Bunkers, Berries & a Jaguar

Inka

Aug 30

4 min read

Updated: Sep 2

Last week it looked for a moment like my Fisher F5 had died, but luckily it was an issue with the 11" coil I am using on it. Probably a wire has been twisted off. I attached the unused original 10" coil to the detector and it was working perfectly again. It might reduce the reach by a fraction, but it also allows me to easily check between rocks and thightly spaced sapplings and trees, where the larger coil won`t fit.

But this did not help much on the searches this week. On one trip I used the Nokta Legend. Hunted the woods for 5-6 hours. Got a few finds, but none of that extra good stuff.

For once the weather was sunny, but it wasn`t that warm, only +13 Celsius. Enough to get the insects interested once I had worked up a sweat.

The Nokta showed me a good signal and I believed I was off to a great start with an Edelweiss badge, but as soon as I got the small item out from the soil I saw it wasn`t the gebirgsjägers badge. It had similar size and shape, and had same type of alloy, but the badge ( if that is what it is ) was in form of a pine branch with two pine cones. The very top of the badge was broken.

I hope one of you readers might know what this piece really is, and let me know. *Update: Thanks to some of you I was informed that it is a RAD cap badge. Much appreciated :)

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/4fef0f_1db2e6880d98481bb62dd5426610a14b/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Throughout the day I dug plenty of good signals, but it was mainly food tins and uninteresting bits. At the end I had a pocket full of cream tubes, a razor, a few coins and a shoulderboard button with the number "3".

The button would have been the Find of the Day, but when I was nearly at my backpack to go home the Legend gave off a great signal.

Sticking out of the ground was a German canteen. One of the sides had been cut open and the cuts folded to the sides making it into perhaps a cool ashtray. I might make it into a lamp though.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/4fef0f_c828f90abed74ba59020d7b6729931d5/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Shoulderboard button with "3".
Medical cream tube.
Interesting canteen.

The next day I went out again. Now armed with the Fisher and the smaller coil. Eight hours were spent checking the narrow places, but with boring results. Only a few coins, a chain from the RG34 rifle cleaning kit and a named göffel.

Around a barrack, when I was about to leave, I found a small burn pit with a gasmask canister and a named spoon that had survived the fire.

Such days can be a little discouraging, although every little signal is an adrenaline rush. Searching the forests are giving good mood and is health-improving, and one never know, as long there is metal in the ground the next signal can be something great.

Two coins and a broken comb.
Gasmask canister.
Göffel.

We failed on our mission last weekend trying to find some bunkers up in the mountain side, but yesterday we gave it another try. Sandwiches, coffee and fruits were prepared, and quite early the GirlfriendWife and I began the stroll towards the mountain.

A little more than an hour later we took a small rest by a collapsed bridge the gebirgsjägers had built across a stream. The bridge had stood until the late 1990`s. Today some of the timber is laying where it collapsed, and in the middle of the river is the beautifully built log support pier still standing on a rock. It is mindboggling that they built such a large bridge here, 500 meters asl.

The main body of the military installations here is on the oposite side of the river from where we were, and quite far away, so that is an expedition for next summer.

Gebirgsjäger bridge 500 m asl.
The bridge stood until the late 90s.
Incredible craftmanship.

On top of the hill we followed some animal tracks along the plateau and soon we began scouting for the bunkers. We knew the site was right, but still couldn`t find anything except a few scattered MG- and riflemen positions built up from loose stones.

GirlfriendWife was the one who discovered the bunkers. She walked the slope towards the valley leading to Finland when she spotted the first one just meters in front of her, and in the same moment a flock of ptarmigans took off from below the bunker giving here a spectacular view.

It was very exciting exploring the area. As it usually is with these sites, there is very little items laying around, but here we found two gasmask canisters. Of course we didn`t remove them, as we never do with surface finds in such places. They belong there, in Natures museum.

Thrilled to have found the site, we took cover from the strong winds and had lunch before we climbed down the hill a bit and spent the next five hours collecting blueberries and crowberries. Kilos of the stuff!

Mg position.
The first bunker.
Second bunker.

This morning I went out for a quick search together with Jimmy. Only a couple of hours. We checked a forest where a close relative of his had buried a treasure, at least for us it would be a treasure, but we had no luck. So more about that if we ever find it.

Then we spent half hour checking the garden to one of his friends where lots of Wehrmacht vehicles had been dissected after the war. Here Jimmy struck gold in the form of massive brass. First we thought it was a jaguar head but soon realised that it is a Peugeot lion head hood ornament. A great find.

Is it a Jaguar head?
And did it sit on the hood of a car?

Now it is time for dinner, and then sorting and freezing the rest of the berries we collected. Tomorrow is a fresh week, and hopefully my digger clothes are dry until after work so I can resume the rust-..I mean treasure hunt.

Thanks for reading.

Keep Smiling.