WW1 front Verdun in 2010

**gerrit** · 10-25-2010, 07:46 AM

I have been a Verdun digger since 22 years, in the early days none was cleaned.
everywhere shells, helmets and weapons.
I will give you a short impression whats still left on the fields there, everything on the pics is found on sight.
2 german handgrenades, and some 75mm french scrapnel shells.

German trench Mortars:

on the outsides 2x 77mm german scrapnel and on the inside 2x 75mm french

German egg grenade, not fused, removal cap still in place.

105mm HE shell

and cleaned at home a VB riflegrenade:

**oradour** · 10-25-2010, 07:52 AM

Ahh..Verdun, an area I must get to visit during my lifetime, I dont collect relics/ground dug or otherwise found items, but there I would make an exception, amazing finds, are the handgrenades/minenwerfer shells not live, therefore extremly dangerous ?...
Prost ! Steve.

**gerrit** · 10-25-2010, 08:02 AM

the egg grenade were not armed, only a screw cap was placed, after its removal the powder could easily be removed.
The Vivien Bessiere Riflegrenade has a small hit on the back ( hole of 1 inch) nothing left in there.....it was already disarmed.
the German trench mortars are still armed, i left them there.
when you look very carefully the safety pin can be seen on the upper one.
3mm below that it can be disarmed......
in my early days i would had disarmed them by cutting of the fuze just below the fuzecapsule ( i had the original bombsquad books from 1923)
but now a days i got a family, and i only take pictures...LOL
a lot of non exploded shells were only photographed, not even touched...i like what i do and want to do it in the next 20 years also....LOL

**Glenn66** · 10-25-2010, 09:06 AM

Yeah, I don't think I'll be poking around all that fragile, unexploded ordnance anytime soon... great pictures though!

**oradour** · 10-25-2010, 11:00 AM

gerrit, thanks for that...I guess its a case these days of look but dont touch !....
Prost ! Steve.

**ObKrieger** · 10-25-2010, 11:28 AM

Forgive my ignorance, but is that a piece of bone in the fifth picture down?!?!?

**sebfrench76** · 10-25-2010, 11:49 AM

I love your camo trousers,must be very useful when the French Gendarmerie looks after you....You choosed the most dangerous diggin site in France,but afterwards,you do it for 22 years...
Never had a trouble with the farmers,forest employees,hunters...???

**gerrit** · 10-25-2010, 01:29 PM

Obkrieger: indeed its a human bone, they are scattered around everywhere, 130.000 body's are still lost in the meatmill
Sebfrench: i only got caught once by the special "Forest Police", they took away 25 brass cartridges 75mm french, a fully loaded case with MG amo

and some pieces of a G98 rifle.
The brass stuff was later seen in a souvenir shop in Verdun, LOL, i know that because i cleaned the bottom for the headstamp, is was Us made by Remington...LOL
only in de 80ths i searched with a metaldetector, then i stopped because of the high penalty's in that erea...and started to look at places where they remove trees and make new roads.....