Last year I had discovered what looked like a dumping pit while searching the road between a Wehrmacht camp and a POW camp for Soviet soldiers. The old Fisher F5 detector gave signals for different kinds of metal and some rust even poked through the ground. I didn`t do any digging then, but one of the days this week when I finished work early I decided to go back to it for a second look.
It was sunny and pushing towards +25 degree Celsius so already walking up the small hill leading to the site I had regrets. Very soon the flying bloodsuckers and biters became aware of my presence so the rest of the day it felt like I was inside a bubble made of bugs.
I finally found the place hidden behind a wall of sapplings which gave a little bit of shade from the sun. The detector showed once more that it could well be a dumping pit so I began digging. A few barrel bands and a small coil of wires got pulled loose from tiny roots. Fearing that those bits of metal were it I stuck the pin pointer down between the rocks that were under the top soil. It beeped and vibrated so I started prying loose the large rocks soldiers once had carried up from the nearby river and covered the pit with.
From a cavity created by a piece of metal and some rocks I removed a whole pile of broken porcelain. Bowls, mugs and plates had been smashed to bits. One of the mug shards had a blue eagle while other markings I found were from Porsgrunn Norge.
Most of the metal coming out from between the rocks was garbage, but suddenly a Red Army spoon gave me new hope. I lifted out more rocks, dug away soil and then the metal below began taking shape of a crate. I scraped away sand along the edge of the piece and found a corner. It was a crate!! Excitement through the roof! Most probably it is empty, but this is one of the more exciting things to find. The imagination goes wild along with the adrenaline and endorphines.
I worked on the crate for a while but I realized I wasn`t going to get it freed tonight, I covered it with loose soil and stretched my legs in the direction of the car. I picked up a couple of signals on the way and found a shaving brush and two Dutch uniform buttons. Soviet POWs were sometimes issued garments from occupied nations military uniforms so I guess thats where they come from.
Towards the weekend the GirlfriendWife wanted to go for a short mountain hike so she dropped me off in the Gebirgsjäger camp and gave me some half-promises to pick me up a few hours later. We agreed on time and place and she took off with the car. My plan was to just stroll around looking for good signals and maybe find a good dumping ditch even.
The first signal I dug was a nice Norwegian coin from 1914. Before the place was used by the Gebirgsjägers locals had been farming it so I bet its been in the ground a bit longer than since WW2.
Later I found a place where several Y-straps had been discarded, leaving the clasps and hooks. A bunch of horseshoes and a rotted away horse comb showed me where the stables in the camp had been and since the place was full of iron signals I moved along in search of finer metals.
By a birchtree the detector picked up a nice and clean brass signal. Coin, medal or rifle casing? My guess was a casing, but it was the best signal for nearly a kilometer so I decided to get to the bottom of it. The pinpointer couldn`t pick up the signal, so I began tunneling in under the tree between two thick roots. Now the carrot from Garrett picked up the signal, but the root was in the way. I tried tunneling in from another side of the birch and this time it was a great success. As I tore away a fine web of thin roots I saw yellow brass shining like it could be gold. As I grabbed it I thought it was one of the Finnish rings with the lion on the shield, but this had a strange shape. Was it broken or what? I got it out in the sun so both me and the mosqitoes could have a closer look at it, I turned and twisted it and couldn`t make sense of what this ring was. Then I saw it. A face! The brass plate was the profile of a head! Very well made , yet clearly handmade. I can`t really tell if the head is a man or a woman, but it sure is a really interesting little relic.
At this point I had to slowly take direction towards the parking place but on my way there I dug the interesting signals my Fisher showed me. Except some more of the usual rubbish I found a nice foot cream tin, a few uniform buttons, a signal flare and a messkit lid. Under a sappling I found another piece of trench-art. It was made up by three rifle casings. Two of the casings had been semi curved and elongated, bullet tips meeting, and welded together by the primers, making kind of an oval shape. The third casing had come loose but had been welded to the primers of the two bent ones. I couldn`t find any other items nearby so I am not sure what thing was supposed to be. The last item I found was a fork like thing that belongs to a mess kit.
Warm and nice days made up the rest of the weekend but I didn`t go for more searching. Instead we relaxed around the house and went for some biking in the lovely summer afternoons :)
The GirlfriendWife had spotted some stuff on her trek, and doing a little digging in maps and books we might have located a "new" Gebirgsjäger camp. So an exciting little expedition is being planned :)
Thanks for reading. Keep Smiling :)
It was sunny and pushing towards +25 degree Celsius so already walking up the small hill leading to the site I had regrets. Very soon the flying bloodsuckers and biters became aware of my presence so the rest of the day it felt like I was inside a bubble made of bugs.
