Visited the Falaise pocket

This time it was my turn to visit the Falaise area. I went there the end of May and we had a wonderfull week. Even if there had been no war at all it still is a beautifull area for a vacation in the countryside.

Every few days I will post some new photo's.

My first Then&Now shot is from the crossroad in Necy. A well known photo.
Notice the roadsign, there are only a few of these old metal roadsigns left in this area, but this one has survived everything. And that is funny because the right half of the roadsign was damaged when the air attack took place and was found in the ditch in the seventies.
So now only the left side remains, even today.





I could not resist to take a walk trough the field on the left to see if there were some "relics" left for me. And there were a few.
Some metal parts of cars, rubber pieces off tires and the first round showed up, a beautifull one.



The I also found this "gewehrsprenggranate" ! That is something different.





I must confess that I took it home to my cottage...... but it gave me no good feeling, what to do with it and how to take care of it?
After taking a few photos of this explosive wich looked verry well preserved I have thown it in the nearby river. I kept the kick off finding it.
My question to you guys is:
when you would have found this one, what would you have done with it?
I would like to hear.......

All the other forum visitors off the Moissy ford have posted their view of the river. Here is mine, and I also did not dare to take the ride!

 

Nice photos Gruber - especially of the Necy area which I have yet to visit !

As for the rifle grenade - interesting find. The advice of course is 'not to touch it' but I will have to be honest and say we've all done it at some time or other. As long as you are not stupid enough to play with the fuse or throw it on a fire you should be OK. But putting it in the river is really the best thing to do and you've certainly done right to take good photos which will now 'preserve' this relic for ever.....just don't take it home ; it's really not the kind of thing to have sitting in your study

 

Thanks Martin.

I think falaise is youre favorite area.
Is there a bell ringing in your computer when someting with the word Falaise shows up....

You are fast with your reply!

Now I am sure you are going to visit the crosspoint at Necy after these finds.
The field on the left was the only field I could walk through because of the crops there were growing. (I hope you understand my english).

Later there are coming more "panzergranate"
in my story......

 

great pics there mate , thankyou for showing us your great tine
cheers krieg

 

Great pics! Thanx!

 

Very nice photos Edward and good weather too!

Like Martin, I too have yet to visit Necy, it's on my 'places to visit ' list..

The rifle grenade is a fantastic find and you did the right thing to dispose of it in the river, but, in the back of my mind is a little voice says you should have taken it . However, in the end you did the sensible thing with it.

I look forward to seeing more of your photos.

Here's a photo of one of my rifle grenades from 'the collection'...inert of course!

 

Thanks for showing the pics!
I am longing for my next trip down there. Normally I almost every year visit The Falaise Pocket end May/beginning June, but this year I will go down there in the 2nd half of August. Until then I will with pleasure follow your "publication" of your photos!

Mats

 

John,

Offcourse there is that feeling of "I could have taken it home and take it to an expert" but still accidents happen. And my wife was also relieved when it was gone....

Were did you find your one? Someone "inerted" (don't know the word) for you?
Are these grenades fired but nod exploded, or are they lost or thrown away. What do you think?

Edward

 

Erm...I actually have five grenades in total !!!...

All were bought from militaria fairs and were already deactivated. The black grenade-on the left in the first photo-is the type that has a string in the base, this could be pulled and the grenade thrown rather than fired from a rifle.

 

Mmmm...a nice little collection !

They are fairly easy to find, and not too expensive, at big militaria fairs.

No, no, no - DO NOT take one of these home from the field. They can be very nasty, as also can unexploded 20mm shells. Even me, a complete 'nutter' when it comes to WWII relics, manage to keep myself under control when I find unexploded shells or grenades. Just take a photo to remind yourself of the thrill of finding it - there will be plenty of other ( harmless ) souvenirs to take home.....

 

Ageed, they are fairly cheap, I paid £4 each for the 3 in the right of the first photo, a little more for the black one at £10 and £20 for the rifle tank grenade in the lower photo.

 

Nice photos Gruber!
John, as always, I'm impressed! Thanks!

 

ok, now we are discussing the panzergranate I will come up with the next one.....
I have thrown away in the field some more things wich I could not identify, but this one I must confess made it home. I did not know what it was at that time, now I know it is the Grosse Gewehr-Panzergranate!



John has a beautifull, harmless, example in his collection.
But maybe it is better to make a few photo's and get rid of it also.

The Falaise pocket experts will find a clue in this photo were it was taken. Give it a try!

Imagine that this grenate has been plowed and harvested for 64 years and nothing happened.

Edward

 

Does the path in the left of the photo lead down to the Moissy Ford?...

 

The waste-bin in the background does look like the one in the corner of the field as you come up from the ford.....

 

John and Martin, I allready thought the green waste-bin should give you a clue. It is standing at the little memorial when you come up from the ford. Both one point!

After this Quiz back to the Grosse Gewehr-Panzergranate......

 

Martin, how on earth did we miss this relic when we were there, we both scanned this field during our walk from Chambois to Moissy?...

I guess Edward must have a 'Mk2 eyeball'...

 

It is an Mk3 eyeball......

There came few more nice things off this field and a lot of cartridges and bullets and bullet-cases but I must still make some photo's of them.

What would you have done with this thing?

 

Had I not known what it was, I would have done the same myself and taken it home with me. I tend to keep most things I find-you never know what it is, a good clean can reveal a lot of information about a relic?

I look forward to seeing more photos of your finds.

 

John!

I think that was the thing that Martin left on purpose on the field in order to give ME a chance to find something! And now Grueber has found it. I am crying!

Mats