Little known legend - Closed Army Base Camp Croft S.C. - And buried gold, Nazi loot

ARC

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I stayed awile in Spartanburg South Carolina in a nieghborhood that once was Camp Croft.
I helped in ordinance removal (Anti -Tank rockets, grenades, live and spent ammo etc etc.)
I helped several people locate and remove live crap that was buried in what was now the front and back yards after a pile of hand grenedes were found piled at the base of a tree... anyway... I had to do alot of homework on this place and I was talking with a guy that was not on the base but had a buddy that was and sent me off to a tobacco / pipe shop where the old guys "hang out"... I needed info on locations of the BIG STUFF.. tanks etc that were supposably buried in swimming pools.
So.. I walk in and I ask for the guy and they all point at him... and he says "Oh no not another one looking for that damn Nazi gold and crap"... And immediatley I said "what" no I am here for the ordinance locations for removal... BUT since you mentioned my favorite word... what gold???
SO.... here goes... he procedes to tell me of one of the most intricate massive underground bunker system at its time... UNDER where I have been walking for days...
NOW... this story rocks me... but not like the one what he begins to tell me after he warms up to me...
He continues on with " I helped shut that camp down... they made me throw all that new stuff away"... "war effort".
He then begins to tell me how all the confiscated stuff the G'I's were briging back and that its all in a well....
THEN he says he saw a boxcar FULL of artworks... THEN bags of stones... and finally about the gold bricks that were shipped there and stored in the bunkers... from what I understand this bunker system could be driven into.
When the war ended they immediatly bulldozed in bunker entrances and closed the base... pushing tanks with bulldozers in to the pool (olympic sized)... filled wells with unopened greased boxes of guns and everything from brand new walkie talkies etc etc... this guy went on and on...
then he tells me that the guy who had the locations wanted to give them to someone before he died... but he did not know if he had the chance or not... guess he was some high ranking guy.
So... here I was ... my mouth open... looking at this guy who looked 102 telling me that he personally with his own hands drove one of the dozers... and directed.
When I asked him why they did this his only reply was... "war effort".... I of course said what the hell is that... he said... the millitary re-used nothing... standard procedure... if they need it.. they will pay... keeps the workers working that supply the millitary.
He said.. remember son...we had just emerged from a depression... and the millitary has never been recyclers.. they buy new.
Oh and this is the last and wierd part... when I asked again about the gold and what happened to it... it replied... "not just gold but diamonds as well... all Nazi stolen and looted and I know for a fact it is still there."... I immediatley said "still there"... he said "yes and thats where they want it to stay... thats why the millitary gave the lands were those lands to the state so no one can dig for them".
I wanted to share this so to all you diggers in the foothills who know exactly where Spartanburg is can maybe "hook up" with some knowledge based info from some residents that own over 100 homes directly on top of the main part of base...(the barrack areas)...
Believe it or not... most houses in development have concrete stairs in the middle of their yards leading to nothing... these were the old building steps.
Check it out... requires some digging... before posting this I did a quick search and found this...

Were you told there were (pick one or more): ammunition, M1 rifles, canons, tanks, motorcycles in crates, chemical weapons, works of art, gold coins, buried German PWs, V-2 rockets, or B-17s? I have heard most all of them and all I want someone to find is a bunch of paperwork (see FAQ #1). There is undoubtedly unexploded ordnance which infrequently turns up. Most is found on the firing ranges but sometimes an entire crate or a small stash of mortar rounds, 30.06 ammo, or other items is uncovered. More than one veteran has told me it was very difficult to turn in ammo, so if you didn't expend it during the training session, you dug a hole and buried it or otherwise got rid of it. That certainly accounts for some of the larger finds. There are only two "underground bunkers" I know of. One was a "gun shed" in the 28th ITB area which was used to store 37mm and 57mm antitank weapons. It is still around, but the current owners have no idea if it is empty or not. The entrance was sealed and it appears to have partially caved-in. The other, more commonly talked about "bunkers", were actually metal ammunition igloos that were covered over with earth as a means of fire protection and (probably) aerial concealment. I am sure these were empty when they were turned over to the state park system in 1949, and they remain so today, except as storage for the park and the UXO cleanup contractors. As far as other items, there are many who say they have either seen or were part of efforts to dispose of or store military equipment at various points within the boundaries of the camp. I have yet to see real evidence of anything to date
 

