Pit of the SS dugout! (Competitive story of a digger, war cop)

That day (August 15), the day, by the way, of the archaeologist, the three of us went to the field in the hope of finding a dugout, since there is a smell there and it is impossible to find it by eye, but this is August and the fields, in some places , are still very hard, and therefore, in order to stick the probe a meter, you need to try hard and wipe your palms thoroughly… But I didn’t want to give up, the others didn’t mind… The first 2 holes showed that we were looking in the wrong place…

Having made an adjustment according to the dug-out dugout, we went to the expected point of the pancake, which, as usual, did not stand out in any way; the probe completely flew into thin air!
Now it has become absolutely clear that we couldn’t make a mistake a third time, we’ve already got our hands full… Before the big work we had lunch and got down to business and made a test pit 1 by 1 meter.
But after 60 cm of solid «concrete» gone are the remains of the logs, which are so pleasing to the eye and hands…
And then there was soft soil, as it should be in places where there was something previously.
Already on the meter, shiny cartridges appeared – you just need to wipe them and everything shines – a fairy tale!

But when there were more than a hundred of them, it was no longer so joyful, because a shovel doesn’t really get through them, but among them it can be anything too!

As a result, when we reached the floor of the dugout, we realized that we had snipered the entrance and pulled out a heavy rectangular post,
with a door hinge nailed to it, and also realized that in front of us, directly to the right of the entrance, stood, crushed by the collapsed roll,
a large box of Mauser cartridges, all in packs with stickers and inscriptions.

On the first day, since we started excavations only at about 2 pm, we only managed to lift the box with cartridges and find behind it a piece of the Y-belt (unloading), which was impossible to get due to the fact that it was crushed again by coasting .
It was necessary to expand from above.
And we went to wash and rest, having decided to go the next day.

The next morning, feeling wildly tired, overpowering ourselves, we got up and drove off.
There were already four of us – without help it would have been very difficult, given such a scale (more on them a little later).
They immediately began removing a layer of 1.5 by 2 meters, soberly assessing their capabilities.
View of the entrance – after 70 years!

At one wall there were preserved bunks, well made, under which there is almost always something to look for!
Stretched to the bunk was a sword belt that had been found earlier. They dug in carefully so as not to lose anything, because the threads with which it is sewn are not preserved!
And a meter later, under the bunk of another, a gas tank appeared! Judging by the sound, the contents are closed!
Nearby were the remains of a sweater in beautiful blue and dense clay.

I, on the other hand, had the remains of a table or bench, since there are not enough boards for a table…
But I decided to clean the floor in the center first, to make it easier to dig around the legs and look for fallen things under them, however, in the center I came across skin again!
Second sword belt!
Yes… Such dugouts come across very rarely!

Work began to extract it from blue clay, but only one of its the end was crushed by the rolling log.

After lifting him, I pulled out a whole sword belt, the first one had also been taken out by that time, also a whole one, which will live a second life after restoration!
The problem with lifting sword belts is that all the threads rot, and there are a lot of small parts, and in order not to miss them, you need to remove the item very carefully!
Then they took out a gas mask tank from under the bunk, the lid of which was slightly rotten due to the fact that there was contact between wood and metal, and opened it.
Inside were two tins with pieces of paper, and next to them a token wallet with a string!

Everyone froze in anticipation!
But, alas, the token was taken from there…

The gas mask itself was also present, but it also did not add any joy – the condition was above average, but not excellent. In paint, yes, but for some reason it wasn’t interesting to us…
Next, near the wall, on the bunk, came out an excellent knife with the mark ROSTFREI with a wooden handle – it will also live a second life, cutting Bavarian sausages!
At the entrance, the 4th member of the expedition continued to explore the surroundings of the stove, which so far only reminded of itself by the presence of bricks scattered near the entrance.
A beautiful yellow spoon came out, leather dugout slippers, with fur inside, size 45-46 (he was a tough occupant).

We started lifting the floor boards – it turned out that there was a double floor!
Often, second floors were laid by new owners after the previous ones left, if there was a lot of water…
Of course, in such cases you cannot do without losses under the floor.

And we began to search with our fingers in the viscous clay under the floor, on the layer of the other floor, for lost little things.
I immediately found some kind of wooden tube or chemical pencil, someone had a mouthpiece, then a training cartridge from a K98 Mauser in perfect condition, in another corner a blank cartridge with a wooden bullet for a Mauser mortar, and then they pulled out another wallet!

Well, for the second time, it would be very sad if it were empty.
Yeah… He had a badge and a cat!

Yes, yes, a carved small cat, and it was made very high quality and painted, like from the factory some.
It was probably someone’s talisman, given by one of the soldier’s relatives…

The backlash badge was a little let down, I managed to read it – FL.A.BATL 16 (airfield division, training).
Not SS, unfortunately…

We clean, wash the floors…

After clearing the floor in the excavated square, excavations began in the direction of the wall opposite the bunk.< br /> She turned out to be further than we thought, namely a meter from the excavation wall…
it was decided to dig, since there was already a dump on top, and there was no strength to move it…

You might have thought that was all, but it was only HALF of the dugout…< br /> At this point we once again stopped and went to rest, planning next time to take the rest of the dugout, because, as you know, all the “delicious” things lie on the far wall…

The second, far half of the dugout remained, and we began to complete its excavation for the next weekend. To blue clay meter 1.5…

At the far wall, as well as at the right of the entrance, there were bunks.
But there was a passage between the bunks…
Under the shovel «grinding».
I’m digging, I’m digging – bam! Some kind of headband…
“Probably a bucket,” I thought.
Having cleared and seen the roller, everyone realized that the comrade had a dream about helmets and other rubbish for a reason….

Oh yes..!

The heart beat faster, the fatigue disappeared as if by hand!
We decided to have a snack, Oleg refused, deciding to dig further, he couldn’t get anything going yet…

While I was cleaning my helmet, my friend was also delighted – he had a second helmet!

It was clear that it was not the backlashes who forgot them, from the airfield division…

Meanwhile, I was cleaning my helmet..

We’ll have a good helmet, with a strap inside.

After half an hour of careful digging, we got it out…
The helmet was cracked and split…

Looks like it was crushed by the coasting.

Everyone immediately started looking for decals…
But the layer of “cement” did not allow this to be done.

Next in line was the second helmet, but there too, due to adhering clay and water, the decals could not be seen…
Let me jump ahead right away – we still saw the remains of the house decals, as expected – SS runes.

And the dream was so close…
Well, let’s continue…

Then we went to remove the second floors, and luck smiled again. The second wallet has appeared!
Comrad gave advice – try to bend it slightly.
I bent it, but damn it, it won’t bend!

And then I opened it, and it says – Stab FLAK regt 52.

There was apparently a soldier (or maybe an officer) from the artillery headquarters.

Pearls and all sorts of small things: broken knives, chess pawns in paint, blank cartridges (with a wooden bullet) for a mortar, a porcelain lid from a tureen, a guard boot, an MG-34 bolt…

Guard boots were worn directly on boots.
The size is huge and they are heavy as hell…

We came across such a barracks, we dreamed of finding SS – we found it.
To visit the past, to touch with your own hands objects left 70 years ago is priceless…

Full photo gallery:

Sent by Gleb R.

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