2 Unknown shovels

[bpm26]

Hi folks ,
Bought 2 unkown shovels
Like to know from which country they originated.
They look German ?
Looking forward to your responses, regards
Joey

[SHEMP H]

You will get a lot of help on this forum from the guys with a simple please and thank you!

Bill

[bpm26]

Thanks for your reply Bill ,
I forgot the thanks , i prest to fast on the submit button

Joey

[SHEMP H]

Thanks for your reply Bill ,
I forgot the thanks , i prest to fast on the submit button

Joey

[Neil Hever]

Are they both marked R P 32? I believe these are entrenching tools that were re-issued to Dutch emergency forces after the war.. The additional marking on the handle R P 32 stands for Reddingsploeg 32 which is the cataloging number of the item for use with Dutch rescue services. I had a British marked model 39 known as a BEF shovel with similar markings. As for the origination of your examples, I am not sure where they came from. Neil

[Edward Lionheart]

Bought 2 unkown shovels They look German ?

Hello.
The pointy one doesn't look german but rather like an austro-hungarian M10 shovel, the second one, even with the poorly applied and uneven paint that hides some of its features, looks like a Third Reich shovel to me.

[bpm26]

Thanks Neil for you reply,
both are marked RP32

[Edward Lionheart]

Which is, as stated before, something added in the Netherlands long after both of these shovels were produced.
They may have been recovered from a depot left there by the retreating german troops, collected on captured german soldiers, or even picked up from the battlefield, and then put to good use by the local Firefighters, Civil Defense and so on.

[bpm26]

Thank you Edward ,
For the reply and information

[Edward Lionheart]

You are welcome.
You will find here information on a BEF shovel marked R P 32 as mentionned earlier, and as a matter of fact I do own one also reused in the Netherlands after the war, dated 1940 : Four Bees: February 2020