Roman! Thanks for posting.

You´re welcome!
That all we´re doing here is our tribute to all those young guys that were too young to die...

seesul · 03-18-2008, 08:08 AM

Last year, another friend of mine, found a rests of the ball turret and ball turret gunner from the same crew 2 feets deep in the ground with a metal detector.
He found it very close to the monument, that is on the crash spot of the fuselage. The name of the ball turret gunner was Sgt. Robert Flahive.

seesul · 03-18-2008, 08:12 AM

BTW, that friend of mine, that found the rests of ball turret, got this metal detector from that guy in my siggy (Joe Owsianik) as a gift 2 years ago.
Joe survived the same mission (mission 263 of the 2ndBG)...
On the picture there´s from L-R: me and a friend of mine Mike.

A4K · 03-18-2008, 09:15 AM

What does he plan to do with the remains of the turret Roman?

You have to feel sorry for those ball turret gunners - only way in and out was on the ground. They had no chance in a crash.

seesul · 03-18-2008, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A4K

What does he plan to do with the remains of the turret Roman?

You have to feel sorry for those ball turret gunners - only way in and out was on the ground. They had no chance in a crash.

They all are in our museum, 2 miles away from the crash site
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/avi...blic-9882.html (August 29,1944- museum in Sanov, Czech Republic)
If you mean the human remains, there were only small bone fragments there.
Someone´s part of the head and arm were buried in the small wooden box very close to the monument by the local people and are still there today... Germans didn´t find them during collecting.
More at Second Bomb Group , Bulletin Board. You got to scroll down to find my letter regarding this found.

Holcicka · 03-18-2008, 10:05 AM

I noticed that the microphone that was found appears to have been manufactured by Western Electric. According to my husband, there was probably only one Western Electric factory in the US, which was located in Cicero, Illinois. Cicero is where my husband grew up until age 5, and is the old Czech neighborhood in Chicago. Lots of Czech-Americans worked at that factory (during the war and afterwards).

Cheers,

Ramona Bartos

A4K · 03-18-2008, 10:11 AM

Great museum, mate! Woud like to see it for real sometime.

Thanks for the info too!

FLYBOYJ · 03-18-2008, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seesul

They all are in our museum, 2 miles away from the crash site
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/avi...blic-9882.html (August 29,1944- museum in Sanov, Czech Republic)
If you mean the human remains, there were only small bone fragments there.
Someone´s part of the head and arm were buried in the small wooden box very close to the monument by the local people and are still there today... Germans didn´t find them during collecting.
More at Second Bomb Group , Bulletin Board. You got to scroll down to find my letter regarding this found.

Hey Roman;

You might want to get in touch with these folks with regards to the human remains;

JPAC - Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command

seesul · 03-18-2008, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holcicka

I noticed that the microphone that was found appears to have been manufactured by Western Electric. According to my husband, there was probably only one Western Electric factory in the US, which was located in Cicero, Illinois. Cicero is where my husband grew up until age 5, and is the old Czech neighborhood in Chicago. Lots of Czech-Americans worked at that factory (during the war and afterwards).

Cheers,

Ramona Bartos

Thank you Ramona and welcome to the forum!