My WW2 collection

[CLENTER]

GREAT DISPLAY K-J!

[klaus]

Very nice stuff!! But what i find strange is that you can buy the famous cabinet Detolf in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><ST1sweden</ST1</st1:country-region> to <O</O
The 16<SUP>th</SUP> century helmet is really an eye catcher…<O</O

[axion9]

thanks guys!

I am glad you like the pics!
Pics on the lw dagger will be there soon werner. It is not the nicest one, scabbard is really damaged. You will see.
2 more helmets will join my collection next week... SD heer and a police/ss helmet.. Can´t wait!!
From 29th of september I will spend a week in latvia digging in the kurland forests. Maybe something nice comes up? This is my 3rd visit there and I love it. Will have a big story with ALOT of pics when I get back. For the ones that want to see what we found there earlier I will show some pics on this thread aswell.

[axion9]

lw-dagger

as you can see leather is damaged on scabbard.
otherwise a really nice dagger.
I think that LW 1st dagger is the most beautiful one there is.. just my opinion

[axion9]

handle

1

[axion9]

morion

this one I love. it is a killer!

[axion9]

Anyone got a spare liner? I am one short...

[axion9]

digging in kurland lifting soldiers

Two years ago i got in contact with a group living in riga.
Every weekend and vacation they dig in the forests of kurland.
They are well known in russia and latvia, been on the news and papers several times.
For example they have lifted 2 russian tanks out from bogs. Also they found and lifted a soviet plane from the bogs. This was some years ago and I was not taking part of that.. unfortunately.
The main reason these guys dig is finding soldiers MIA..
They are no blackdiggers or so. They are working together with the local organisations. All soldiers they find lying in bunkers/trenches/grenad holes are lifted and handed over to russian or german organisations. All found soldiers are put in bags and once a year in the spring there is a big cermony were all the soldiers are buried at a big war cematary. The russian ambassy is there, old vets from the soviet army is there, alot of journalist and so on. During these years they have lifted several hundred soldiers many of them identified. Sometimes they manage to get in contact with relatives and in some occations even the widow is still alive. This was the case with the pilot that was inside the plane. His body was so well preserved that even the flesh was there, all his id-papers with photos and a medal of honor.
Unfortunately I do not have pics of this, I only got it on film.
So for me I have been there 3 times now, my fourth round in september.
Last year I was there during spring and fall, found nothing that interesting:
Russian helmets, alot of ammo mostly ppsh, alot of handgrenades, mines, mortars, big grenades and so on.
When I was there in april this year we had a really good expedition. Last day we found 20 russian soldiers of whom I found 4 in a bunker. 2 of these 20 soldiers could be identified, one with a medal with number and one with a cigarett etui were he had written down his name, town of birth, when he joined the army, division.
I was really thrilled and happy, this was what I camed for. Helping this group finding fallen soldiers. It was really strange lifting bones from another man but afterward I had a really good feeling. Instead of just lying around in the woods these soldiers finally can rest in pease at a proper cematary. Also relatives to the identified soldiers can be searched and hopefully contacted. Finally they have a chance to stop wondering what happend to their loved ones.
The oldest one in the group "Einar" told me that last night that he was really proud of me and glad that I was there helping them with this hard work.
The 4 soldiers that I found was discovered with my metaldetector, beping from the helmet. When I lifted that first helmet at about 1 meter of depth and saw the skull underneath my pulse was on max rate... that is for sure.
Next spring when these soldiers will be buried I will be there. I will also recive a medal from the russian ambassy, this is for thanking me lifting their lost friends. The 3 helmets I have in my collectoin were not lying with any soldiers, just so you know. Medals that are found are buried with the soldiers.
Here are some pics from last expedition.

[axion9]

me with some findings..

2 of these mines can you see in my collection. the schreck-rocket I could not take with me..

[axion9]

a luger pistol found by one in the group

a

[axion9]

the 4 russian soldiers I found in a bunker.

a

[axion9]

alot of walking to get to the frontlines

a

[axion9]

german bunker we dug out - finding nothing...

me resting... My back was not enjoyed by this trip.. that is for sure..

[axion9]

panzerfaust and a german helmet

I think we found 15-20 of these empty fausts...
The latvians did not want them and I already had to much to carry so we left them...

[axion9]

interesting dogtag one of the guys found

LW soldier in the middle of kurland-forest?