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Return to Latvia, Digging with Legenda in Kurland Aug 2017

Article about: Thursday – Sunday last week saw me return to Latvia for an expedition with my old friends and fellow diggers in NGO Legenda. I was also joined by a digger I hadn’t met before from the Nether

  1. #1

    Default Return to Latvia, Digging with Legenda in Kurland Aug 2017

    Thursday – Sunday last week saw me return to Latvia for an expedition with my old friends and fellow diggers in NGO Legenda. I was also joined by a digger I hadn’t met before from the Netherlands.

    The first day saw us driving to the Northeast of Latvia to look for the remains of a Wehrmacht Major who was killed following an explosion in a mill nearby. The Major was struck by shrapnel and was buried nearby, so the story went.

    We started looking for the remains and had a head start as one of the Legenda crew had come across what was suspected to be the actual grave and retrieved an EKM.

    After some hard and extensive digging we found a makeshift coffin and also a number of other MIAs buried in the same spot. Another EKM was found but in extremely bad condition- only a small part of the text was legible.

    Nevertheless, despite a somewhat incessant rain we eventually recovered 10 MIAs from the site. Legenda will hand the remains over to the German War Graves Commission.

    The second day of the expedition we made our way back to the Kurland area. A farmer was building a new house on a site that saw extensive fighting in ’44 and ’45. An old farm had stood on the ground and some parts of the wall were still standing in thick foliage. On our way to where the first test trench was to be placed, one member of Legenda accidentally stepped into a hole not visible from the surface- this was later discovered to be one of two wells in the vicinity. Later investigation of this well produced several artillery shells still live, a fired Panzerfaust and various other bits of less dangerous finds, including the remains of a MIA deer of smaller size.

    Due to the heavy foliage, a mechanical digger was employed all over the site as time was of the essence. Legenda only had the one day to investigate as the builders were due to move in the following day. A substantial number of test pits were dug but none yielded any MIAs, only a wide range of battlefield debris was discovered.

    Only in the late afternoon our searches finally started to produce significant finds: One member of Legenda got a lot of signals on a nearby field, one of the test pits revealed a German helmet which was left in situ for closer investigation as a solder might be beneath. Myself and two other Legenda members grabbed our equipment and headed out.

    After some digging, we came across the remains of a German soldier. The unfortunate soul must have been caught in a massive explosion as the only remains we found were the uppermost parts of his body. The helmet also had a hole from shrapnel just above his forehead. No EKM was found but we were able to retrieve his wallet full of mostly Latvian coins and a watch. The remains of this soldier will be handed over the German War Graves commission for further investigation.

    Other finds from the field included two full MG ammo boxes and other bits of battlefield debris, shrapnel, unexploded ordnance, bullets and casings. I was also given a drinking cup found at the site.

    The remaining afternoon initially promised no more MIAs but this soon changed. Near a test pit where a Red Army helmet had been found earlier that day, the remains of what turned out to be four Red Army soldiers had been discovered. After many bits of household plates and cups along with other more civilian debris had been removed, we were able to retrieve them all, right by an old stone wall that must have belonged to the old farm. Unfortunately, they had no items that would help us to establish their identities but at least they could be reinterred along with their former comrades in a proper war graves cemetery as their final resting place rather than in an unmarked grave long forgotten.

    The final day of the expedition turned out to be quite different from any of the many expeditions I have been a member of over the years. In an area right on the old front line a more recent find had been discovered by a Legenda member exploring the old Red Army positions. Judging by the very 1990s looking belt buckle retrieved from the test pit, foul play was suspected and the Police would have to be involved. We extended the test pit to firmly establish the approximate timeframe before contacting the authorities. Since both jeans and nylon socks were also discovered, there was no doubt this must be a victim of some heinous crime in more modern times, the police was contacted. A detective from the Latvian police showed up at the site taking notes and details about the find. He was later joined by some members of CSI and the remains were subsequently dug out by Legenda.

    Several items were retrieved from the victim that should provide valuable aid to the authorities in establishing the identity of the victim.


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  2. #2
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    Nice report Hans
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Military-archeology-Legenda-Latvia/224779244335847

    http://www.hobbyhistorica.com/

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