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DUGUPS Battle of the Bulge - EasyRed1944


EasyRed1944
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1.5 Years ago i bought my first Metal detector after i joined a friend a few times so i got hooked up..

Mostly me and some mates go to the 99th infantry sector in the Eiffel mountains , its located at the Belgian/German border , east of the 1st us inf div. sector.

The 99th inf held good resistance near the border for a couple of days and this is why i find it an attractive area.

Ill try to post as much as possible and keep it updated whenever i go back!

 

Ill start with my first finds when i joined my mate in the Rocherath-Krinkelt woods. Offcourse it's no big deal but it still remains my first ever dugup items hehe.

 

And Please note! All live ammo was reported anonimously to authorities everytime!

 

Rocherat.jpg

 

Then after getting my own Metal detector i went to the Eiffel and started searching ....

 

A fired 81 MM US mortar grenade...all empty and safe!

mortar001.jpg

 

All sorts of US/German stuff from the Wahlerscheid crossroads.

ZoektochtmetSNAFU057.jpg

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU058.jpg

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU059.jpg

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU060.jpg

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU061.jpg

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU062.jpg

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU063.jpg

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Italian wine made for the germans and a Gewehr 43 barrel, pulled both out of a US foxhole ( from a medic! )

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU065.jpg

 

What's that....hmm a US toothbrush waiting to be discovered!

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU047.jpg

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU049.jpg

 

Panzerfaust tube

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU026.jpg

 

Panzerfaust exploded head

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU016.jpg

 

The story of a canteen....

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU021.jpg

ZoektochtmetSNAFU022.jpg

 

Canteen with a WWI mess tin

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU029.jpg

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The story of a private ( sorry i forgot his name , my mate owns the story anyhow ).

 

One year ago my mate found a Mess tin ID'd to a trooper of the 68 or 69th ID , who relieved the 99th inf.

He discovered the name while cleaning and started to search the internet and guess what...he found the still living relatives and he got in contact with them. Offcourse he mailed the mess tin to the USA for the family to have.

 

Little history...the private got fired down by an MG42 nest and he lost life short after :unsure:

 

4 months later we went digging in the area and i sayed : Hey why won't we go check out the foxhole where you dug up the mess tin , he told me it was cleaned out.... But since i have another type of detector i thought it was worth a shot...different depths and frequency...

 

This is the result of cleaning out the foxhole of Private X

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU008.jpg

 

1 or 2 Wool overcoats found nearby the spot of the mess tin. Complete with buttons.

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU005.jpg

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU004.jpg

 

A drinking bottle of him or his foxhole mate.

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU006.jpg

 

Battery packs wich i don't know what theyre used for...

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU003.jpg

 

ZoektochtmetSNAFU007.jpg

 

Sad story but it felt good that we could help the family in some way... all the buttons and stuff like that we mailed to the USA .

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Eiffel003.jpg

 

A german grenade...

 

Eiffel010.jpg

 

Well....time for another toothbrush!

 

Eiffel024.jpg

Eiffel025.jpg

 

It doesn't always have to be digging when you can just pick it up....

 

Mess tin

Eiffel022.jpg

 

German shovel

Eiffel026.jpg

 

German insignia or something like that... marked with OberDonau

 

Eiffel037.jpg

 

The construction of a dragon teeth from the Siegfried line aka Westwall...lots of concrete!!

 

Eiffel030.jpg

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The eiffel in early spring...

 

Weekendjefebruari001.jpg

Weekendjefebruari005.jpg

 

MK2 fraggie...reported!

 

Weekendjefebruari011.jpg

 

Early Garand oiler with still oil in it and guess what....more toothbrushes!

 

Weekendjefebruari012.jpg

 

Weekendjefebruari013.jpg

 

Mess tin...or whats left of it

 

Weekendjefebruari016.jpg

 

Mortar container lid

 

Weekendjefebruari018.jpg

 

Cooking time! German made... ( bullet hole in the side of it )

 

Weekendjefebruari020.jpg

 

Weekendjefebruari021.jpg

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The eiffel in winter time !

 

Eiffelmaart009.jpg

 

Eiffelmaart015.jpg

 

 

Some Garand clips and a frag grenade found in one hole.

 

Eiffelmaart001.jpg

 

Eiffelmaart003.jpg

 

Germand and US mess tin

 

Eiffelmaart016.jpg

 

Dutch toothpaste , probably took by a german during its time in the Netherlands.

 

Eiffelmaart020.jpg

 

Eiffelmaart019.jpg

 

Cover protective , gas mask, US

 

Eiffelmaart021.jpg

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A Footlocker key or other purpose...

 

Eiffelmaart025.jpg

 

E. Merck , Darmstadt, famous german medicine stuff

 

Eiffelmaart027.jpg

 

German NOTEK backlight of a german vehicle

 

Eiffelmaart029.jpg

 

Eiffelmaart031.jpg

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Another trip that started in Bütgenbach and ended in the eiffel.

