WORLD WAR II FASTENERS

Shortly after my 72nd birthday, I was fortunate to scratch off the number-one item on my bucket list: an 11-day Beyond Band of Brothers tour of the five D-Day invasion beaches known as Operation Overlord and Ardennes Offensive known to Americans as The Battle of the Bulge. My tour visited the American Sector at Utah and Omaha beaches and the British-Commonwealth Sector at Gold, Juno and Sword beaches. Particularly interesting was a stop at Pointe du Hoc, where Rudder's Rangers ascended the steep cliffs to take out the long-range artillery firing on the landing beaches, but ironically, the German artillery had been moved inland before the invasion. The most dominant fastener seen was the round head steel rivet--the one used on the Pegasus Bridge (3/4 x 2-3/8) and (as I discovered) on the carriages of various types of artillery pieces.