This is a blog from a FB group I'm involved in, and details some of the finds the author has recovered from the sites of PoW camps in the UK. I don't think it's an advert for metal detecting. "During WW2, the UK became packed with Allied soldiers from all over the world, using our island as a staging post to attack mainland Europe. This is why the country is still full of WW2 relics, due to the sheer volume of men and material living and training across the land. However, it wasn’t just Allied soldiers. Axis soldiers were here as well, fenced in on POW camps situated up and down the country. These old POW camps have largely vanished, but searching the old sites can bring up some amazing relics. One of the episodes of WW2 Treasure Hunters explores such a site. The pictures below show some of the relics that you can recover from these old POW camps. All of the items shown below came from ONE camp, (not the one covered in the WW2 Treasure Hunters episode), and just show that you can find some amazing German relics right here in the UK." WW2 German finds from the UK
Gordon, thanks for posting this. Interesting topic. Some 10 miles from where I grew up was a Confederate POW Camp but never marked. Confederate POW camps were terribly run , as were some in the Union, so they may have deliberately been obscured. I looked for over a decade before giving up.. Glad these were discovered. Gaines
Interesting stuff Gordon. If you know where to look there is a lot to be found in Britain, from both sides.
Thanks for sharing Gordon. There are a number of sites close to where I live that were used as POW camps during WW2. One particular site is very close to my home and I've walked the area but never searched it with a metal detector. I think it could be time to have a word with the land owner to gain his permission to dig up his field.
John, I use to use a metal detector on civil War sites in the States in the 80's. I always asked permission and told the owners I would put the land back as I found it and was careful to do so. It always worked back then. Latter lots of people assumed it was okay to dig and run resulting in land being off limits. I cannot imagine POW camps generating large numbers so give it a try. Politeness and being careful goes a long way. . You should give it a try. Gaines
Famous POW camp in Australia...Cowra. Place of the biggest breakout of the war... Some brave fellas in there... Japanese gardens in Cowra... <iframe width="640" height="360" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Note the machine gunners quick thinking and rendering the machine gun useless...a different story would have been told if the Japanese managed to get hold of a working machine gun!
Gaines, the thoughtless individuals who don't leave detecting spots as they found them is one of my pet hates. I'm always careful to refill dig holes after I've finished and try make it look as if I've never been there. The Hürtgen forest in Germany is one place that comes to mind where you will find countless open holes dug by inconsiderate detectorists.
