International Spring Expedition 2019

Stepping out of the plane at Riga Airport I realized my mistake. I had brought about 5 kg too much clothes. Having moved further North in Norway, up to Tromsø where it is reindeers in the streets, had made me forget that it is not cold, piercing winds and snow everywhere else. After getting off a layer of clothes I wandered towards the Ala Folkbar where I found the Diggers in a happy mood around a table. It was on. The International Spring Expedition had begun and it was awesome to be back. A few new guys had found their way here, and was together with this years Legenda Prize Draw winner, Michael from Denmark, excited to get into the forest. 
Early next morning we carried our stuff a few hundred meters to the pick-up point and met up with our Latvian friends. On our way to the first dig site we met up with the rest of the Latvian crew and our Lithuanian team. 
Vlad had been busy searching WW1 positions south of Riga and he had located several massgraves on a sandy ridge where the old frontline once stood.  Vlad has found hundreds of missing soldiers and I had made him a small piece of relic-art to honor his work. On a piece of shrapnel I had made a miniature of a WW1 memorial which once stood on a WW1 cemetery where missing soldiers Vlad has found have been reburied recently.
As soon as we had parked the cars and covered ourselves with mosquito spray digging began.

Leaving the snowcovered Norwegian mountains.

The ever so fun Armoury Bar.

The wooden cross mounted on a 77 mm German shell shrapnel.

Vlad, who spends his time finding soldiers in these forests.

The sandy soil was a nice warm up for the days to come.

This German button was found because Matt needed a place to put his backpack. He always does this, puts his backpack somewhere and up pops a helmet,pistol,dog tag etc.

Mr. Bay doing one of our Livestreams.

Everyone was busy. In one end of the ridge a trenchline with a single fallen soldier was being dug, next a crater that seemed to be filled with soldiers and a bit further away a third pit with many soldiers laying. Some guys went around checking the ground with probes and detectors to try find more lost soldiers, and a couple of guys started up our Livestream video. The gnats and mosquitos was prehaps the busiest though, having a feast on us. 
Having most of the top soil removed and the size of each massgrave established the work slowed down abit as we carefully uncovered the soldiers remains showing how they lay and what equipment and such they had been wearing the day they were buried. Several of them had crosses and small icons, some ammo pouches and handgrenades as well as boots and greatcoats. On some soldiers we found shrapnel embedded in their bones, one of them had pieces of a wooden sole from a boot stuck in his hip and on some we could see where bullets and shrapnels had went through the bones. On the soldier Steve and Anders were working they found  an award that identified the soldier even before he was completely exhumed and also a small gold cross was found on him.
Evening approached but one of the massgraves was still full of soldiers so we decided to cover it up and go back to complete the job on the last day of the expedition. 
On the lovely resort, Radi , in Kurland, the Prize Draw winner recieved the Legenda badge to put on his jacket and we had a great dinner and a little party before sleep caught up to us.

All of the soldiers are exhumed carefully and in a respectfull manner.

Small crosses and icons was found on several of the soldiers.

Pine needles found under the soldiers in the crater furthest away indicates they might have been buried there by their comrades.

A piece of a wooden shoe sole stuck to the hip.

On the soldier Steve and Anders exhumed this award and gold cross was found.

Video, Cause of death.

Hans, one of the first Internationals to join Legenda presents the Legenda Prize Draw winner Michael with the Legenda badge.