I finally found the place hidden behind a wall of sapplings which gave a little bit of shade from the sun. The detector showed once more that it could well be a dumping pit so I began digging. A few barrel bands and a small coil of wires got pulled loose from tiny roots. Fearing that those bits of metal were it I stuck the pin pointer down between the rocks that were under the top soil. It beeped and vibrated so I started prying loose the large rocks soldiers once had carried up from the nearby river and covered the pit with.
From a cavity created by a piece of metal and some rocks I removed a whole pile of broken porcelain. Bowls, mugs and plates had been smashed to bits. One of the mug shards had a blue eagle while other markings I found were from Porsgrunn Norge.
Most of the metal coming out from between the rocks was garbage, but suddenly a Red Army spoon gave me new hope. I lifted out more rocks, dug away soil and then the metal below began taking shape of a crate. I scraped away sand along the edge of the piece and found a corner. It was a crate!! Excitement through the roof! Most probably it is empty, but this is one of the more exciting things to find. The imagination goes wild along with the adrenaline and endorphines.
I worked on the crate for a while but I realized I wasn`t going to get it freed tonight, I covered it with loose soil and stretched my legs in the direction of the car. I picked up a couple of signals on the way and found a shaving brush and two Dutch uniform buttons. Soviet POWs were sometimes issued garments from occupied nations military uniforms so I guess thats where they come from.
Towards the weekend the GirlfriendWife wanted to go for a short mountain hike so she dropped me off in the Gebirgsjäger camp and gave me some half-promises to pick me up a few hours later. We agreed on time and place and she took off with the car. My plan was to just stroll around looking for good signals and maybe find a good dumping ditch even.
The first signal I dug was a nice Norwegian coin from 1914. Before the place was used by the Gebirgsjägers locals had been farming it so I bet its been in the ground a bit longer than since WW2.
Later I found a place where several Y-straps had been discarded, leaving the clasps and hooks. A bunch of horseshoes and a rotted away horse comb showed me where the stables in the camp had been and since the place was full of iron signals I moved along in search of finer metals.
By a birchtree the detector picked up a nice and clean brass signal. Coin, medal or rifle casing? My guess was a casing, but it was the best signal for nearly a kilometer so I decided to get to the bottom of it. The pinpointer couldn`t pick up the signal, so I began tunneling in under the tree between two thick roots. Now the carrot from Garrett picked up the signal, but the root was in the way. I tried tunneling in from another side of the birch and this time it was a great success. As I tore away a fine web of thin roots I saw yellow brass shining like it could be gold. As I grabbed it I thought it was one of the Finnish rings with the lion on the shield, but this had a strange shape. Was it broken or what? I got it out in the sun so both me and the mosqitoes could have a closer look at it, I turned and twisted it and couldn`t make sense of what this ring was. Then I saw it. A face! The brass plate was the profile of a head! Very well made , yet clearly handmade. I can`t really tell if the head is a man or a woman, but it sure is a really interesting little relic.
At this point I had to slowly take direction towards the parking place but on my way there I dug the interesting signals my Fisher showed me. Except some more of the usual rubbish I found a nice foot cream tin, a few uniform buttons, a signal flare and a messkit lid. Under a sappling I found another piece of trench-art. It was made up by three rifle casings. Two of the casings had been semi curved and elongated, bullet tips meeting, and welded together by the primers, making kind of an oval shape. The third casing had come loose but had been welded to the primers of the two bent ones. I couldn`t find any other items nearby so I am not sure what thing was supposed to be. The last item I found was a fork like thing that belongs to a mess kit.
Warm and nice days made up the rest of the weekend but I didn`t go for more searching. Instead we relaxed around the house and went for some biking in the lovely summer afternoons :)
The GirlfriendWife had spotted some stuff on her trek, and doing a little digging in maps and books we might have located a "new" Gebirgsjäger camp. So an exciting little expedition is being planned :)
Thanks for reading. Keep Smiling :)
A sieve probably from a kitchen.
A pile of porcelain.
A broken coffee mug.
Soviet spoon.
I hope to get this crate dug out this week.
Dutch button.
Shaving brush.
Norwegian 5 øre. 1914.
Clasp from backpack or equipment strap.
Clasps and hooks.
Horseshoes.
A strange ring.
I wish I could know the story behind this well crafted ring.
Lid from shaving cream tin.
Foot cream.
Signal flare.
Messkit lid.
Trench-art from rifle casings.
Fork from a mess kit.
The most bizarre trench-art I have ever found.
Seeing the patterns on the back of the head makes me wonder if it is a roman style head wearing laurels..
Biking to paradise.
Paradise.
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