A Lappland Shield & Other Fantastic Finds

The second signal I got from the metal detector this week wasn`t very good. It was the typical scream it gives when there is a rusted bucket or something similar buried.

I swung the coil of the detector over the signal again, but from a different angle, and the tone jumped a bit, indicating that there might be some other, better, metal together with the junk.

I opened up the ground and sure enough, there I had two crushed buckets. From the text I could read that one of them had contained Sauerkraut. The other one also looked like it had held some dinner ingredients. Between them was a porcelain mug, a boring and broken Norwegian one.

Now I got a pretty good and clear signal once I had the trash out of the way. From under a thin root I pulled a square brass plate. It had a nice green patina, and two circles cut out from it. I thought it was some kind of plate from a radio or something and was about to chuck it away when I noticed something peculiar on it.

I rubbed the dirt out of my eyes, and what I thought I had seen on the plate was still present. In the top right corner of the green square was a Lappland Shield staring back at me! Unbelivable!

I took it to the stream and rubbed some black mud onto the plate to give a better contrast, and when I had a closer look I counted four, maybe five weak and incomplete shields, plus the one in the top corner! Utterly bizarre.

What struck me as even weirder was that the design of the shield seemed indentical to the very first Lappland Shield I found stamped on a piece of aluminum a few years ago in another camp quite far away from where I was sitting now. When I got home I checked them together and they were made from the same tool!

When I had calmed down I continued the search and dug up a few coins, an ashtray and meters of wire.

In the slope I searched I found a small dug-out which had a mix of signals, and it had been filled with trash. Scissors, gaming pieces, bottles, an axe and three caked and rusted belt buckles came out from there before I called it quits and went back home.

A flattened Sauerkraut bucket.

A buried mug always brings with it hopes of interesting german markings.

Porsgrunn Porselen.

A plate with a Lappland Shield.

I rubbed it with black mud to see the stampings better.

The plate was covered with several weak and incomplete shield stampings.

A small insulator.

Scissors for my beard.

Gaming piece.

A nice pioneer axe.

Two rusted belt buckles.

The third buckle followed shortly after.

An MG bolt.

As the rest of the week passed I had no time for any more fun in the woods. Only work and gardening. We planted a big field of potatoes, several pallet boxes with herbs and vegetables and I cleaned and tidied a decent sized strawberry field. So now lots of goodies awaits us, unless the harvest fails completely of course.

Late last evening the GirlfriendWife decided she needed an airing, so this morning we filled up our food tins and water bottles and headed out towards the foot of a mountain. She wanted to hunt for insects and I was eager to try my luck again, afterall we were in the middle of an old Gebirgsjäger camp.

I wandered around some ruins of a barrack or cellar and found nothing but rubbish. I began to loose hope when I dug up a whole bunch of Gluhzunder 28. All in very nice looking condition, and all live, so sadly I had to leave them in situ.

I moved around a bit and soon found another spot with lots of signals. Now I dug out bottles and food tins. So many that it soon got boring, but the signals are too good to ignore, and there is no guarantee the next similar signal also will be one of the aluminum tins.

The next seven signals were, but then something else turned up. I had moved slightly out of "food tin alley" but it was a similar signal, so when I stuck the shovel into the wet ground I knew what I would find...oh, the arrogance..

I had to call the GirlfriendWife over to show her what a great searcher of tresure I am. The slightly yellowish piece of metal laying between our feet was a Sturmabzeichen! It was a nice example too, even if it had been denazified and the catch for the needle was missing.

After taking pics of it and putting it in my pocket I jokingly told her to move out of the way, coz she was standing on my next medal!

I don`t know what kind of pixie powers she have, but directly where she had stood I got a great signal and dug up a Lapplandfront Cross!! This badge was also denazified, but otherwise in good condition that I think will look great after a quick dip in the oxalic acid!

I searched every inch of the surroundings and found three or four coins, and then I moved back towards the barracks.

There I found a cream tube, and from under a root I got a strong iron signal. Again I had to call in the GirlfriendWife, and she held the camera as I dug up the first (and maybe only) helmet of the season! We could see original color on it and rests of decals on both sides!!

Now it had gotten late but before she could drag me back towards where we had parked I dug up a horse comb and found a ditch full of horseshoes,,but those are for another day to dig out.

Thanks for reading, and I wish you a exellent week :)

Supergreen.

These were left behind, deep in the soil.

Digging food tins.

A Sturmabzeichen. A great and surprising find.

A gold colored cross appeared from under the moss.

I need to clean it up to see if it is an Eismeer-, Nord-, or Lapplandfront Cross.

Not long after I had a german helmet!!

This will go right in the oxalic bath :)

The badges after five minutes in oxalic acid.