A bit jaded after the night before diggers stumbled into the main room for breakfast and coffee before the "Davaij"s herded us into the vans. Almost exactly a year ago a Norwegian author and researcher contacted me with some maps and sketches of field cemeteries, Missing in Action reports and field grave maps he had found. This was handed over to Talis, the Boss of Legenda, and during winter and spring he began checking out the information. A few of the sites had been exhumed by Volksbund in the early 90s it appeared, but several of the sites had still not been found. We followed some dusty farmers roads between fields outside Priekule following a map showing where a Waffen SS Divison Nordland field cemetery should be. This was going to be hard work as the ground was hard clay and the site supposedly should be in the field so it would be no cover from the blistering sun. It was early morning but already the temperature crept up towards 30+ Celsius. The Digger machine started up opening trenches as we tried to locate the grave site. Many diggers spread out in the surrounding forest seeking shade while trying their luck with the metal detectors and probes. Hours went by and no cemetery found. Luckily two soldiers were found laying where they fell a few meters inside the forest. The frontline had rolled over the area a few times and battlediscards and unexploded ordnance laid everywhere. We collected the unexploded stuff in a pile for the Police and EOD. I had given up hope on finding the cemetery and it seemed that was the case all around when one of the Digger insisted on trying to search close by the place we had parked. On one of the first shovel scoops we could hear the shouts : "Soldier! Bones! " This could be it. The trench was expanded and side by side we could see grave after grave! Success! On the map we had it showed it should be two lines of graves, but of course it could be more, and we didn`t know how many soldiers were in each row. We found ID tags on several of the soldiers and on two of them we found helmets, both heavily battle damaged. One of the helmets had a clear SS decal still intact. The bones of the soldiers were in a poor condition as the soil here was agressive and the farmers had been using chemical fertilizer, but we managed to exhume what was left of them.
The heat was intense but a small breeze kept us going until we had completed the first line of the cemetery. It was late afternoon so the second line would be dug a few days later. 
The guys having roamed around the forest came back with some interesting bits. A Sherman lendlease tank had been blown up in the battles here and track links, parts and huge chuncks of it was dragged out by the diggers. The engine radiator hatch found by Matt and Steve was incredibly heavy but none the less loaded into the van. On the way back to the resort we stopped by a farmer that had contacted us suspecting it could be some soldiers buried next to his house. We opened up a big ditch but found only some rusted boot heel irons and pioneer wires.

Trench after trench was opened trying to find the cemetery.

Two German soldiers were found next to eachother in the forest.

Lots of live ordnance was cleared out of the forest.

Waiting for EOD.

The cemetery was finally found!!

The decal on the helmet was in very good condition.

The Boss keeping control.

Filling back the graves.

Sherman track links and radiator hatch.

Part from the blown up Sherman tank.

A Sherman periscope.

Part from German binoculars.

Thursday and day 3 of the expedition was the day for some Free-Hunting, we had no set plans but to roam some frontline positions searching for lost soldiers more or less on random, we opened up some trenchlines and bunkers, and we opened up some cellars from the farms destroyed during the battle. Also we cleaned away what we could find of unexploded ordnance which EOD came to pick up in the afternoon. The day went on and the pile of found relics grew. My only find was a MG spare barrel container and a bunch of shrapnel, but several helmets came in from the field and forests and from one of the cellars a nice Heer beltbuckle was found.
In the evening we got back to the resort sunburnt and mossie bitten and had a Swedish Surströmning party after dinner. For those who hasn`t heard of this dish it is basically canned rotten fish. I wasn`t among the brave bunch who tasted it :D
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Boss was going to spend the day catching butterflies.

Along the frontline were several destroyed farms and buildings.

Spare barrel container.

Unexploded bits cleared off the fields.

Spoils of war.

Police came to check our findings and call in the EOD.

EOD picked up the ordnance and we heard when they detonated it later in the evening.

Getting ready for celebrating the Swedish Flagday and eating Surströmning.

Gary not looking forward to the next half hour.

The box was handled with care as it would be unexploded ordnance.

Having gained new energy from all the rotten fish the Diggers were ready to roll out around 08 next morning. We were going to another field which held a Division Nordland field cemetery. This one had also been found through the material we recieved from the Norwegian researcher. On this site it should be at least 7 soldiers and on the map one of their names was written. We removed the farmers electrical fence, which luckily had been turned off, and opened up the ground so we could see in what direction the line of graves would be. Now it became clear it would be more than seven soldiers as we could see it was more than two lines of graves. The place became busy and attracted attention from the neighbours who weren`t used to this kind of activity on a regular Friday. A bunch of kids came up showing off relics they had found around their houses. As the exhumation went on we could see how the agressivness of the soil and the use of chemical fertilizer eroded on the bones and metal found on the soldiers. We found many ID tags and even if the corrosion had come far we could read them after some cleaning. These were soldiers from several Divison Nordland regiments made up of boys and men volunteering from around Europe and also a ID tag from KL Ravensbrück. Line after line of graves covered the field as the day went on and in one of the graves a soldier had been buried in a coffin, probably an officer, and maybe the name marked on the map. Next to him was a bottle containing a paper note. Usually bottles like this were corked and placed cork down in the grave so moisture wouldn`t get into them, this way they would easily help to identify the buried soldiers when recovering them after their planned victory. Sadly the cork in this bottle had rotted and water getting into it had destroyed the paper. 
On some of the soldiers we found rests of shoulderboards and uniform effects, and two surviving bits of cloth were the Arm Shield with the Norwegian flag from two soldiers belonging to Regiment Norge. This regiment was mostly made up by Norwegians and other Scandinavians having volunteered and many of them are still listed as missing in action. A spectacular find.
Another fantastic moment was when an old man came by and shared his story. He had been a kid when his safe little childhood world became a frontline. He remembered a soldier marching by had given him a candy, and some days later he saw the same soldier being carried back dead, and buried on this site. It was amazing being part of that little moment in history!
We saw that the last line of graves stretched under the road which hadn`t been there during the war and we needed to open it up. It took a quick call to the Mayor who instantly gave us the green light, as we promised to repair it once done. 
The weather had gone from boiling sun to a storm growing and we had a race with the rain. The weather-gods seemed pleased with us because as we rolled out with the last car over the filled in and repaired road, the river of rain broke loose on us. It had been an amazing recovery and we headed towared Radi for dinner and the Legenda 20 Year Birthday party with cake, gifts and a firework only Legenda can display.

