Shortly after morning coffee we headed out back to yesterdays pit to clean it up and hopefully find some more treasures. It was sunny but alittle bit of clouds today and still it was quite warm. The pit looked like it could be part of a long ditch so I started by the edge I had left yesterday. Some 40 cm down metal and bottles began popping out and after a while I reached the bottom. It became clear that if this was a ditch I was at the end of it because the wall in front of me was empty, I tunneled in a meter or so but it was all untouched soil. There wasn`t so many finds so far either. The first find was a nice late type drinking canteen, and I think I found the cap for it yesterday. Some more of the M24 parts, a pair of Gebirgsjäger boot soles, a toothbrush, a few uniform buttons and a wine bottle with most of the paper label intact was placed in the "bring home" pile. Almost on the bottom I saw a square shaped aluminium part, and I hoped it was another belt buckle. It was not, but prehaps a better find, it was a Finnish made compass house in quite nice condition. I ve never seen this type before so I was quite happy with the find. The hole was more or less emptied by now but in the last part of the bottom layer I pulled out a live M39 egg grenade, which after inspection was carefully placed back.
Girlfriend refilled the pit and I opened up the other side of what I dug yesterday but I just had to come to terms with the fact that it was not a long ditch as hoped, it was all empty. I did a few test digs and checked it thouroughly with the Fisher but no hits at all. We stumbled around the area checking signals here and there but we found only two more small dumping pits both filled with M24 stick tops. One of the tops had a live Brennzunder and it also was stuck back deep in the ground. 
The heat ate all my energy and after a few hours I decided it was time to go home and find a few cold beers to enjoy on the porch and relax before a work day tomorrow, but if the weather allows we ll be back here on Sunday for some more rust hunting :)
Stay Happy and do something nice my friends :)

It has been a warm week, and I ve been at work so haven`t had much time for digging, but having today and tomorrow off so time will be spent in the forest. I managed to talk my girlfriend into joining me for a mini expedition and we went to a place where it during the war was a Org.Todt stable and workshop, and in 1945 Gebirgsjäger units capitulated there. Well,thruth be told, she is much more of an outdoor person than me, so she actually wanted to join. 
We strolled into the forest and ofcourse I wanted to impress her finding some good stuff, but every signal I picked up with the Fisher to begin with was nails,wire bits, horseshoes and horseshoe ice cleats. But I ve been digging here lots before so I took direction towards the area I knew would hold dumping pits.

The first two dumping pits we dug was only rubbish, food tins and bottles, quite boring stuff really, but under a ton of fallen trees and branches I got a very interesting signal and after alittle work the old wood was removed and I opened up the forest floor. It was definately a interesting pit, a few food tins and lots of broken bottles lay in the top layer but when that was removed some good items started popping out. Several signal flares, porcelain jars, toothbrushes and hygiene articles got pulled out from the soil, some silver cutlery in great condition, k98 cleaning kits, bunker candles and tent pegs, and soon there was a growing pile of relics.
On the bottom of the pit was a layer of organic stuff, some animal bones, rotting uniform bits and leather parts from boots and ammo pouches. I kept scraping away the soil and I saw something made of aluminium, I didn`t dare to hope, but when I had removed enough sol I saw it was a aluminium Heer buckle!! I was overjoyed :)

After a while of digging the hole bigger I realized I was in the middle of a long and deep ditch, so there will be several days digging this for sure. Hours had passed and the relic pile had grown bigger. A bunch of small medic bottles were found, an ignitor for mine, a steel Heer buckle with the leather support tab still intact and then I suddenly spotted another aluminium item. It was a Erkennungsmärke! Again I was jumping of joy! 
It was late in the afternoon by now and we decided to just clean up the side walls and then found a large pocket of M24 stick grenade parts. Hundreds of them. Both my backpacks was filled to the breaking point in no time, so it was definately time to call it quits for the day. The hole was filled back and we decided to continue tomorrow morning so it ll be an early evening tonight. Hopefully there will be more interesting finds in this ditch.
Stay muddy and keep smiling :)

