Relic Hearts
- Inka
- Aug 17
- 4 min read
The whole morning I metal detected along the edge of a short slope where a gebirgsjäger stables had stood. Every few minutes I had dug up a horseshoe, a comb, or clasps and hooks from a harness. No items related to the soldiers so far.
I turned my attention to the slope itself, but it was just more of the horse stuff there.
Between the slope and the river was a 50 meter wide belt of birch forest and I wandered in a straight line towards the water while swinging the detector in front- and to the sides of me trying to cover as much ground as possible.
Suddenly the detector gave off a nice and clear signal. While I began opening up the moss I said to myself "For sure a rifle casing!".
I was wrong.
The small oval shaped piece of metal was a Wound Badge! Its needle was folded across the front of the badge, which lacked the original laquer, but the backside still had the smooth original black finish!
The next half hour I trawled the surroundings, but I couldn`t pick up even a single signal.
I moved back onto the old camp road, where I dug up a shovel, and contiuned between the pines towards the ruins of a barrack, keeping a watchful eye for any fat spider mamas hanging between the trees.
Near the barrack I opened another rather strong signal and through the next 45 minutes I dug up around twenty full MG belts and loads of full stripper clips for the K98.
Around the place there was an abundance of signals, and I found a vehicles fire extinguisher, part for a Notek lamp, an unmarked porcelain cup, a nicely decorated civillian spoon and an unfinished luggage tag made from an Esbit ovens tablet plate.
On route back to the car I discovered a patch full of signals, and a small test opening showed it was a fire pit.
Next morning I was back to search the fire pit and when I removed the vegetation I got a little surprise. On the charred soil , between rusted chains and bike parts was a bright red heart!
It was made from some kind of early synthetic material and probably sat on a necklace or bracelet. Maybe a romantic reminder a soldier wore around his neck, before it ended its day on the fire.
I spent hours working through the fireplace, but didn`t find much worth saving. I brought with me a few wrecks of vehicle/bike lamps, many food tins, two Finnish coins, a couple of lighters, a fishing lure and a handfull of cooked 7.92 casings. Here and there through the whole pit small white porcelain hearts from a broken plate lit up the blackened soil, which was quite funny.
A few days later I went out to another forest, the Blueberry Paradise, to fill some bags of the best berries served in the universe. Of course I brought the detector along and made a few good finds when I had had enough of the berries.
The first sound the detector gave was a strong and clear silver signal. And sure enough, deep in the moss was an old silver clasp or brooch. I am not yet sure of its origin, but I think it is for some civillian traditional fancy-wear.
Under a pine I got stuck on a signal I suspected could be a helmet. It wasn`t. But I still spent a lot of energy freeing the item, coz it was a black enamelled bucket, and when I finally got it un-stuck from the rocks and roots it was the type of bucket I had hoped it to be. From a field kitchen. It even had the practical kettle carrier chains attached to it. Very pleased with such a find.
Nearly back at the car I dug a last signal, and there I found the top of a mess kit, a k98 ammo pouch and a sinister field made wire baton with a leather wrapped knot on the business end. One can only wonder if it was intended to be used on POWs or horses and mules?
Summer seems to be morphing into autumn here now, so beginning tomorrow a layer of rain-proof will be added to the gear, and hopefully it won`t be too busy at work so that we can go pick some more rust and berries.
Thanks for reading. I wish you a great week :)
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