WW1 / WW2 Metal detecting, and getting some scrap

Hey guys !
one of my hobbies is metal detecting on the old battlefields of WW1, WW2 and 1870/71 (Napoleon).
I am finding some interesting things and a lot of bras and lead.

Here are some pictures, if somone is interested, I will post more of them.
I've found rifles, helmets, gold coins etc.

A US. WW1 Knife and a german 1870 bayonet


105mm scrap your army left here in the ardennes 1944


76mm sherman shells? left here before entering germany


lead bullets for scrap, 1840-1871


cal.50 shells, they were falling from the bombers


french helmet, WW1




a nice german silver cigarett etui, found in an american WW2 foxhole


hope you like it !

Originally Posted by Mick

Do you mean "brass"?

Yes, brass sorry. But I also like bras

Fascinating. Do you scrap the brass or is there a market for the shells as they are?

More photos, please!!

Jon.

Originally Posted by sawmilleng

Fascinating. Do you scrap the brass or is there a market for the shells as they are?

More photos, please!!

Jon.

Thank you ! I am scrapping most of them, there is a market but i have to clean them and that would cost me time and cleaner. So i usually just throw them in the brass bucket.
The US Army left so much of them in our woods, that it would be to much to sell them one by one.
German shells are more expencive but they are harder to find.

Garand bayonet, thompson and bar magazines


german WW1 G88 rifle


cal.30 browning belt ( i don't take bullets out of the woods )

That's one thing you can't find here . You could find some relics in Alaska though. Can't spell the island chain that Japanese were on though.

Funny....I can see the thumbnails but I can't get the larger pictures to load.

Jon.

Thanks Corey,

I tried looking at the photos in Chrome...bingo, no problem!! I have been running plain old Google and this isn't the first time I've been shut out of something because of that. Should have known.

Ro,

Wonder why you can find tons of Allied brass but not much German brass? I would expect the brass suggests that there was a battle here...should be lots of it from both sides. Unless, of course, there is a corresponding site a few thousand yards away where the targets of the artillery shells were....where you might find the German brass piled up.

Both my mom and dad were in the war in Canada. Dad was crippled with a back problem but managed to get in the military by conspiring with a few friends to get the local doctor in the small town drunk so he would sign the papers anyway. He spent his time in Ottawa as a desk jockey and was immensely proud that he was able to help his country even though he was not considered fit to go to battle. He met my mom in Ottawa. She was a small town girl who hit the city lights and was working in a big war manufacturing plant there making "something". She never did know what she was working on, and didn't care. She loved the nightlife and the partying/playing...skiing, skating, swimming, hiking. As best dad was able to tell, she was part of a plant making Bofors cannons (20 mm machine guns?) for aircraft.

But I've met lots of vets who wouldn't say a word about the war.

Jon.

Fantastic stuff!!! I love combining metal detecting and scrapping! Those are some great finds.

Originally Posted by jord0690

I wish we had this kinda stuff up here!!! All I find is clad (modern coins) and Junk!! Theres a forum for metal detecting that im a member of, its REALLY cool some of the stuff people find.

Edit: if I ever go over to europe im bringing my metal detector.

hey jord
if you ever come to europe, you can mail me and I can show you some spots where you can find things like that

Originally Posted by corycouch

I've been to Shiloh and absolutely no removal of anything. I touched on me being a geek of sorts the other day. All the battlefields here were probably a few hundred acres at best, over there basically the whole continent was at war at some point. My tv rarely leaves the military channel or h2. I also watch band of brothers a couple times a year. I went to the World War II museum in New Orleans a couple years ago and didn't want to leave. My grandpa was a medic and wouldn't talk about it, it's kinda glorified now on tv but it must have been hell on earth back then.

I know some veterans who fought for the Wehrmacht and won't either talk about it, I think those are some memories you would not think about... :/
The problem is, on Discovery or other programs, every german is a criminal, but there were 16 y.o boys who were forced to enter war and didn't even thought about jews or what ever...

Originally Posted by corycouch

I was wondering why you don't take the bullets, to me the belt above would be as cool as anything to set on the shelf or even on the coffee table. Is it illegal or is there another reason or just none of my business?

The reason is, that it is illegal here to do metal detecting, and if they catch you with ammo in your pockets........ you will have some serious problems...

Originally Posted by sawmilleng

Thanks Corey,

I tried looking at the photos in Chrome...bingo, no problem!! I have been running plain old Google and this isn't the first time I've been shut out of something because of that. Should have known.

Ro,

Wonder why you can find tons of Allied brass but not much German brass? I would expect the brass suggests that there was a battle here...should be lots of it from both sides. Unless, of course, there is a corresponding site a few thousand yards away where the targets of the artillery shells were....where you might find the German brass piled up.

Both my mom and dad were in the war in Canada. Dad was crippled with a back problem but managed to get in the military by conspiring with a few friends to get the local doctor in the small town drunk so he would sign the papers anyway. He spent his time in Ottawa as a desk jockey and was immensely proud that he was able to help his country even though he was not considered fit to go to battle. He met my mom in Ottawa. She was a small town girl who hit the city lights and was working in a big war manufacturing plant there making "something". She never did know what she was working on, and didn't care. She loved the nightlife and the partying/playing...skiing, skating, swimming, hiking. As best dad was able to tell, she was part of a plant making Bofors cannons (20 mm machine guns?) for aircraft.

But I've met lots of vets who wouldn't say a word about the war.

Jon.

Hey Jon,
at the end of 1944, the germans had only left little ressources, so they reused whatever they could and didn't waste ammuniton.
The US destroyed about 50% of the country, not the germans, they bombed every city befor they entered, they left huge ammuniton depots after they left,
and every camp I visit, I find a lot of equipement left. The german trenches were clean, you find some shells, some little things, but not very much, because they hadn't much in their pockets.