The sun was shining again today and after a few hours at work I went to the Gebirgsjäger capitulation site to see through the rest of the ditch and the pit. I started by double checking the edges of the ditch to make sure I didn`t miss a belt buckle or something interesting, but no, only a couple of tin cans and bottles. Then I checked the last meter of the ditch but it was nearly empty. Only a very few items but lots of charcoal and ashes. One of the finds was a interesting matchbox cover. It looks like it has an eagles head on, and it might be a "trench"art item, will know for sure after cleaning it. 
I checked the pit with the metal detector, it gave a strong signal , but just below the grass was a large iron pan. I swept the detector over the pit again and it picked up only a few signals. Opening up the forest floor prooved my suspiscions that it was a burn pit for non metal items. I found melted bits of glass, just a few tin cans and a few bits of cloth that disintegrated when touched, and lots of charcoal and small bits of burned wood. 
I was a bit sad it hadn`t been a pit full of belt buckles, awards and helmets, but maybe the next one is,or the one after that :D I had spent a few hours here and had stuff to do at home so I strolled towards the car and found a few places I ll investigate further another day.
Although I didn`t have much luck digging today, I  had a great day at work. A guy stopped by and gave me two shall casings,a 120mm and a 35mm, and two British helmets! The helmets is quite nice, they need a quick dip in the oxalic acid, but I think they will look good on the shelf after cleaning. 

Summer finally won over "Autumn-Summer" and I woke up to a blue sky and warm weather, not perfect for digging but I just had to get back to the ditch. I was wise and brought a few bottles of water and some fruit which I placed in the shade together with the detector and my backpack. Unfortunately for me there wasn`t much shade where I was digging, but who cares about shade when the very first piece of metal to fall out from the soil was a Heer belt buckle! I really didn`t expect to find anymore of them after yesterdays "hoard". Lots of small relics kept coming out along with the rusted tins and bottle shards, several small porcelain jars, tent pegs, some MG ammo belt pieces and a small handmade iron ashtray. I ll clean it up and hopefully there is some engravings on it.
​

It was warm and the sun was a little bit torture but slowly I got closer to the pit, but the ditch seemed to widen towards the pit so I tried following the edges and work with the bayonet,scraping away soil to not miss any stuff. I found a pocket with can openers. One after another, and in the end I had pulled out 13 of them. Two nice signal flares made into shotglasses was next, one of them with engravings. And then I found something round and familiar looking thing. It was an award. The, Winterschlacht Im Osten, or "Frozen Flesh Medal" as it was called. It was given to troops who qualified with participating 14 days of combat on the Russian from the winter of 1941/42. A very common award, but it is the first time ever I have found an award so I was quite pleased. 
I had to get up and stretch a bit and find the shovel to remove a new square bit of the grass. As I turned over the lump of grass to remove any metal I looked straight on another Heer buckle!! Second one today. This ditch is incredible! A few hours passed pulling out rust and relics and some more goodies appeared. A third shotglass and a candleholder made from flares, a few toothbrushes , some cutlery and coins and a nice aluminum tag with Obgefr. Häusleb or Häusler stamped on. 
It was still another meter left to the pit, and it had just got hotter so I decided to leave it for tomorrow and get home to the porch and some shade. It had been a brilliant day with lots of finds and I look forward to check out the rest. 
​Until then, Enjoy life as best you can :)

First day in a long time with some sun peeking through the clouds, so I packed my things and headed out to stroll the forests with the metal detector. I wasn`t really sure where to go today but ended up at the Gebirgsjäger capitulation site after a little driving. To begin with I picked up some ammo casings and a couple of horseshoes and struggled a bit in the thickets when I saw metal laying on the surface in front of me. It had only alittle moss on it and I immediately saw that it was a German hot food canister. It didn`t have the inner part and it had rusted hole in both the lid and the bottom of it. It is always a good sign when metal is on the surface so I found a place for my backpack and searched around. I found several parts for German Model 39 egg handgrenades, but damned if I could find any grenade body,only the ignitor pull thing and the bits where the Brennzunders go. I dug out a ton of springs and wire framings from a matress but only a step away from the matress I discovered a small ditch where the Fisher gave lots of different signals, and the ditch was leading to a overgrown pit!!

