Together with three friends i'm searching an area near the former airfield of Soesterberg. Here the German troops concentrated themselfs in May 1945 before they surrendered to the allied troops. In this area we found several dump pits used by the Germans to get rid of some of their equipment. We are still not done in this area so hopefully more will follow. These finds are from all of us, so not just me who found it.
The Verdienst mit Schwerten is in good condition , I also like the Zeiler lamp. I didn't know this brand (I have an Artix and a Pertrix at home. ) Also I'm surprise dthe leather relics are in such good condition. Do you think you can save the boots? Could it be possible these all belonged to one same man? It looks like gear from one soldier only not a group.
Hello Skipper, the shoes, iron flashlight, the KvK, US messtin cover and gloves came out of one hole. (So could have belonged to one person). The rest where spread out over a larger area and several other pits.
Interesting find, do you have any ideas as to why they would have buried the items? One reason I can think of is upon surrender you would lose your possessions either through official order or simply because a guard wanted a souvenir to take home (In the book Band of Brothers, one of the soldiers describes seeing a US guard taking a Luger from a German POW at gun point for instance). You should look into ways of getting that stuff preserved, it's possible the elements might have a weird effect on the stuff. What are you going to do with the stuff you find?
We preserve all items we find and keep them in our collection, these will never be sold! One day, we hope we will be able to show them to the public and tell about the history of the airfield "Soesterberg" region, during the period '39-'45.
Excellent finds I must say. I think I might have also spotted a Wound Badge or two in the first or second photo?
Where do you spot them, i've missed those so, i have to get back there!! No, no woundbadges where found, otherwise i woulde have included them here in this topic.
I was just thinking, if they were ditching stuff whilst retreating, it could be a distinct possibility, though it seems more likely that the Japanese would have done that instead, I suppose.
Great stuff Ed! Looking forward to seeing more! The whole lot is amazing. The coveralls/pants are incredible condition!