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ARC

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Doc-d thanks... twas many years ago... I used my Whites TM 808 for weeks.. till my arm was gonna fall off.. I would switch from minelab (not my excal... and do not own either anymore thanks to e-bay) and the whites when shoulder felt like it was coming outta my socket.... all I ever found were about 20+ anti tank rockets that were live duds that hit dirt/ground and did not explode on massive training area.. but still had explosive charge in cone.... tons of ammo... both spent and live... etc.
The only thing I ever saw to back up the old dudes story was a caved in vertical pipe about 15 inches in diameter with concrete casing... there was also smashed top looking piece in it.... I assumed that was possibly an air vent for underground.... The whole time I wanted to find an "escape tunnel" type opening or something that led down... but I did not venture into the "off limits" areas which as I gathered was the area "above" bunker system.
 

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I would love to see one day on the news... "Bunker filled with riches found in old ladies back yard... find is split with man with metal detector".... heh
You good ole South Kaka Laki boys do some home work... ya hear !!!
South Carolina wayyyyy tooooo cooooold for a salty dog like me..... but damn is it beautiful in the fall and spring.
 

SCJohn

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just came across this. My grandfather went thru there before getting shipped overseas during WW2. He met my grandmother in Spartanburg and it's where I grew up. My grandfather took us on hikes around the park when we were kids and took us to where a concrete bunker was. It had a big iron door on the top with huge padlocks. I think I could find it again so might be time to go back to the upstate. I'll try to pinpoint it and let ya know.
 

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Wow... forgot I even posted this. :)
 

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ARC

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just came across this. My grandfather went thru there before getting shipped overseas during WW2. He met my grandmother in Spartanburg and it's where I grew up. My grandfather took us on hikes around the park when we were kids and took us to where a concrete bunker was. It had a big iron door on the top with huge padlocks. I think I could find it again so might be time to go back to the upstate. I'll try to pinpoint it and let ya know.

Too cool. Keep us updated.

And have a double chilli cheese a plenty for me :)
 

SCJohn

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Will do. The beacon is always on the list of stops. I remember us going down to the lake once got in the park then heading left down the waterfront then there was a really old bridge in the water. We went up hill from there .Guessing not much has changed since the 80's from the aerial shots I can find so time to plan a trip.
 

ECS

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The government would have buried the ordnance, but the alleged gold bars and diamonds would have been taken to the Fort Knox Depository.
 

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The government would have buried the ordnance, but the alleged gold bars and diamonds would have been taken to the Fort Knox Depository.

Well now... hence "the why" they did not.
 

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The buried items were "secreted" in the states for a reason... problem was they were taken from the Germans... who had taken then from the Jews...
 

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At the close of that camp in I think it was 47... the whole "dirty hands" thing was a big deal...
Anyone possessing war treasure was frowned upon big time.

It seemed as the story goes... that the men who I spoke with stationed at the camp and witnessed it all agreed...
The motto was... "it never happened".

No one would have dreamed of "keeping" that stuff.... especially those who were supposed to have returned it many years earlier.
 

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Fact...

There ARE and were... many massive underground tunnels and bunkers of a high tech state of the art nature and extensive system throughout a many mile colony.

So big that tanks could drive in parts.... trucks... cars etc are said to be under there.
 

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There is little to no info on any of these facts.

All secret.
 

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Makes for a good story don't it ? :)
 

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I did not really get stuck into this stories web at first...
Till I met a man who showed me several things... one which struck me like a club to the head...

Twas several arial photos of the construction of the base.

PRE what everyone else saw and knew.
 

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After that... I was transfixed on what anyone had to say.
 

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I walked many... MANY miles of woods...
Some of the most beautiful woods you ever saw...

Strange woods indeed.
 

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Camp Croft State Park is where the stuff is said to be.

Under it rather. heh

One hitch... no digging allowed... expressly written in this park... and enforced.

Was the deal made with the State when the Land was given to SC...

The ONLY one as far as I have heard.
 

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I spit this all out freely...

For I hope someday the truth one way or another will be brought to light.

On several dying men's testimonies IT IS truth.
 

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