German 88mm Shell Casing picked up 2 miles up the coast from Utah

[sebfrench76]

Lt Martin,do you remember me??
I'm glad you had your own private incredible moment on Utah Beach,and that at least,you purchased REAL relics...if you know what I mean?
But as Paul E said,detecting on Utah Beach,and as on all the historical beaches is ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN ,and this includes also a 2 kms wide line all along the coast.
So,you had good items,and a GOOD LUCK!

[Steve T]

...detecting on Utah Beach,and as on all the historical beaches is ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN ,and this includes also a 2 kms wide line all along the coast.

Now that IS interesting seb. I was under the impression that detecting on the clearly defined 'beach' areas was ok and that only searching the land was forbidden.

Has the law recently changed ? Last time I was out detecting on the D-Day beaches 3 years ago I bumped into about 3 or 4 other detectorists every day......all of them French !

Cheers

Steve T

[panzerjaeger44]

searching illegally is bad enough although i can feel for the enthusiams but to leave unexploded ordnanace lying around is just plain irresponsible it means the next guy could really have a blast when detecting always report this stuff even if your scared youll get in trouble better a slapped wrist than a splattered body

[sebfrench76]

Steve,even if I think that these items are to be displayed in a collection or a museum,and not to be left digged in the soil,I copy you a link to a document published by a very serious diggers association in France.It's in French,but ,no trouble,you will easily understand what it's about(forbidden=interdit in Frog's dialect..)

http://www.detection-loisir.com/doc/...interdites.pdf

[pintsgrove]

Hi,

there seem to be rules and regulations concerning metal detectors. Some parts of France you could get some good relics by just digging with your hands! In some places you can just pick things up - no digging! Is this activity illegal ?
And whatever you find, don't forget - most of it was designed to kill!

[Matt L]

Any ideas as to if this casing was fired???

Swayne

There's really no way to tell since it is an electric primer- so no dent from a firing pin. Steve's likely correct though that it does appear to have blown up so would have been unfired.

That's a bit of a strange find for Utah beach since it appears to be an 8,8cm 6388St type case- for the big 8,8cm KwK/Pak43, not the usual 8,8cm Flak18/36 which wouldn't be at all odd. The big gun was mounted in a number of vehicles- the Hornisse/Nashorn, Jagdpanther, Ferdinand/Elefant and the Königstiger and there was the massive Pak43- but were any of these at all at Utah? Unfortunately, there's no way to rule anything out by the case- they all used the same ammunition. I don't know of any of the vehicles being there though...

[Matt L]

Nobody else finds this odd? If it were a regular Flak18/36 case, there'd be nothing special about it, but a big 88?

[NickW]

Steve,even if I think that these items are to be displayed in a collection or a museum,and not to be left digged in the soil,I copy you a link to a document published by a very serious diggers association in France.It's in French,but ,no trouble,you will easily understand what it's about(forbidden=interdit in Frog's dialect..)

http://www.detection-loisir.com/doc/...interdites.pdf

Thanks for the link - as you say very clear - even to us Brits! I have explored much of the Atlantic wall defences, the Normandy beaches, Ardennes, Westwall, WW1 Western Front (all of it!) and have heard many conflicting stories of what is allowed and what is not. My hobby means I have a whole range of detectors / magnetometers, but after all I have heard, I decided long ago to leave them at home.

Several years ago (actually I think it was more!) I did take a detector to Normandy at the request of a friend who lived there and wanted to search some of his own land - after talking to some locals I was told that it was OK to search on the beaches and as others here have said, I found I was not alone when I did - However, I found relatively little and never felt comfortable, which took the enjoyment out of it - I ended up finding a very large and very live naval shell on Utah - Four big copper drive bands gave a fantastic signal! - it was reported and blown up the next day - I didnt get told off - in fact I was thanked for reporting it.

On the WW1 battlefields I have never felt any temptation to take a detector - just look at the ground at many of these places - there is so much metal what is the point? Also I again have a personal feeling it would not be right. Even without a detector I find your eye gets tuned in and you soon start spotting artefacts, though I long ago stopped taking them home and have always avoided anything looking remotely live - preferring photos instead - you don't have to clean them up and they don't carry on rusting regardless and eventually fall apart!

[hassiman]

There are many pictures of the big KwK 43 "Barn Door" antitank gun in use in that area during the Normandy landings. The ammo cache probably was set off by bombardment or a mortar round. Probably not from a KonigsTiger

[Lt. Martin]

I would also like to remind everybody that this was found within 100 yards of a few quite large Bunker complexes. Can't remember which one specifically, I will post when I find out.

Thanks,
Swayne Martin