b17 crash site, "foxhole alley", and bunker complex udated!
Well it was a busy day of hiking today. A friend and I went into morlautern again to hunt around for a bit. We went into a part of the woods that I haven't really hunted yet. There were FOXHOLES everywhere, so I decided it nickname it foxhole alley.Some bigger ones that looked like they were for motors. There could of been a flak battery on the other side of the hill somewhere. They were all in a line, and there must of been at least 3 or 4 rows of them on this one hillside overlooking the old road. I didn't hunt there too long but I did find some com wire running from one hole at the top to another at the bottom. I also found a piece of an american grenade sitting on top of a foxhole. One other interesting find there was a metal piece that someone said could be part of a breast plate. I don't know if it is or not. All that stuff is in picture one
On the other side of the woods, I dug up that grenade I found a few months ago. My friend knows a german that can diffuse it for me. Its in GREAT SHAPE. The pin it still in it, just the ring is missing. It took FOREVER to find that thing. I had an idea of where I buried it, but ALL FOXHOLES LOOK THE SAME! It was a lot of hiking up and down the hills. I will take a picture of it when I get it back. We also found some long steel rods that were used to anchor down a flak 88. I didn'nt bring them home though since they just look like steel pipes.
On the other side of town, we accidently came across a huge bunker complex, but it is behind a fence in private property. The old cement fence posts are still there, and thats what the german army used during the war. It still have some cammo paint on it, and its all intact! A lot of the bases the americans took over still have these fence posts. I will try and get a picture of that.
We headed toward Kusel where a b17 was shot down by flak. I will have to find the story about it and post the link. From what I know, it was on the way to bomb ludwigshaven but was told to turn back due to a storm. It flew right in front of a famous flak battery (can't recall the name right now), and was shot down full of firebombs. Nobody but 2 ppl have dug the crash site since the war. There is a mound of black dirt where the plane hit. The wings and tail were torn off as it was comming down, and landed on the other side of the hill somewhere. The main body spun in, and crashed in the woods. There was SO MUCH STUFF there, but it was getting dark and couldn't dig that much (we were actually digging in the dark for awhile by using a army flashlight). The detectors were going crazy, so we would just dig up some dirt and sift though it. We found many parts that look to be from the cockpit. Lots of glass from the nose and windows too. There are MANY MANY pices of the plane that are just melted clumps. The bombs burned the plane to the ground pretty much. One piece of the plane still had a handle attached to melted outer skin. We did find one data plate, but half of it kind of rusted away, and the other part is black from the fire. I can still get some serial numbers off it. We did find some 50 cal rounds, some control wire of various sizes, and parts for the instruments.
The kind of scary find I found was part of a burned flight jacket. A few inches from it, I found a watch. The back of the watch has no inscription, but its plated brass, and its a MIDO? make. The piece of jacket, after I got it wet to clean, had something painted on the back of it. All around the edges, its burned I think they couldn't find the waist gunner or another one of the crew, and he could still very well be there where we are looking. I will let you guys know.
Well enjoy the pictures! If you want some better ones let me know HAPPY HUNTING!
Well it was a busy day of hiking today. A friend and I went into morlautern again to hunt around for a bit. We went into a part of the woods that I haven't really hunted yet. There were FOXHOLES everywhere, so I decided it nickname it foxhole alley.Some bigger ones that looked like they were for motors. There could of been a flak battery on the other side of the hill somewhere. They were all in a line, and there must of been at least 3 or 4 rows of them on this one hillside overlooking the old road. I didn't hunt there too long but I did find some com wire running from one hole at the top to another at the bottom. I also found a piece of an american grenade sitting on top of a foxhole. One other interesting find there was a metal piece that someone said could be part of a breast plate. I don't know if it is or not. All that stuff is in picture one
On the other side of the woods, I dug up that grenade I found a few months ago. My friend knows a german that can diffuse it for me. Its in GREAT SHAPE. The pin it still in it, just the ring is missing. It took FOREVER to find that thing. I had an idea of where I buried it, but ALL FOXHOLES LOOK THE SAME! It was a lot of hiking up and down the hills. I will take a picture of it when I get it back. We also found some long steel rods that were used to anchor down a flak 88. I didn'nt bring them home though since they just look like steel pipes.
On the other side of town, we accidently came across a huge bunker complex, but it is behind a fence in private property. The old cement fence posts are still there, and thats what the german army used during the war. It still have some cammo paint on it, and its all intact! A lot of the bases the americans took over still have these fence posts. I will try and get a picture of that.
We headed toward Kusel where a b17 was shot down by flak. I will have to find the story about it and post the link. From what I know, it was on the way to bomb ludwigshaven but was told to turn back due to a storm. It flew right in front of a famous flak battery (can't recall the name right now), and was shot down full of firebombs. Nobody but 2 ppl have dug the crash site since the war. There is a mound of black dirt where the plane hit. The wings and tail were torn off as it was comming down, and landed on the other side of the hill somewhere. The main body spun in, and crashed in the woods. There was SO MUCH STUFF there, but it was getting dark and couldn't dig that much (we were actually digging in the dark for awhile by using a army flashlight). The detectors were going crazy, so we would just dig up some dirt and sift though it. We found many parts that look to be from the cockpit. Lots of glass from the nose and windows too. There are MANY MANY pices of the plane that are just melted clumps. The bombs burned the plane to the ground pretty much. One piece of the plane still had a handle attached to melted outer skin. We did find one data plate, but half of it kind of rusted away, and the other part is black from the fire. I can still get some serial numbers off it. We did find some 50 cal rounds, some control wire of various sizes, and parts for the instruments.
The kind of scary find I found was part of a burned flight jacket. A few inches from it, I found a watch. The back of the watch has no inscription, but its plated brass, and its a MIDO? make. The piece of jacket, after I got it wet to clean, had something painted on the back of it. All around the edges, its burned I think they couldn't find the waist gunner or another one of the crew, and he could still very well be there where we are looking. I will let you guys know.
Well enjoy the pictures! If you want some better ones let me know HAPPY HUNTING!
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