It is getting late but I am finally having a chance to sit down and write a little something about the last couple of days relic hunting. Yesterday the Girlfriend was busy and began preparing for her field work so I snuk out to the Gebirgsjäger camp for a few hours searching. It was perfect weather, and I was armed with mosquito repellent and some fuel for when my energy burns out. My idea was to go over the area where I found three German helmets late last season, to make sure it wasn`t a whole pit full of them hiding out there under a root or something. Nearly six hours went by before I stumbled out from the forest. Warm and sweaty with twigs and bugs in my beard, loaded with rusted war junk. Like some strange Mad Maxian Lord of the Rings character. Buràrum. Not a single pit full of helmets was found. The finds I brought home this time was the front plate of a Wehrmacht radio transmitter, a Truppenfahrrad (Wehrmacht bike) trunk rack in great condition, a rifle cleaning kit and a spork. I had also found a cigarette case where the front part had survived 99% intact, while the bottom was totally rusted to the point of disintegration when touched, and a spare part holder for a Einheits lanterne.
Today came with an early start as Girlfriend was leaving for her field work. Luckily she won`t be gone too many days so I won`t starve to death or have to do the dishes.. ( I ll get stung for that one :D ). When the "goodbyes" and "be safes" had been said I went to the Gebirgsjäger camp again. This time the plan was to open a dumping ditch, and if time and energy allowed it check out one or two more potential dumping pits. The dumping ditch was very interesting because it gave off several strong and interesting signals, and when I had discovered it earlier I had pulled out an intact bottle and a empty M39 egg grenade. So I had hopes.
The ditch was of the typical construction, lots of rocks, a little sand and plenty of roots, and maaaybe some relics on the bottom. I pulled out some broken civillian porcelain, bottles and the first coin, but lots more rocks had to come out. Between the rocks a metal sheet appeares and it is difficult if not impossible to move it. I manage to bend a part of it to reach under it but it is clear that the bastard need to be removed if any relics are to be found. So the next couple of hours I am clearing out the entire layer of rocks and roots and can finally roll the +3 meter long "V" shaped piece of metal to the side of the ditch. My arms were on fire after that job so it was time to lay half an hour under a tree to eat and drink and enjoy life.
When I was back on my feet I began clearing out the rest of the ditch. Interesting little bits of relics piled up on the side as the scrap- and soil heap grew larger on the oposite side. It was a lot of both broken and intact porcelain, but everything civillian and rather uninteresting. Coins from Finland, Norway and Germany got dug up, together with a nice field torch and a Soviet soldiers mug. I removed a crushed bucket and under it was a whole bunch of stuff. A canteen cup made of bakelite, a "Westminster tobacco" ashtray, several ski goggles, one pair even unopened still in its pouch. Gaming pieces melted by fire got rescued and so did a pair of Gebirgsjäger boots in good condition. I removed a food tin and under it was a medal! "The Order of the Frozen Flesh" as it was called, the "Ostmedaille" for surviving the winter in East 1941/42. It was in ok condition too so I was pretty happy with that find. Now I took out a kettle and turned it upside down to empty the soil from it. The bottom was full of coins! I carefully picked them all out and it was 13 in total. Mostly Norwegian but a couple of Danish and Swedish ones as well! Very fun to find!
When the ditch had been emptied and re-filled I went to check out the next one. It was a lot smaller but it too had been filled with rocks. It took me ca one hour to go through it but the only thing worth saving was a small medical bottle.
The rest of the day I spent walking around in the forest, probably a few kilometers, picking up signals. I found a few more coins, a fishing lure and some tent pegs but I came to the point where a warm shower and a good dinner was more tempting than another pocket full of relics.
Tomorrow is a new day and prehaps I ll make a trip to the woods again, unless it gets summery and hammock conditions.
Until then,keep smiling :)
Today came with an early start as Girlfriend was leaving for her field work. Luckily she won`t be gone too many days so I won`t starve to death or have to do the dishes.. ( I ll get stung for that one :D ). When the "goodbyes" and "be safes" had been said I went to the Gebirgsjäger camp again. This time the plan was to open a dumping ditch, and if time and energy allowed it check out one or two more potential dumping pits. The dumping ditch was very interesting because it gave off several strong and interesting signals, and when I had discovered it earlier I had pulled out an intact bottle and a empty M39 egg grenade. So I had hopes.
The ditch was of the typical construction, lots of rocks, a little sand and plenty of roots, and maaaybe some relics on the bottom. I pulled out some broken civillian porcelain, bottles and the first coin, but lots more rocks had to come out. Between the rocks a metal sheet appeares and it is difficult if not impossible to move it. I manage to bend a part of it to reach under it but it is clear that the bastard need to be removed if any relics are to be found. So the next couple of hours I am clearing out the entire layer of rocks and roots and can finally roll the +3 meter long "V" shaped piece of metal to the side of the ditch. My arms were on fire after that job so it was time to lay half an hour under a tree to eat and drink and enjoy life.
When I was back on my feet I began clearing out the rest of the ditch. Interesting little bits of relics piled up on the side as the scrap- and soil heap grew larger on the oposite side. It was a lot of both broken and intact porcelain, but everything civillian and rather uninteresting. Coins from Finland, Norway and Germany got dug up, together with a nice field torch and a Soviet soldiers mug. I removed a crushed bucket and under it was a whole bunch of stuff. A canteen cup made of bakelite, a "Westminster tobacco" ashtray, several ski goggles, one pair even unopened still in its pouch. Gaming pieces melted by fire got rescued and so did a pair of Gebirgsjäger boots in good condition. I removed a food tin and under it was a medal! "The Order of the Frozen Flesh" as it was called, the "Ostmedaille" for surviving the winter in East 1941/42. It was in ok condition too so I was pretty happy with that find. Now I took out a kettle and turned it upside down to empty the soil from it. The bottom was full of coins! I carefully picked them all out and it was 13 in total. Mostly Norwegian but a couple of Danish and Swedish ones as well! Very fun to find!
When the ditch had been emptied and re-filled I went to check out the next one. It was a lot smaller but it too had been filled with rocks. It took me ca one hour to go through it but the only thing worth saving was a small medical bottle.
The rest of the day I spent walking around in the forest, probably a few kilometers, picking up signals. I found a few more coins, a fishing lure and some tent pegs but I came to the point where a warm shower and a good dinner was more tempting than another pocket full of relics.
Tomorrow is a new day and prehaps I ll make a trip to the woods again, unless it gets summery and hammock conditions.
Until then,keep smiling :)
G. Barthel benzin burner.
Metal sign/flag. It ll be interesting to clean this one up.
Spork in great condition.
Cigarette tin.
Front plate from transmitter.
Looks like the flap from a map case.
Field kitchen dish.
Shovel.
Truppenfahrrad cargo rack.
Coins.
5 pfennig.
Goggles.
Ostmedaille.
Red Army mug.
Field torch.
From the relics perspective.
Ashtray.
Canteen cup.
Goggles.
Litterature.
9 mm rounds.
When I emptied a kettle I saw this on the bottom!! Coins!
13 coins.
Gebirgsjäger boots.
More goggles, one pair in pouch.
Gaming piece.
All I had to do was lift some leafs to find these three Finnish coins.
Tent pegs. I think I have found 9 or 10 so far this season.
Fishing lure.
When I was gonna pick up my backback I spotted this guy. Needless to say I had to abandon it.
Beauty.
How my breaks often look.
The medal.
Interesting handmade ruler, 3 sections of 5 cm.
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