Another visit in France, northern regions, east, but also to the west, in Normandie (because its the 70th anniversary of DDay). The kids went totally crazy visiting the atlantic wall, crawling in and on the bunkers, the tanks, etc. Annnnnd Metal detector (only where its allowed), farms and barns, and lot of chit chat with the locals allowed us to bring back so very cool items yet again.
In the east, we find some WW1 artefacts. We brought back 2 of those big 18 pdr british shells (those are massive!). 4 imperial german 77mm shell from their famous field gun. 2 french adrian helmets with their blue paint still on, and one other adrian helmet in relic condition. And 4 bugles, one infantry type, 2 cavalry types and one unknown to me (maybe british).
Now to the more interesting findings. In Normandie we were able to gather a few items directly related to D-Day and the battle that followed. What's nice is that I have the point the origin of each item. Amongs the most interesting items, we managed to find 2 german ammo cans for Mgs 34/42 still in their ''juice''. One is a later type 41 model, the first to have a rubber seal (its the one with the tan paint on the left of the picture) its markings are still all there! Its from Sainte-Marie du mont, not far from Utha beach. The other is a more standard MG34/42 ammo box in relic condition. Its still have traces of its original dark green paint and have a white vertical stripe painted on. Its from Sainteny, not far from the beaches. The place was the theater of very heavy combats (the village was taken and retaken several times by the germans and the US troops. I was also able to get a few 20 mm german shells (those lil ones on the pictures) in several areas. More interesting are the bigger shells. The 2 tall ones are from a 45mm russian atg gun. The germans brought back many captured russian guns and installed them on the Atlantic wall. I have a picture of one of those russian ATG on Juno beach, still in its bunker, posted below. The 2 shorter ones are 37mm PAK shell from the same area. Finally, the water flask is also from the same area. Its an italian type water flask, with a german leather strap. it was found by a elder gentleman I met there when he was a kid. Its a very interesting place to visit and the landing beaches are very well preserved. Lots and lots of bunkers along the 120km of the landing beaches, several being ignored from the tourists. I was expecting a nice visit, but i wasnt expecting nice findings since the place has been visited by the tourists for the past 70 years... I was wrong! When you speak the language, know where to look and visit the barns the farms etc, there is still a lot of nice findings to be made! Oh BTW, is there someone who knows what the white stripe on the MG34/42 ammo can mean? Tracers or something like that?
a 45mm ATG russian captured gun on Juno Beach
a crushed bunker lost in the nature
from a bunker on juno
famous house on juno
a big bunker around gold beach
a enormous artillery bunker hidden in the back country
on utha beach
destroyed troop shelter...
In the east, we find some WW1 artefacts. We brought back 2 of those big 18 pdr british shells (those are massive!). 4 imperial german 77mm shell from their famous field gun. 2 french adrian helmets with their blue paint still on, and one other adrian helmet in relic condition. And 4 bugles, one infantry type, 2 cavalry types and one unknown to me (maybe british).
Now to the more interesting findings. In Normandie we were able to gather a few items directly related to D-Day and the battle that followed. What's nice is that I have the point the origin of each item. Amongs the most interesting items, we managed to find 2 german ammo cans for Mgs 34/42 still in their ''juice''. One is a later type 41 model, the first to have a rubber seal (its the one with the tan paint on the left of the picture) its markings are still all there! Its from Sainte-Marie du mont, not far from Utha beach. The other is a more standard MG34/42 ammo box in relic condition. Its still have traces of its original dark green paint and have a white vertical stripe painted on. Its from Sainteny, not far from the beaches. The place was the theater of very heavy combats (the village was taken and retaken several times by the germans and the US troops. I was also able to get a few 20 mm german shells (those lil ones on the pictures) in several areas. More interesting are the bigger shells. The 2 tall ones are from a 45mm russian atg gun. The germans brought back many captured russian guns and installed them on the Atlantic wall. I have a picture of one of those russian ATG on Juno beach, still in its bunker, posted below. The 2 shorter ones are 37mm PAK shell from the same area. Finally, the water flask is also from the same area. Its an italian type water flask, with a german leather strap. it was found by a elder gentleman I met there when he was a kid. Its a very interesting place to visit and the landing beaches are very well preserved. Lots and lots of bunkers along the 120km of the landing beaches, several being ignored from the tourists. I was expecting a nice visit, but i wasnt expecting nice findings since the place has been visited by the tourists for the past 70 years... I was wrong! When you speak the language, know where to look and visit the barns the farms etc, there is still a lot of nice findings to be made! Oh BTW, is there someone who knows what the white stripe on the MG34/42 ammo can mean? Tracers or something like that?
a 45mm ATG russian captured gun on Juno Beach
a crushed bunker lost in the nature
from a bunker on juno
famous house on juno
a big bunker around gold beach
a enormous artillery bunker hidden in the back country
on utha beach
destroyed troop shelter...