One of our new guys travelled from the other side of the world to meet us, Hamish from NZ.

Officers were often buried in coffins.

Sadly the note couldnt be read.

Timelapse video of the soldier in the coffin.

A Div.Nordland ID tag will give back the identity to one of the soldiers.

A skull canteen ring. 

Not often seen,German button made of plastic.

The local kids.

A ring with three lions.

The first Regiment Norge arm shield found.

The second Regiment Norge arm shield.

The ID tag from Ravensbrück.

We repaired the road when we were done.

Happy Birthday, Legenda! 

Legenda cake, it was yummy!

One of the gifts to Talis from the Lithuanian team.

The next morning we were given a generous 30 minutes more to sleep, the party had went on to the early hours for many of the diggers but as soon as breakfast was done we crammed ourselves into the vans and drove towards the Division Nordland cemetery we had started on wednesday. We knew where second line of the graves was so the machine removed the top layers for us before he went on to check for more lines. After a little while of digging it became clear that at least two of the soldiers were most probably Danish. One had several Danish coins on him and a typical scandinavian pattern ring with red amber, and the other had a Danish shooters badge. Both of them might have been fighting in Regiment Danmark. Yesterday`s storm was forgotten and the sun was back hard. Only a slight breeze helped us out a bit, and of course our Digger operator had a secret stash of ice cold water which he shared with us.
The line of graves was filled up with people working and others searched the forests. More parts from the blown up Sherman were picked up, among it a nice American made scope.
When we had made sure there were not any more soldiers buried here, we loaded up the cars and drove to another site from our maps. Oposite an old civillian cemetery there should be a Regiment Danmark field cemetery. The machine opened up ditch after ditch but the cemetery couldn`t be found. While the search went on some of the guys searched the riverbed, while some of Legenda`s more childish elements bombarded them with small rocks and lumps of soil, and shouted fake alligator warnings. They found half German helmet and a rifle buttstock, and a large bomb or katyusha which was left alone.
At Kristine`s resort we got our things ready for tomorrow`s last expedition day and had a great dinner and a nice party.

It was hard under the thundering sun, but small breezes kept us going.

Danish Shooters badge.

Engraved wedding band.

Scope from the Sherman tank.

Bullets. The small one contains explosives.

Searching for the Reg.Danmark cemetery, sadly we couldn`t find it this time.

Half German helmet found in the river.

K98 stock.

Old Russian coin.

Sunday morning we were up early and it felt like the week had passed so fast but yet it felt like it had lasted forever. Still, last day and we had to complete our work. We said goodbye to Kristine and drove towards the WW1 positions outside Riga. The massgrave still held several soldiers. We removed the layer of sand we had covered them with and continued the exhumation. They lay on top of each other and looked like they had been thrown into the shellhole. One of them had a enamel drinking cup and the soldier underneath him had shrapnel balls stuck in his bones. After a few hours carefull work the soldiers were out of the ground and the very last find was an award with a number which might give the identity back to one of the soldiers. 
We had recovered 83 soldiers in total this expedition, and found ID tags on about 1/3 of them and they will all be buried on official War Cemeteries in Latvia and hopefully some families will get to know what happened with their family members.
Time had come to say goodbye as some drove straight to the airport and some of us went to Riga to wait for our flights out and back home and the Latvian and Lithuanian teams had shorter ways home. Over a few beers in Riga the last of us in the International team decided it had been an exellent expedition although prehaps the warmest one in mans memory...

​We made Livestreams every day, I ve collected these and you can see them all in my next post.

Hope to see you again soon my friends:)

Shrapnel ball found on the soldier.

Numbered award.

Collected for the EOD.

We almost forgot Andris.

Riga has some absolutely stunning views.

The Lofoten Islands, almost home..