I found the start of the ditch and began pulling out rusted tins and bottles as these pits and ditches often are filled with, but more interesting items as well popped out in a pleasant frequency. Small medical- and perfume bottles, Rosodont toothpowder boxes, lots of cream tubes, a couple of Finnish coins and a bayonet scabbard. I scraped away more soil using my bayonet and saw the face of a Heer belt buckle. I love to find belt buckles so I won`t complain that it was a steel buckle and not a alu one. The ditch was ca a meter wide but quite shallow so I kept working towards the pit several meters away. Suddenly I found another belt buckle, also a steel one, and then a third!! I was just a big smile by now,dirty and covered in ants and mosqitoes.
Way past dinnertime and I still had a few meters to go before the pit I decided to dig another half meter and then retreat back home since I was hungry and bags and pockets already full. On the last section of the day I found a soldiers canteen and a couple of Leuchtpistole signal flares, one broken,or prehaps cut down to a shot glass, I ll know when its cleaned.
So I filled back what I had dug and placed back the top squares I had cut out of the forest floor so it all looked nice and tidy after me and made a plan to be back here after coffee tomorrow.

German canteen.

Monday turned out to be very busy so I had no chance getting to the forest, but after work today I was out there again. The weather was a bit better today, no rain and even a few minutes of sun, but ofcourse I wasn`t in the forest for enjoying any weather. I was there to enjoy searching and the smell of fresh soil and old rust, there is little that beats the feeling a trip into the forest gives me.
There was something odd about the first large signal I dug today, it took me a few moments to realize it, but I had dug it on one of my very first trips to this place. It was several German ammo cannister lids, but too far gone, so I covered them back up so I can dig them again another time :)
A few meters away the Fisher gave a very interesting signal and now I was sure I hadn`t dug it before because I had to chop away some thick roots to be able to dig it open. Another dumping pit! 

It took a few hours to search the dumping pit and it gave just a few interesting relics. Also I had to be very carefull digging because it was full of broken bottles and window glass.  I once had a long and thin piece of glass stabbed almost through my hand and I don`t want that happening again. Some large chunk of chicken wire and a wheel rim was also difficult to remove as the roots was growing through them. Again I found some mortar powder charge tins, different rifle casings, a couple of nice bottles, some stick grenade parts and a couple of percussion primers. 
After I had filled back the dumping pit and made the forest floor look nice again, I strolled around for a few hours. I found some more rifle casings here and there but then I wandered into a part of the depot where it was no signals at all, it was so silent that I had to sweep the detector over the shovel to make sure it wasn`t dead. I took another direction but for maybe an hour more no signals anywhere. It felt like a Deja vu. I took that as a sign that it was time for dinner and went home.
Hopefully tomorrow I ll go check out another forest, and leave the depot until it has dried up.

Yesterday I didn`t have time for digging since I had to work and in the afternoon help my brother move. When I got home in the evening I discovered that one of the cats had stepped in red paint and done a few laps all over the house, great fun.
I woke up this morning to another rainy day but I wouldn`t let that stop me from making a trip to the forest. I went back to the depot and continued searching. After two big hits which was small pits full of nails and bolts I found a third pit,which was larger and full of Stickgrenade parts. Screwcaps, pull cord balls and the top parts where the head is screwed on.
The next couple of hours the Fisher picked up metal signals in a steady pace. I found lots more rifle casings today and several Brennzunders.
I was soaked to the skin and had started walking back towards the car when I stumbled across another dumping pit. Ofcourse I had to check it out. The top was mostly nails and wires and rubbish, but suddenly it just poured out mortar powder charge tins. Many in very nice condition, and a few had the contents still.  In the last corner of the dumping pit was a Madsen Machinegun magazine in very nice condition, just a perfect end to the days effort.
​Tomorrow it ll be more digging for sure.

