In Sörfold in Nordland you find Heeres Küsten Batterie 8/974 in Rösvik. This fortification was a part of the Atlantikwall and was ready in 1942. The complex was armed with 6 Belgian 7,6 cm cannons with a range of 10000 meters. For airdefence 4 88mm FlaK and two smaller 20mm FlaK guns. For close defence was several machinegun positions , stationary flamethrowers , minefields and two 5 cm mortars. It also had 2 large 60 cm searchlights.

The local school has had the fortification as a project and has cleared and dug out much of the bunkers and positions and has made a kilometer long trek through the complex. Here they have made info signs and put up some sitting benches along the route and it is possible to enter all of the bunkers and tunnels. There is several other bunkers and position spread out across the small settlement but most of those is closed or flooded.

I had plans to walk to a site above the tree line today , but as you can see on the photo it is still snow quite low on the mountain so I decided to roam around in the forest for a while instead. I have never searched this area before , but I knew there had been a larger wehrmacht depot and camp somewhere in the forest. I went off the road and into the forest and I soon saw evidence of some earlier activities here like ditches or channels and old overgrown roads. There was no sounds from the F5 for a while but almost at the same time as I spotted the shape of building foundations in the forest floor the metal detector shouted that it had found something metally.

The first signal was a rusted old chain about a meter long while I had been hoping it to be a k98 , and as I stood up and made a sweep with the detector I had two more good signals. Just centimeters below was the good old horseshoes , two of them. I got up again and instantly the detector gave notice again and again. When I had found five horseshoes and a bunch of rusted cans and the sorts I checked where it was other signals. There was signals all over the little clearing in the forest I was in. I decided to make a search from the clearing and to a small river maybe half kilometer away just to see whats really going on in this forest.

I found several building foundations and a lot of signals towards the river. Here and there cans and barrels and other items still laid where they had been left , a very interesting area! I dug my way back towards the road , mapping a few dumping pits along he way for another day , and as I dug a signal and fought mosqitoes and ants I kept wondering what else is in this forest , as it is pretty large. Maybe it is time for a tent trip , just need to stock up on the bear repellent first.

The last signal I dug was a nice surprise. A german mess kit and a canteens drinking cup , both marked by the soldier who had used it.

Friday 13th turned out to not bring bad luck for digging. It was perfect expedition weather today , partly clouded sky  , relatively dry forest floor and around 15 degree Celsius. I have 3-4 very interesting sites I am searching this spring , and the place I went to today  is the old storage area where I found all the signal flares last summer. 
 I decided to dig every signal today , no matter if it showed as weak iron or foil , and to do a more systematic search in a section of the area. I also brought my new pinpointer , a buy I do not regret.

The first few signals I had was just nails , some wire and barrel bands but then there was a stronger signal and I needed to dig a bit. Here it was sandy soil so it was a breeze to dig and a bunch of these ammo crate lids came out. A few of them was in not too bad condition with some original paint intact. Making sure there was no items left undiscovered I closed the pit and found a new signal to dig.

I am starting to have correct guesses to when it is small arms casings the detector sweeps over as it must be one of the signal I had most of in my metal detecting career so far , but now the pinpointer came in quite handy finding each casing very quickly , and they can be hard to spot with the exellent camo 72 years aging and patina gives them. I found several k98 casings and a couple of  .45 rounds. Just make sure you don`t wear any rings on your fingers when working with a pinpointer. It ll give you a drip going through handfulls of sand with an exellent ghost signal over and over again.

In the last section I decided to search before going home it is kind of marshy and there was a weak but very interesting signal. Here was no use for any pinponter because twenty centimeter below the surface I saw something very familiar. Boxes full of the good old flares , with very nice colors and stampings. Happy days.