EspenlaubMilitaria

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Memories ...

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Memories ...

    Sometimes a thread really jogs the memory, the Arisaka thread just did it. That picture of the bayonet sent me back 30 years. I used to spend the summers at my grandmothers in the north of Finland and the stuff we kids used to find when rummaging through derelict houses and barns was quite amazing actually. I still have 2 Finnish issue Arisaka bayonets (somewhere) that we found in an attic but I haven't thought about them for years and years. One of my uncles has a Moisin-Nagant that we found in a barn and another Moisin-Nagant .22 trainer found under a wrecked truck, both in good shape. There were plenty helmets, Russian, German ... all kinds ranging from rusted to crap to close to mint. Once we found something that must have been a carbine as the size was just perfect for a kid. It was badly corroded and the woodwork was rotten, dry and white. I have no idea what kind it was really, but my memory suggests a Carcano, I'll never know as we threw it away as junk. My uncles had collected a sizeable collection of their own during the years just after the war and some of it remained. It was mostly German equipment, mess tins, water bottles, shovels and ammo pouches. Many Germans deserted over the Tornio river to the Swedish side when they withdrew during the Lapland war and just before crossing the river they just threw every piece of equipment they had in the water or on the shore. Bolts were separated from rifles and thrown out far in the river and the rifles were left on the shore or in the shallow. My uncles picked up quite a few boltless K98's from the shallow water well into the 50's. I remember one of those K98's as it hang on a wall in the stable. I bet that you can still find some deeply buried in the silt.

    I need to go see my uncles and see what's left of the "booty".

Users Viewing this Thread

Collapse

There is currently 1 user online. 0 members and 1 guests.

Most users ever online was 10,032 at 08:13 PM on 09-28-2024.

Working...
X