We are in the middle of May and spring is here. Most of the snow has melted away. The grass and the trees are getting greener by the day. The frozen ground hasn`t thawed properly yet, but on thursday afternoon it was time to finally declare the digging season open again. Jimmy and Tom have for many years celebrated this occation with an overnighting in the woods. A little party and digging. I was happy for the invite and prepared my digger van for expedition.
Tom had found a nice spot in the forest and when I arrived he had already set up camp and had a fire going. Our camping place was a large concrete square in the middle of a pine forest. The germans had poured lots of these squares throughout the area, but there is no sign of any structures around them so we are unsure what they were used for.
Soon we celebrated Jimmys arrival with a drink or two before we got up on our legs, found the detectors and waltzed off in between the trees.
The sound of nature and the detectors, the clank of a shovel hitting rock or metal, and the smell of the cold and wet soil, pure bliss. Almost immediately Jimmy dug up a german aluminum tent peg, and I found a rusted barrel filled with a concrete like substance, and Tom was about as lucky as me, but I dont think any of us was too disapointed these weren`t the medals, helmets and guns we half hour earlier had sworn would be the first finds. It didn`t take long to see that the ground was still quite frozen. Most places we couldn`t dig more than a few centimeters before drills and dynamite would be needed to get deeper. But that too didn`t bother us, coz the season had begun, and we were all just big grins there we were walking around hacking ice and smacking mosquitoes.
I found two or three places that looked like dumping pits, which I ll check in a month, and I dug up an aluminum tube belonging to a field kitchen, which contained salt or pepper. Its lid might still be trapped in the ice and I hope to find it later.
After a couple of hours I found Tom and Jimmy sitting by the river, having a "wine break". I joined them for a while before we detected our way back to camp.
Now we made a big fire, ate some, drank some and laughed a lot. I tried to dry my gloves near the fire, but of course they caught on fire. Tom and Jerry, I mean Jimmy, became more and more liquid, and when they didnt laugh or sing, they tried starting fights with eachother. Because of the light polar nights it is difficult to say if it is night or day, but Im sure it was a good while after midnight when I retreated to my van, and knowing Jimmy I made sure all the doors were securely locked. They kept singing and piling wood onto the fire for quite some time more.
The sun woke me up early. I opened the door and took in the smell from the resinous forest, and listening to the shrieks from a pair of ravens. I got out and poured myself a large cup of coffee and went around the car. "Jeebus!" I walked right into a scene I was not prepared for! Next to the still smoking fireplace lay a naked Jimmy, partly covered in ants, feasted on by mosquitos! Around him empty beer cans, a crushed mp3 player and a half burnt blanket. I found another direction to look in while I ate my breakfast and then I took the detector for a spin.
I walked a few kilometers in a large cirlce, checking signals along the way. Most were too deep to be able to uncover, but my pockets did fill up with some cream tubes, ammo casings, perfume bottles, clasps and hooks. I dug up a couple of heavy pick axes and a piece of a 200l fuel barrel top, cut to size and then curved. I wonder if it was supposed to become a door to a field made stove.
Several hours had passed when I made it back to the campsite and saw that Jimmy had come to life again and thankfully had found his clothes. Tom also got on his feet and started the day. It was 17th May and Norways National Day and it was time for me to go home for some Pavlova cake lunch.
Even without any real finds it had been a great start of the season!
Tom had found a nice spot in the forest and when I arrived he had already set up camp and had a fire going. Our camping place was a large concrete square in the middle of a pine forest. The germans had poured lots of these squares throughout the area, but there is no sign of any structures around them so we are unsure what they were used for.
Soon we celebrated Jimmys arrival with a drink or two before we got up on our legs, found the detectors and waltzed off in between the trees.
The sound of nature and the detectors, the clank of a shovel hitting rock or metal, and the smell of the cold and wet soil, pure bliss. Almost immediately Jimmy dug up a german aluminum tent peg, and I found a rusted barrel filled with a concrete like substance, and Tom was about as lucky as me, but I dont think any of us was too disapointed these weren`t the medals, helmets and guns we half hour earlier had sworn would be the first finds. It didn`t take long to see that the ground was still quite frozen. Most places we couldn`t dig more than a few centimeters before drills and dynamite would be needed to get deeper. But that too didn`t bother us, coz the season had begun, and we were all just big grins there we were walking around hacking ice and smacking mosquitoes.
I found two or three places that looked like dumping pits, which I ll check in a month, and I dug up an aluminum tube belonging to a field kitchen, which contained salt or pepper. Its lid might still be trapped in the ice and I hope to find it later.
After a couple of hours I found Tom and Jimmy sitting by the river, having a "wine break". I joined them for a while before we detected our way back to camp.
Now we made a big fire, ate some, drank some and laughed a lot. I tried to dry my gloves near the fire, but of course they caught on fire. Tom and Jerry, I mean Jimmy, became more and more liquid, and when they didnt laugh or sing, they tried starting fights with eachother. Because of the light polar nights it is difficult to say if it is night or day, but Im sure it was a good while after midnight when I retreated to my van, and knowing Jimmy I made sure all the doors were securely locked. They kept singing and piling wood onto the fire for quite some time more.
The sun woke me up early. I opened the door and took in the smell from the resinous forest, and listening to the shrieks from a pair of ravens. I got out and poured myself a large cup of coffee and went around the car. "Jeebus!" I walked right into a scene I was not prepared for! Next to the still smoking fireplace lay a naked Jimmy, partly covered in ants, feasted on by mosquitos! Around him empty beer cans, a crushed mp3 player and a half burnt blanket. I found another direction to look in while I ate my breakfast and then I took the detector for a spin.
I walked a few kilometers in a large cirlce, checking signals along the way. Most were too deep to be able to uncover, but my pockets did fill up with some cream tubes, ammo casings, perfume bottles, clasps and hooks. I dug up a couple of heavy pick axes and a piece of a 200l fuel barrel top, cut to size and then curved. I wonder if it was supposed to become a door to a field made stove.
Several hours had passed when I made it back to the campsite and saw that Jimmy had come to life again and thankfully had found his clothes. Tom also got on his feet and started the day. It was 17th May and Norways National Day and it was time for me to go home for some Pavlova cake lunch.
Even without any real finds it had been a great start of the season!
Tom & Jimmy.
Lid from an ammo container.
A broken porcelain bowl.
Tube for fieldkitchen.
A large hook. For horse equipment.
Parts from a wagon.
Vinagre bottle.
Lovely nature.
Joy.
Pionier equipment.
Insulator.
Garand clip.
7.92 casings.
Part from kraftstoff barrel lid.
Pickaxes.
Rubber caps for mp38/stg44.
Interesting 7.92 casing.
Close combat knife sheat and horseshoe w icecleats.
Tom gave me this small tag he had found. I always wanted one! A real "dog-tag"! Heeresdiensthund tag :)
My lunch :D
RSS Feed