 

Duty first!

 

EiffelMEI001.jpg

 

EiffelMEI002.jpg

 

EiffelMEI008.jpg

 

EiffelMEI007.jpg

 

Eiffel time... We tried a forest where a mortar section of the 99th inf was situated and here is the result.

 

Collar disc, mortar squad

 

EiffelMEI014.jpg

 

60mm Mortar grenades discoved in a big foxhole...we reported them!

 

EiffelMEI017.jpg

 

EiffelMEI018.jpg

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German Nivea skin creme...beauty first i guess lol .

 

EiffelMEI016.jpg

 

A nice find in a long trench...

 

EiffelMEI033.jpg

 

EiffelMEI032.jpg

 

EiffelMEI034.jpg

 

EiffelMEI037.jpg

 

EiffelMEI041.jpg

 

EiffelMEI045.jpg

 

 

Well, this is it for now...more will follow hopefully! Enjoy.

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Great post! I coud look at these "dug" posts all day long. There must literally be tons and tons of abandoned gear in all those woods, let alone the millions of shell casings, mortar rounds, expended rounds, and other assorted ordnance.

 

Thanks for posting all the pics and the stories!

 

MW

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That's a very interesting report on the 99th and 1st ID sector relics.

Keep 'em coming, I sure like to read this topic and look at the pictures.

 

Erwin

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Great photos!! Thanks for sharing. It has got to be rather daunting digging up grenades and mortar rounds like that.

 

-Ski

Yeah it's not an everyday feeling when you dig such things up...but sadly i can not choose what i dig up so its a part of the game. Handle with care is the best option.

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D-Day ..... 64 years later.....

 

June 6, 2008 1400pm

 

While taking a walk on Utah beach , between La Madeleine and Ravenoville plage we made a discovery....

 

Normandy2008007-1.jpg

 

It looks like a tyre! time to put our attention to it!

 

Normandy2008009-1.jpg

 

Normandy2008015.jpg

 

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We spend 2 hours of digging it out , we only had empty oyster shells to use since we didn't have a shovel with us .

 

A day later we were at the Carentan Airborne festival at the Hyppodrome and we saw a GMC DUKW, as we knew that it couldn't be a wheel of a Dodge vehicle...it totally compared to a DUKW wheel.

 

It's owned by my friend and we didnt totally clean it as we like to keep it ' fresh from utah beach '.

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Johan Willaert
A Footlocker key or other purpose...

 

Eiffelmaart025.jpg

 

If the key is marked H700, it is the standard US Army vehicle key which will fit early Jeeps, doors of Dodge Ambulances, early Harley-Davidson main switches etc....

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If the key is marked H700, it is the standard US Army vehicle key which will fit early Jeeps, doors of Dodge Ambulances, early Harley-Davidson main switches etc....

Hm it is only marked with a little square..no text or numbers. I also checked my other keys and they have other number codes and manufacture companies. No specific H700 code discovered...

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dogfacedsoldier

Hey great finds!! Iam a relic hunter in the U.S., when I have time. It's mostly CW except for the stuff I found at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. That was mostly WWI stuff, some WWII. I'll have to display it one of these days,I sold most of my CW stuff, but I love the things you have shown, especially the toothbrushes. It really adds the touch humananity. I hope you guys find more great stuff. I do have some Napoleonic stuff a friend dug up in Europe somewhere.

 

Jon

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Hey great finds!! Iam a relic hunter in the U.S., when I have time. It's mostly CW except for the stuff I found at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. That was mostly WWI stuff, some WWII. I'll have to display it one of these days,I sold most of my CW stuff, but I love the things you have shown, especially the toothbrushes. It really adds the touch humananity. I hope you guys find more great stuff. I do have some Napoleonic stuff a friend dug up in Europe somewhere.

 

Jon

Hey Jon , time to show it to the people! i'm curious what kind of relics come out of the ground in the USA....

I only found a coin of Napoleon so far considering that era.

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Great stuff mate, looks fantastic. Are you allowed to just go digging wherever, or are alot of the WWII battlefields like, protected areas that you arent allowed to mess with? I want to do some relic hunting when i go over there in a year or two but not sure how to get started hehe. What's a good detector?

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The round sitting on the canteen in the 8th photo you posted looks like a blank 5.56mm (AKA M-16 round). Does anyone agree?

 

Mike

 

I believe it is a .30 cal round for launching the rifle grenade

 

RON

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The round sitting on the canteen in the 8th photo you posted looks like a blank 5.56mm (AKA M-16 round). Does anyone agree?

 

Mike

It is a .30cal for firing a rifle grenade ( M1 Garand ) , like doyler says.

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