Hunted a WWII POW camp today!.......

[Mike from MI]

6 of us hit a WWII German POW camp this morning. We started the day with about 20 degrees wind chills! BRRR it was cold. At the end of the hunt each of us had some keepers to take home. Some of the keepers include, one Indian head, one "V" nickel, a merc, a silver rosie, several wheats, two rings, some buttons, two Catholic pendants, one German dog tag, and many misc items. My keepers include 3 Great Seal coat buttons, one wheat, and a nice silver plated baby spoon that needs a little straightening. Here are the 5 guys from our club.

 

[aa battery]

nice finds. By the way you guys look the wild bunch full of fun

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Are you going to try and return the dog tag?
I know there are some German WWII soldier tracking sites out there.
Great finds!
Carl

 

[Mike from MI]

Are you going to try and return the dog tag?
I know there are some German WWII soldier tracking sites out there.
Great finds!
Carl

That will be up to the guy who found it. They are different from ours as they have no name on them.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Nice hunt and finds, the place sounds interesting! HH, Mike

 

[CRUSADER]

You forgot to mention the 1 German military button

 

[mr-dig-it]

You gave me a heck of an idea. There was a POW camp only 6 miles from where I live. As a kid I remember 2 buildings standing, but they rotted away years ago. The prisoners cut paper wood here. What kind of activity did they do in your area?

 

[Aquila]

Congrats. Cool dog tag. Also one heer button

 

[Bum Luck]

Are you going to try and return the dog tag?
I know there are some German WWII soldier tracking sites out there.
Great finds!
Carl

That will be up to the guy who found it. They are different from ours as they have no name on them.

They're called Erkennungsmarke; They have a soldier ID number on them from the original unit they came from. They were designed to be broken in half (like this one is!) when the soldier died, one half with the body, and one half to the unit commander for grave registration and notification. Interesting that this one's broken........

The state of German Wermacht records is miserable, since the majority of German personnel records were destroyed in Allied air raids on Berlin, but I'd guess that the POW camp has good records. It'd be nice to find the guy's family and return his tag.

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

that place must have been worked over still well done on the German dog tag and button . A pow camp here in Jersey is now a State park , lake with a great beach and barracks where very well built with brick .. those prisoners had a vacation compared to our pows in the stalag hell holes of Europe

 

[fistfulladirt]

Great digs Mike really great site!

 

[mjc_lakedweller]

Wow, what a unique hunt! I think there was a German POW camp north of here on another peninsula...I've heard about it but never really gave it much thought. I like those buttons - very cool. Do you know much of the history of the POW camp and when it was decommissioned. Obviously it must have been Fed land back in WWII - you're a motley crew lookin' bunch o' guys in that photo

 

[Mike from MI]

I agree, it would be great to get it back to the family. There were 3 or 4 found at the last hunt. All of them were also broke in half. Possible that some of them match? They were made of junk metal as they are corroded and hard to read.

Are you going to try and return the dog tag?
I know there are some German WWII soldier tracking sites out there.
Great finds!
Carl

That will be up to the guy who found it. They are different from ours as they have no name on them.

They're called Erkennungsmarke; They have a soldier ID number on them from the original unit they came from. They were designed to be broken in half (like this one is!) when the soldier died, one half with the body, and one half to the unit commander for grave registration and notification. Interesting that this one's broken........

The state of German Wermacht records is miserable, since the majority of German personnel records were destroyed in Allied air raids on Berlin, but I'd guess that the POW camp has good records. It'd be nice to find the guy's family and return his tag.

 

[Goes4ever]

great finds Mike, thanks for sharing!

 

[Michiganne]

Interesting group of finds. Congrats to all!

Here's a link telling about MI POW camps: http://www.giftbasketsfrommichigan....the-german-pow-camps-of-michigan-during-wwii/

By the way you guys look the wild bunch full of fun

HH

 

[Mike from MI]

Interesting group of finds. Congrats to all!

Here's a link telling about MI POW camps: http://www.giftbasketsfrommichigan....the-german-pow-camps-of-michigan-during-wwii/

By the way you guys look the wild bunch full of fun

HH

I checked that link before I went. Wished you could have gone too.

 

[postalgriff]

wow Mike! what a thrill it must of been to hunt o place with that kind of history! WTG on pulling some nice keepers!

 

[robo]

Nice keepers! Can't say that for the group of guys! LOL!!!

 

[Brentallica]

WOW - you guys did good! Great spot you found there. Love the buttons Mike. Congrats on the Wheat and other relics too!

 

[Mike from MI]

Nice keepers! Can't say that for the group of guys! LOL!!!

Yeah I know what ya mean. I almost tossed them back!