Wow, thats just amazing. Thats the crappy thing about living in america and being a WWII nut, we saw no action on the homefront. Most of europe could find some sort of artifact in their back yard… Im jealous I wana find panzer parts, I would attach it to my (parents) car(most likley not).
LOL: Smeagol: i gotta rib you here! Do you understand what you’re asking? You’d rather have had armies roam and sow destruction of life and country for… your hobby?
I hope you never get the genie’s lamp! LOL
Nah, Id never wish that, I realised what I said after I said it, but im to lazy to edit. Just saying all we have to find has more or less been found already (french/indian, rev, 1812, civ).
I just sold a belt and buckle “Gott Mit Uns”. Evilbay pulled the auction. I relisted it with out mentioning the word “Swastika” And it was bought with “buy it now” in under 5 hours.
Mark
I have an Iron Cross in my collection which I display in my model display case (along with a few other German Medals) and would LOVE to add a Knight’s Cross! [:P]
Thanks for sharing the pictures doog. I wonder to how much for some of the find. I kinda like to know how much for one of the track links.[:-^] Just so the wife didn’t try to lift that package. Hmmmm, New job might be home for that delievery.
The ones with the loop are probably an Iron Cross, second class. They had a loop for a suspension ribbon, too.
Notice that some are just a frame? The frame was silver (I believe) and the center iron. The center rusted away.
Yeah, poor us! All we had was the Revolution and the Civil War. Get a metal detector and come to Virginia, you just might find something here.
At the naval shipyard where I work, there are a lot of artifacts. One feature that almost no one knows about here is that the bollards (big metal posts that ships are tied up to) surrounding the two original drydocks (Drydock One is where the USS Merrimack was converted to the ironclad CSS Virginia) are actually upended Dahlgren smoothbore guns . The muzzles were filled with concrete then the entire exposed section was painted yellow. Just a few years ago, Cornwallis’ supply ships were found in the mud at Yorktown.
While living on Guam a while back, I found a lot of spent and unspent ammunition on the beaches.
I was stationed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines for 2 years as a Security Policeman. We couldn´t dig a hole over there without finding WW II ammo. One night working out on the flightline, we we´re called to set a cordon around the flightline fire department. Workers were building an extension on the building and dug up (2) 1000 lbs bombs and (2) 500 lbs bombs. While we were out there my partner asked me if I was scared they might go off. I told him, “Nah, I ain´t scared. If they go off, we won´t know it anymore”!.
Two of our K-9 guys were patrolling in the WSA one night and one of them tripped on something. They went back after sunrise and found a pipe sticking up out of the ground. They started to dig to see what it was and uncovered a Japanese anti - aircraft gun.
In Germany (where I still am) I was assigned to a small unit attached to a German airbase. They were building a school on our detachment area and dug up a 500 lbs bomb. The bad thing about was, they didn´t even know it. It was loaded with the earth on a dump truck, transported across the base and over the flightline to a landfill near our WSA. That´s where they noticed it. It was disarmed on the spot.
Needless to say, I don´t go digging around for that stuff. Too dangerous.
Its weird, Im so used to seeing all of those parts as tiny plastic pieces. I feel like I know every detail and shape of a tiger track after putting together a set of magic tracks. But then you see the real thing and realize that these are parts of HUGE machines, not just models. Kind of shakes up your mind.
LOL! That’s a great point!!
Yeah, when awarded the iron crosses 2nd class were affixed w/ the ribbon…after the awarding ceremony, only the ribbon was worn. Some of the crosses appear larger though, hence they could be Knights’ Crosses (or Iron Crosses, 1st class)…
What is the ‘seniority’ or progression for the Iron and Knight’s crosses? Were the awarded independently of one another - so for example, at one battle I could win a Knight’s Cross and another an Iron? Or did one ‘replace’ the other? Also, were the classes the same as ‘awards’ - so my first Iron Cross is 1st class, my second is 2d class and so on? Or did it have to do with the actions they were awarded for?
Theoretically, the progression is as follows:
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Iron Cross 2nd Class
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Iron Cross 1st Class
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Knight’s Cross
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Knight’s Cross with Oakleaves
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Knight’s Cross w/ Oakleaves and Swords
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Knight’s Cross w/ Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds
There was also an award called the German “Cross in Gold” that was created to satisfy the perceived gap between the Iron Cross 1st Class and the Knight’s Cross. In practice you could win the Knight’s Cross before having ever been awarded any other German Cross for an extremely impressive act of courage or leadership, but usually you would receive the other crosses retroactively in conjunction with that Knight’s Cross. You never skipped steps once you received the Knight’s Cross, however.