Relics from Moissy ford

Sorry to butt in here....that is a spark-plug made by Bosch. They were certainly still using the green-stripe marking until the 1990s.....

 

thanks Martin, I just googled them, spot on with Bosch

 

Martin, judging by the amount of relics he found, it looks like Andy had a busy day down at Moissy. Hope he left some for us.

Andy, my son found the base of an 88mm shell in a field close to the ford, a few years ago, when I met up with Martin there.

The eyelets and button above the spark plug are possibly from a Zeltbahn or rucksack.

The button in the same photo is a nice find, are there any markings on the reverse side?

 

Yes - although we'd all like to find an MP40 or a Panther roadwheel it is fascinating to find and then spend time trying to identify the many tiny items to be found in the Falaise Gap.....

 

ya its a nice find, on reverse A & S

also on the flare cartridge is SK over N

the three letters are enclosed inside an upside-down triangle

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Martin, something makes me think that perhaps in the past you have found a Panther roadwheel

 

As we've said before, sometimes you have to wait awhile before being able to identify battlefield relics....

Forum 'regulars' may remember my finding a load of relics alongside the 'Corridor Of Death' in April 2008 ; -




Among them was this heavily-rusted object, which always looked to me like part of some kind of track-link, albeit rather small....





I'd just thrown it in the bag with the rest and almost forgot about it. But yesterday, touring the stalls at Beltring, I spotted a box of similar items. When I asked the stallholder what they were, he ( and the friend I was with ) immediately replied : -

' Kettenkrad ! Backing plates for the rubber treads....'

So there you are. Maybe a Kettenkrad made it over the River Dives and a third of the way to Vimoutiers, before being shot-up or maybe just running out of petrol.........who knows ?

But it's another 'bit' identified.

 

good identification Martin, I would never have thought about that one and a hell of relic it is!

Andy I believe you have a U.S razor + razor handle on post 77

 

Well, not quite Moissy Ford, but pretty close.....

Way back in February 1997 on my first visit to the Falaise Gap, I braked to a sudden stop on the 'corridor' just uphill from the Mont Ormel Cafe. I'd spotted a pile of 'rust' by the road where a ditch had recently been cleaned out. I recogniszed a huge Panzer jack ( I couldn't even lift it, let alone get it in the car). So I picked up another heavy but unrecogniable bar of metal and mud and took it home. It had obviously been at the bottom of the ditch since 1944.

I tried scrubbing it but it was heavily encrusted - so I sprayed it with oil and wrapped it in an old rag. I left it in a garage at my Mothers' house and forgot all about it. Back at Falaise a few weeks' ago, I suddenly remembered it....back in the UK I went back to my Mum's house and the object was stil lthere. But when I unwrapped it, all the old rust and soil had crumbled away.

I cleaned it up and showed it to a friend who's pretty good at ID'ing relics - 'Bolt from a 2cm Flak !' he exclaimed.







And he's dead right. An ID worth waiting for.................

 

Quite nice indeed. It's always thrilling to pick up relics and identify them