Detecting mines from WW2 in Denmark (lots of pics, eeek bandwith)

[Ahab]

I am new to this forum and have never found a coin, still waiting for my Explorer xs which will be here in 2 days...but:


I was on a mineclearing survey in 2008 in Denmark where i live. We were tasked to asses how many mines were left by the germans from WW2 and what condition they were in.
The area was closed to the public but there had been cows grasing there for a few years, so it was "assumed" that the mines were safe since no cows had died......
The idea was that enough sand had blown over them so that preassure would not set them off.Unless someone was stupid enough to dig them up...
The Danish goverment wanted to be sure.......thats where we came in the picture.
90% of the mines laid there was made of either concrete or wood to save material (a few even glass). Germany was losing the war when they laid them and had no metal to spare.
We were to detect the metal in the detonators which were brass and iron. The casing to the detonators were made of bacalite (old kind of plastic) and therefore undetectable.
we dug more than a 100 mines in 8 weeks, these are a few of the pictures from then:
Me on the left with most of the guys. we are inside one of the cleared areas. They are not wearing too much eyeshadow. thats just me protecting their privacy

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Good pix, good story, good blow-by-blow. Thanks for taking the time to post the hunt

When you get you get your detector more suited to coin hunts, you will probably opt for areas of history where WWI and WWII did not go on, right? Anywhere that battles took place, bombs exploded, etc.... are bound to be littered with shrapnel, cartridges, bullets, etc... But there are lots of Germany that didn't see action during the wars, right? Like old villas, or row-crops where settlements once stood, etc.... Good luck!

 

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[Ahab]

Good pix, good story, good blow-by-blow. Thanks for taking the time to post the hunt

When you get you get your detector more suited to coin hunts, you will probably opt for areas of history where WWI and WWII did not go on, right? Anywhere that battles took place, bombs exploded, etc.... are bound to be littered with shrapnel, cartridges, bullets, etc... But there are lots of Germany that didn't see action during the wars, right? Like old villas, or row-crops where settlements once stood, etc.... Good luck!

thank you for the kind words Tom. (and Rando, you flatter me )
I live in Denmark not Germany. We are Germanys only northern neighbour and as such we get steamrolled everytime they want to have a world war... we are only 5.500.000 people and are 10 times smaller than California. (i looked this size up on an earlier occasion). So even though we do fight them, its over very very quickly.
I am not as scared (just respect) of bombs and mortars since the detonators on those are stable compared to my big fear: Anti aircraft shots. both from the ground and air to air. Many of those have rotation primers as well as time fuses so they "should" explode before they hit the ground. So if i ever find 1 of those there is usually 2 detonators waiting for me to turn the find a llittle or slightly bump either side of it. Imagine it as an eggtimer who for some reason has not said "ping" but is still out of time AND the rotation trigger...scary stuff. if i ever find a piece of ANY ammunition (aside from rifle and gun) i am smart enough to let it lie and call the authorities.
But i have yet to hear of anyone getting damaged with their finds so its probably more likely to get struck by lightning.

 

[olegoat]

great post, but i think i will just keep myself on this side of that place
hope you get them all without any damage to you or you buddies

 

[shepcal]

A bit more dangerous than I'd care to do, but glad there are those who do, do it. Appreciate the pics and info. Nice putting a face on a name. The only possible 'more dangerous' situation, would be finding a beautiful diamond necklace, as your first target (we all want to keep our first good find for show and tell) and the fiance says she wants it.
Shep

 

[birdman]

I dug a few UXOs in Germany ,always spooky. You will make some awesome discovery's in the future. Can't wait to see more from you. Love the pictures and thanks for the great post.

 

[BIG61AL]

I applaud your task of removing these dangerous objects. Every time there is one less mindless death machine removed from the world it becomes incrementally a better world.

 

[Ahab]

Thanks for the nice replies Shep mate (birdman and Bigal too) Next pic is just foil trash but if you look carefully you can see the holes poked by the alu-rod to probe for objects. closely spaced so as not to miss anything.
Last pic: yes we get those too, even in a minefield! so someone must have ignored the warning signs.

 

[Ahab]

great post, but i think i will just keep myself on this side of that place
hope you get them all without any damage to you or you buddies

The only one who got hurt were my best friend thru 20 years....the medic one of the container doors slammed shut in the wind and caught his hand. Nothing broken but he still has the scar.
pic is arial photo of the 2 mobile containers where we ate our lunch and the med-evac vehicle.

 

[Ahab]

these are not my pics, but show the concrete stock mine and the charge to it. The mine on the left is not related.
The pin sticking out of the stockmine is the detonator and would be tied to a tripwire sometimes in more than one direction. Luckily there is 0% chance that the tripwire could survive for 60 years without rusting thru.

 

[EpsilonMinus]

Wow, amazing post! Thanks for sharing this!

 

[sniffer]

I learned how to dig mines when I was in the Army. It is not for the faint hearted.
like Ahab said, everytime you touch something that makes a tick with the probe, you stop, swallow,
and squeeze the pucker muscle and pray for about 2 seconds, then you start over.
even after probing for mines all day, the feeling of impending doom does not change.
thanks for the pics Ahab.
be safe out there and keep us informed

Sniffer

 

[Up to my ____ in Pulltabs]

Ahab, Thanks for sharing your photos. I really enjoyed this post.
I believe this is the most interesting post I've seen in quite a long time.
If you have more stories and pics, please share them, we all love this stuff.

Thank you,

 

[Ahab]

Thanks for the kind words Epsilon, Sniffer and Pulltab.
Sniffer, i love that description! its spot on

 

[An Ri Rua]

Fascinating post! Thank you, really enjoyed it. As nervewracking as any thriller though

What kind of detector is used? have you ever used the old British MOD standard http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes...EBEX-420-range-of-mine-detectors-Germany.html. I see a few for sale on eBay now as they have moved over to a new system for Afghanistan. http://www.defencetalk.com/new-kit-helps-british-troops-take-out-enemy-mines-15296/
I happened to come across a guy in Ireland (Dublin) selling 2x Ebex 420PB. http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/others/1091010

Just wondering, if I saw one for small change guys, on eBay is it worth picking up a Pulse Induction unit? I currently use a Garrett GTI 1500 for mixed use.

 

[grafter]

thank you that was great stuff

 

[Ahab]

Thank you for the nice replies An Ri and Grafter.
we used these detectors called Ceia
linky: http://www.ceia.net/groundsearch/detail.aspx?a=1
i dont think you will se these on feebay, but you never know
I never worked with the british models you mentioned.