Lately it has been raining heavily so I ve spent the days cleaning relics and as a direct result of that cleaning the house. Today I felt it was time for a dig no matter how hard it was raining, so I went to the Wehrmacht depot. Even before reaching the place I was soaked and when I found the spot I had planned to dig I saw it was all flooded. I ve never seen this place like this before, the water was maybe a 10-15 cm above the forest floor. Most of the forest was "dry" though so I strolled around picking up signals. I found some crate parts, ammo casings,but mostly steel ones so quite rotted away, and tons of nails. Not one and one nail, small pits full of them, and a few places I found large coils of barbed wire and I dug out four small transport seals.
The forest is full of barrack foundations, earth cellars and irrigation ditches and in one of those cellars the metal detector went mad. I opened up the forest floor and just beneath the soil it was packed full of small mortar powder charge tins. I spent a few hours searching through the cellar and picked out a few tins worth saving. By now I was so soaked that it wouldnt have made a difference if I had laid down in the river, my bag was also full so I went back home to dry up and clean some more relics.
I`ll be out there again as soon as possible, come rain,flames or a rare sunny day:)
​Stay Muddy:)

It was perfect digging weather today so soon after breakfast and coffee I went back to yesterdays site. I continued on the fireplace as the detector had indicated that I had only searched half of it yesterday. It is a thin layer just below the surface and here and there metal is sticking out through the grass. I soon found out that I was in the middle of an ant trail which made things a bit intense. The first piece of metal today was a Mg ammo box, but it was quite destroyed. I then found a couple of Nivea bottles and then a shiny coin showed itself infront of me.

I love to find coins and it is extra fun when they are in such good condition. I kept on digging and a little pile of relics kept growing. It was mostly smaller bits today, some toothbrushes and different medical cream tubes, some porcelain jars and lots of uniform buttons. I also found a few more Mg ammo belts, a pair of goggles, a small and intact ampoule and a matchbox holder. 
After some hours it became clear that I had searched through the whole fireplace. I dug a hole for all the rubbish and placed back all the tufts of grass. I had seen a few meter away a little dump in the ground and went over to investigate it. The detector screamed as I swept it across the dump, but unfortunately it was a rubbish pit from the 1970s. After a little while I found another such dump and it was a wartime one. I spent a couple of hours searching it but it was all rusted food tins and animal bones.
I called it quits and headed back home to clean some finds and enjoy some sun on the porch. Tomorrow I might go back here as Im sure there are some more bits of rust to be found.

It has been a few weeks since I have done any more digging in the WH camp where I found the Waffenmeister Erkennungsmärke, but I spent the whole day out there today. I searched through the rest of the dumping pit and it was difficult because it held mostly barbed wire. It looks like they had dug a hole, thrown in some rubbish, crates, clothes, bits and pieces, then dumped a whole bunch of barbedwire in the middle of the hole and set fire to it all. It didn`t hold the hoard of kool stuff I had hoped for, but it was a few nice relics between all the scrap..

I took many hours to search through the pit, and I started feeling it in my knees so I decided to check around the pit another day. I filled it all back and went detecting towards the car. It didnt take many minutes before I had a nice signal from the Fisher and had to check it out. It was a rather large fireplace where they had thrown all kinds of stuff in the flames. I spent another few hours searching through it. Here I found three or four tent pegs,signal flare candleholder, lots of pioneer wire, some leather bits of Y- and D straps, horse harness and a Heer beltbuckle . Several Mg ammo belts peeked out from under the grass and another flare casing turned into shotglass. One of the last bits I found was a nice brass LiG casing which will look good when cleaned up.
If it is not raining tomorrow I ll be back there :)